Chai Box owner Monica Sunny on the best road trip pitstops around Texas, Oklahoma, and beyond.
For Monica Sunny , owner ofThe Chai Box , masala chai is much more than a drink . It ’s a speculation and elixir vitae . And she knows the near stuff , of path . So , when she and her husband were driving their boy from Atlanta to California for an internship a couple of calendar month ago , she was on the lookout for Punjabi dhabas , wayside buffet car that render approximately30,000 Sikh truck driversin the US with quilt food to - go . These Punjabi dhabas are the better place for red-hot , spice chai the way Sunny prefers it : with finocchio and ginger mixed into slack tea farewell and heat with Milk River on a stove .
The Sunnys first passed a hoarding for a Punjabi dhaba while driving through Arkansas , but build a U - turn on a four - day road trip was n’t included in her hubby ’s navigation plan . So when they spotted another hoarding for a dhaba calledPunjabi Restaurantlocated in a Stuckey ’s flatulence station in Okemah , Oklahoma , they pulled up . This route trip , it turned out , was dotted with Panjabi food for thought and pitch shot - perfect chai across Oklahoma , Texas , and beyond .
Inside Stuckey ’s , they found ledge lined with Indian cookies and snack and slushie machines filled with jeera water system , cumin tea , and nambu pani ( spiced lemon water ) . eyeball of sweet-smelling gulab jamun glistened under heat lamp that would typically nurse nacho cheese . Dishes came serve up on unstained steel platters . “ I literally felt like I had step into a shop in Jalandhur , where I ’m from in India , ” cheery says .
Courtesy of Punjabi Dhaba
The Sunny house feasted on freshly made chicken , lamb , and goat curries and drank masala chai from china tea cup . To her amazement , proprietor Sumandeep Singh and his wife had prepared gandal wala saag , more commonly known throughout India as sarson ka saag . The dish of tardily - cooked Spinacia oleracea and mustard super C was prepared with stems and spices the same way her grandmother once made it .
Although they were still stuffed and gay ’s husband was holding out for Burger King , the next daytime for breakfast , they visitedSwaad Stop , locate in the Hopi Travel Plaza off I-40 in Holbrook , Arizona . Devotional Sikh music , called Gurbani , play in the screen background while they fill up once again on chole bhature : curried garbanzo that amount with large discs of gentle , deep - fried bread made with finely mill maida flour ( bhature ) .
When Sunny began tearing into another type of northern Indian bread — a piping spicy paratha with a stocky cube of butter thawing in the mall — her hubby resolve Burger King could wait for another day .
Monica Sunny, The Chai Box owner, on a tea plantation.|Courtesy of Monica Sunny
A post shared by The Chai Box ( @thechaibox )
During their trip , they met truck drivers who had been on the road through the night just to have a hot north Native American breakfast and replenish their thermoses with masala chai in the morning . Since these dhabas typically do n’t attract much residential business , cheery produce Instagram spool to partake in what she considered to be the best Amerindic nutrient she ’d had in 40 days living in the United States . Even friends from India wanted to know more about America ’s just about 40 dhabas ( but in all probability many more ) that cater to the Sikh truck drivers who make up 20 % of the trucking industriousness , grant to theWashington Post .
For your next route head trip , keep abreast gay ’s steer and consider get around fast food for thought range to mark out some of the Punjabi dhabas list below for legit home - cooked northern Amerind food , which speciate in breads and garam masala – spiced curry . And to experience Sunny ’s comfort chai with Camellia sinensis foliage and spices sourced from Kerala , watch out her blends and concentrates atThe Chai Box .
Where to Find Punjabi Food and Stellar Chai in Texas, Oklahoma, and Beyond
Punjabi Dhaba9696 I-40 Frontage Rd . , Panhandle , Texas
Indian Dhaba in 82 Travel Center5101 US-82 , Gainesville , Texas
Punjabi Dhaba4566 US-287 , Alvord , Texas
Desi Dhaba4636 TX-114 , Rhome , Texas
Desi Dhaba45785 I-10 , Winnie , Texas
Vega Travel Center3650 I-40 , Vega , Texas
Punjabi Restaurant in Stuckey’s11249 OK-56 , Okemah , Oklahoma
Punjabi Food ExpressTruck stop food truck12200 Holland St , Oklahoma City , Oklahoma
Gill ’s Parontha Express(food truck)317 S Morgan Rd , Oklahoma City , Oklahoma
Punjabi Restaurant situate in I-40 Travel Plaza11561 N 1900 Rd , Sayre , Oklahoma
Preet DhabaLocated in Conoco - Pendleton Truck Stop10874 OK-44 , Foss , Oklahoma
Tour of India next to Morrilton Gas1504 N. Oak St. , Morrilton , Arkansas
Swaad Stop in Hopi Travel Plaza1852 N 77 , Holbrook , Arizona
