In St. John's, the best butter chicken might be in this immigrant's truck
The Joy of cooking: All it takes is 14 kg of basmati every day, and a leap of faith
In a brightly coloured food truck that has become a magnet for curry-craving foodies in the St. John's area, everything is from scratch, even the paint job.
The orange covering the 1983 Ford van has a few bumps underneath the brand-new decals. That's what you get when you paint a truck with a roller in the driveway.
But inside Jerry Joy's food truck, there are no shortcuts.
"It is all from scratch. We use no paste, no nothing. If it's tomato, it's tomato. If it's chickpea, it's chickpea. If it is cashew nut, it's whole cashew nut," said Joy, working in the truck's cramped, stainless steel kitchen.
"My kids eat it, my wife eats it, so I have to make sure it is that good."
Joy grew up in India, went to university in Singapore and worked in Ireland.
It was his wife's chances at a nursing job that brought them to St. John's.
Now he's behind the glass of a truck-based business called the Indian Express, serving up mounds of rice, daal, chickpeas and the thing that's become his signature dish in just a matter of weeks.
"Every day now, I have a small portion prepared even though I have a different dish on the menu every day," he said.
"I will still have a portion of butter chicken prepared because, every day, people are coming to eat the butter chicken."
It all started in real estate
Before he became "the butter chicken guy" in the truck at the corner of Major's Path and Torbay Road, Jerry Joy was an engineer and a real estate agent.
When he hosted open houses for other agents, the self-described foodie would cook up a big Indian meal to attract agents to come have a look.
He was encouraged to take his home chef skills out into the world.
"I was thinking what to do with it, a restaurant or a food truck," Joy said, recalling how he rolled the dice on a food business. "I thought [a] food truck would be a safer way to go, to try out the market and see if people in St. John's like my food."
Then he had to make the pitch to his wife, Jasmi Joy.
"When I said, 'There is a truck available in Gander, there is a chance we might own a truck and start a new business,' she was all for it."
Better than 'What if?'
It's one thing to throw around some spices and impress dinner guests at home. The risk is in trying to take that smaller-scale talent and turn it into a business.
But as far as Joy is concerned, not taking the risk at all is worse than spending the rest of his life wondering, "What if?"
"Don't be scared. There is never the perfect time. Don't wait for all the stars to align," said Joy, offering his advice for other people who have the entrepreneurial itch.
"If things are getting closer, the universe is talking to you. People are responding to your desire go for it and hope that the best can happen. If you don't take a risk how is the world going to come. Jump in, feel it and figure it out. That's what I did."
He cooks 14 kilograms of basmati rice every day, Tuesday through Saturday. Being the king of butter chicken means long hours and the guts to play the long game to see if the investment in Indian Express pays off.
"When I see people through that window, they are so excited. I've seen people jumping up and down saying, 'Oh, I got here in time before you sold out!'"
"It's so much money, it's so much investment but hey," he said, and then he shrugged. "If it doesn't work out, we can sell it."
"The response of the people is just overwhelming. It's so rewarding, I feel so grateful every day when I go back home."
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