For over 30 years, cooking Indian dishes has been the source of livelihood for Lalchan Basdeo.
Basdeo, 52, known as the curry duck king, owns and operates Sham’s Roti Shop and Catering Services, a family-run business in Longdenville. He's a well-loved figure in his community, and is called Uncle Sham by most.
He wakes daily at about 4.30 am, says his prayers, and gets ready to go to the roti shop, packing his apron and cap to wear in the kitchen.
His menu has the favoured dishes of Trinis: dhalpuri and buss-up shut, or dhal and rice with a variety of vegetables and meat, including conch. Additionally, through his catering service he provides various Asian meals such as Chinese, authentic Indian and Thai dishes. He also cooks creole food and barbecue dishes on weekends.
When Business Day visited the roti shop on Monday to get an idea of its operations, Basdeo was busily seasoning meats to “chunkay” for customers. The aroma of geera, curry, garam masala and a special blend of spices and seasonings filled the air.
Preparation of the meats and vegetables is usually done the day before. Basdeo, his daughter Sheneil and about ten employees begin cooking from around 5.45 am in order to have all the dishes done by 10 am.
On a workstation, an employee was rolling out dough for paratha. She carefully rolled the dough to ensure that it was thin enough, so that it can be cooked evenly. The soft roti was then pounded to give it that “buss up shut (shirt)” look Trinis have come to love.
[caption id="attachment_935417" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Mooneeaye Hassanali, an employee at Sham's Roti Shop makes a paratha. - Photo by Lincoln Holder[/caption]
Basdeo said the pandemic lockdowns hit his business hard and they were trying to recover from a 40-45 per cent decrease in sales.
“I did not have to let go any of my staff and they understood and battled with me during the downturn. Even though we were opened for the Xmas period, the business was not doing well but taking care of my employees was critical. Their bonus was not much but they appreciated the little they got. My operations heavily depend on them.”
In the latest reopening phase, the Government announced that dining-in was an option once operated under the health regulations of a safe zone.
Basdeo said he has chosen not to allow dining so as to ensure his customers felt safe purchasing food from him.
“While this could reduce sales, it was something we collectively agreed to do because safety and peace of mind of our customers mattered.”
And he's also had to grapple with rising costs, the most recent being increases in flour prices – a staple ingredient of his rotis.
He uses the products of majority state-owned National Flour Mills (NFM), which at the start of the year increased its wholesale prices between 10 to 22 per cent. Privately-owned flour supplier Nutrimix also raised its prices.
According to Basdeo, he now pays $295, up from $260, per 100 pounds,
