Kalu Baba was born in Pushkar, a town in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Nowadays, he is creating incredible Indian food in the hipster neighborhood of Florentin, Tel Aviv. 

The reason? Love, and war.

Kalu Baba met his Israeli wife in India, at a restaurant that he owned in his hometown. In 2014, he followed her back to her home in Israel, a picturesque kibbutz called Sde Nehemia in the Upper Galilee. 

They opened the popular Thali restaurant in nearby Kiryat Shmona, where fans of Indian food – beloved by many Israelis following their post-army sojourn to India, but unfortunately not easily found in Israel – could once again enjoy the highlights of that dazzling cuisine.

“The kibbutz was quiet and relaxed, the north was relaxing, like India, so I said, okay, let’s live there. We love the relaxing chill of the kibbutz, and it was perfect. We’ve been here ever since,” Kalu Baba tells ISRAEL21c.

However, Kiryat Shmona and many other towns in the region have been evacuated since October, due to attacks from Hezbollah in nearby Lebanon to the north.

“The kibbutz hasn’t been evacuated, but the business is, so that’s why we’re coming to the center of Tel Aviv to carry it on.”

The popup version of Thali can now be found in Tel Aviv two evenings a week, on Wednesday and Thursday, at the site of the Casbah café. 

Food finished in 2 hours

“For a long time, the guys from the Casbah used to come to eat at my restaurant, and they used to suggest doing a popup together in Tel Aviv. I always had so much work going up north, so I used to say to them, why should I go all the way to Tel Aviv?” Baba says.

“When the war broke out, I said to myself that perhaps I should pick up the phone and see what could be done. They said, ‘Let’s try this.’ 

“I came to Tel Aviv one Thursday, and it was really crazy. So many people came, and the food was finished within two hours.”

Ever since, fans of Indian food and of the restaurant up north can now comfortably enjoy vegetarian favorites such as samosas, malai kofta, palak paneer, pakoras and gulab jamun right in the center of Tel Aviv. 

The Thali popup has received rave reviews and is regularly packed.

“People have heard about me and about Thali for a long time already – I used to be a contestant on a reality cooking show. People always traveled to eat my food, but Kiryat Shmona is far away, so not everyone used to come. People are enjoying it and are excited over it, that’s for sure,” Baba says.

Plans for the future remain obscure. The building housing Thali in Kiryat Shmona is currently still standing, unlike many buildings within shooting range of Hezbollah, but is off limits as it is considered a danger zone. 

“Every day I ask myself what we’ll do next,” Baba confides. 

“As long as the war continues, we’ll continue with this format. We’ll return once the war is over, that’s for sure, but the question is when the war will end.”