Indian Restaurants: The Unlikely Symbol Of Changing Balkans

By SANDEEP PUSHKAR | INNLIVE

A region in the grip of strife till 25 years ago is transforming culinarily.

Last summer, while travelling through Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Albania, my wife and I saw the changing face of the Balkans and Indian migration in an unlikely place: the Indian restaurant. Well-patronised and Indian-owned, this establishment has sprouted in the farther-flung places of the region. We did not expect this.

Until the early 1990s, this wasn’t a region that endeared itself to potential immigrants. Albania, one of the poorest countries in Europe, was a virtual hermit. And across the border, Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro were employing repugnant forms of ethnic chauvinism to rip apart the Yugoslav federation.