Indigo in Rehoboth provides rare Indian flavors on Delmarva

The dough being rolled inside 44 Rehoboth Ave. isn’t what it used to be. Pizza dough has been replaced by naan.

And it just may be the first time that sentence has been true about Rehoboth, or anywhere in the beach towns for that matter.

A Google search for Indian food in the resort area leaves you with results in Dover. A search on Yelp sends you from Dover, to Cape May and over to Salisbury.

Suraj and Raghu Kumar, a father-son duo, are here to change that.

Last week, the Kumars opened Indigo Indian Cuisine in the space formerly occupied by Dough Rollers. The two bring many years of experience, along with a strong reputation. Suraj opened the well-respected India’s in Annapolis in 1999. India’s is currently closed, Raghu said, because of a leasing issue. Suraj Kumar said once they get through the summer season in Rehoboth they’ll return to Annapolis and focus on finding a new location.

So with the busy summer season approaching, they are all-in on Rehoboth.

For years, Raghu, 35, said, customers at India’s who vacation in Rehoboth and throughout the Delmarva region suggested the Kumars bring their popular flavors to the coasts. They finally listened after a few years of searching in Rehoboth, along Wilmington and Baltimore avenues before finding the Rehoboth Avenue location.

Raghu Kumar readily admitted that Indian cuisine isn’t your typical beach food.

“It’s not,” he said, laughing. “But people get tired of just eating the same beach food all the time. If you’re down at the beach for the week, for four days or five days you can eat the seafood and pizzas, but there’s going to be one day you want something other than that. You want your palate to be excited.”

That’s something they’ve been doing a long time.

Suraj, 64, came to America from Punjab, India, in the '80s. A bank manager in India, he spent most of the '80s learning at some of America’s best Indian restaurants, including Darbar in New York.

He opened his first restaurant in 1992 and his family came to join him in 1993. A young Raghu worked his way up the restaurant chain, starting as a dishwasher before moving on to bussing tables and serving.

With his father not supporting a restaurant career, Raghu studied accounting at the University of Maryland and spent two years as a tax accountant in Annapolis before returning to India’s full-time.

“I found out quickly that it’s not for me,” Raghu said. “I found this is who I am. This is me.”

“He insisted,” Suraj said. “I didn’t want it. It’s such a hard business. To me, it’s an addiction. You get so addicted you don’t want to stay home.”

For now, home is Rehoboth, where Raghu is doing most of the leg work. In addition to being co-owner with his father, he’s also head chef. Both have experience with money, but Raghu said he leaves the numbers to his dad. Cooking he says, is what he loves most.

“It’s relieving,” he said. “Very intense but gratifying.”

Being from Punjab, an area in northern India near Pakistan, the Kumars specialize in northern Indian cuisine, like butter chicken (Raghu’s specialty) and tikka masala. But they also offer more southern cuisine like vindaloo and biryani.

Indigo’s selection of naan is made in an authentic tandoori oven.

The menu at Indigo is limited because “I only like to cook things that I’m good at,” Raghu said.

“I never worried about the food aspect of it,” Raghu said. “There’s enough demand for ethnic food and Indian food in general. We have a huge variety of vegetarian food and vegan varieties. That’s not the issue. The issue I always had with coming here was it being seasonal.”

Though, as many of his customers in Annapolis told him, that notion is changing. Rehoboth, especially, has become more of a year-round destination.

Finally, those people there year-round have an Indian restaurant that doesn’t require a trip to Dover, Cape May or Salisbury.

If you go

Where: 44 Rehoboth Avenue, Rehoboth Beach

Hours: Monday to Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. 

Call: 302-212-5220

Reservations: Yes

Website: indigorehoboth.com