AN ASSORTMENT
OF CRAZY CURRY'S
CURRIES AND SAUCES
Curr and Spice
Crazy Curry is a little food stand with a lot of flavor By Ben Ricker
P
adma Prakash worked as a prep cook at the
Oregon Electric Station for more than three
decades, she says. It was a hard pill to swallow
when management changed in 2014 and
slashed her pay.
Unsure what else to do, Padma Prakash—
with help from her youngest son, Jayant Prakash —
opened Crazy Curry, the bright yellow Indo-Fijian food
cart on the lonely corner of River Road & Thomas Lane.
“I’ve eaten a lot of Indian and Fijian food,” Jayant
Prakash says. “Nothing compares to my mom’s cooking.”
Across the street from a run-down smut shop and
surrounded by a sea of broken-down cars, Crazy Curry
keeps things simple, offering only a small handful of dishes
Padma Prakash learned watching her father cook when she
was a little girl growing up in Suva, Fiji’s capital city.
“We’re Lane County’s first and only Indian-Fijian
place,” Jayant Prakash says. “We’ve got a good head start.”
The location is a little odd, Jayant Prakash admits,
but it hasn’t kept customers away. Their loyal following
seems to grow steadily each week. As word spreads,
Padma and Jayant Prakash struggle to stay a step ahead
of ever-increasing demand.
Dressed in habañero curry mayonnaise and tucked
inside toasty naan, the lamb wrap is their most popular
item. Rich in flavor and balanced with crispy vegetables,
customers who order the lamb are instantly hooked,
Jayant Prakash says.
8
CHOW SPRING 2016
Even after recently doubling their order of Australian
grass-fed lamb, Padma and Jayant still tend run out by
early afternoon.
Aside from its location, the only thing that feels out
of place is Crazy Curry’s name; Padma Prakash’s recipes
aren’t “crazy” spicy but perfectly seasoned every time
to complement the flavors of her fresh ingredients.
Padma Prakash’s overachieving vegetarian curry, for
example, shows off a wider variety of veggies in one bite
than what you’ll find on most Indian buffet lines. Carrots,
bell peppers, green beans, onions, zucchini, mushroom,
cabbage and loads of garlic: all grilled perfectly to
accentuate the natural flavors and keep textures crisp.
The key to it all, Padma Prakash says, is the dark
masala she imports directly from Fiji. The masalas for
sale on grocery store shelves in Eugene, she says, don’t
hold a candle to the real thing.
What’s more, Fijian recipes don’t call for dairy,
Padma Prakash says. As a result, the plates on Crazy
Curry’s menu taste brighter and healthier than most
westernized Indian food.
Padma Prakash says she feels a sense of fulfillment
seeing customers enjoy Fijian food for the first time.
“People can’t get this food anywhere else,” Jayant
Prakash adds. ■
Crazy Curry is open from 11:30 am to 3 pm Tuesday to Saturday at
102 Thomason Lane. For more information, see icravecrazycurry.com
EUGENEWEEKLY.COM/CHOW