A taste of Indian on the Interstate

just ahead a pit stop along an

interstate in Wyoming and as Jim Axelrod

shows us when the truck stops here and

unlikely dining adventure begins

behind this hole in the wall

at this hole in the wall in Laramie

Wyoming is a you won't believe it

situation from the world of truck stop

cuisine no decent food of any kind in

here yeah well she would have lost that

bet just off exit 290 on i-80 the Indian

food meant to pander and his staff are

cooking up in this small kitchen behind

the window guarantees that this smells

like we're in Mumbai not allow me no no

me no no just a few feet away from the

motor oil the military hats the trucker

shirts you can smell is a very familiar

smell for Indian food that's it our

storage shelves full of turmeric

coriander and other spices maybe you

haven't heard of this is a leaf it's

called kasoori methi I mean if you start

putting this on you will not eat

anything without it there's a rice

steamer with no off switch and always

full pot of chai and the soul of any

Indian kitchen a clay oven the tandoor

the tender the flavor goes into me not

out of the meat like if you put on a

grill everything kind of drips down this

way the heat is all around is surrounded

by the heat when pander bought this

truck stop in 2014

it came with a griddle for hot dogs and

hamburgers that's all you need but

figuring truckers could get those up and

down i-80 he went with a menu they

wouldn't find anywhere else did they

ever come in to say all you gots Indian

food and I want meatloaf I want a

hamburger

I want a strip steak so then we tell

them hey try this you're gonna have that

on the next stop anyway just mild spicy

muscle displacing ninety nine out of

hundred they would call again hey I want

something what I ate last time that

stuff was delicious I want that meal I

don't know what was name but this guy he

gave it to me I think it's number 29

from cross country truckers I don't know

how to read it

you know wonder damn I mean I'd say it's

probably you know good nine I mean I was

going to locals like sheriff's deputy

bill Yates if this is the area I'm

patrolling I know where I'm gonna stop

to eat lunch mintues food has been a hit

deputy Yates is partial to both the

yellow curry and the broader field of

vision that comes with it it's bringing

the world here rather than keeping our

world small strictly speaking the

restaurant accounts for a small part of

mintues revenue but that's not how mintu

speaks or thinks I would say five to ten

percent of the most 10% so why bother

it's not a whole picture of the food the

people come and get fuel other stuff so

they would come in and spend five six

hundred dollars in fuel because they

know they can get their meal they desire

from last 800 miles here he's opened

another spot in Nebraska and will soon

add a third in New Mexico turns out

there's some money in all these smells

and tastes especially with the changing

face of trucking since nearly 19% of

long-haul truck drivers in America are

now immigrants no surprise for you that

you can recreate all that stuff in the

middle of a truck stop on i-80 well that

was the plan so we succeeded all it took

was for a mint to pander to trust his

gut and those of hungry truckers driving

by