Greektown Gets a Taste of India

At Sher-E-Punjab, family, quality, and nutrition are the main ingredients for great food

By Jeffrey Ross

Husband and wife team Amar and Malkit Singh have turned home-cooked meals into a profitable family business. What began as (and nearly continued to be) a fish and chips shop ultimately became a popular Indian eatery in the heart of Greektown. Using recipes Malkit learned from her mother, the couple opened the Sher-E-Punjab restaurant at 351 Danforth in May of 1975. Malkit attributes their continued success to quality ingredients, careful preparation, loyal customers, and hard work.

The purchase that started it all
The Singhs emigrated from India in 1970. Back then, they never even considered opening a restaurant. Malkit was working as a stenotypist while learning English, and Amar worked factory jobs to support the family—until they bought the building where Sher-E-Punjab now stands.

At that time, the Singhs lived on the second floor and collected rent from the fish and chips shop below them. But when the lease came up for renewal a few years later, those tenants left to retire. Malkit wanted to reopen the restaurant as it was, but her husband had other ideas.

Having enjoyed his wife’s cooking for years, Amar believed it would be better to stick with their native cuisine. “We had no idea about fish and chips,” Malkit explains. “My husband said, ‘Your food is always good….Open an Indian restaurant if you want to run a restaurant. Not fish and chips.’” And so they began the process of renovating the space and learning the business.

A menu steeped in tradition
Malkit joyfully recalls the early days of opening the restaurant, despite the hard work it involved. Part of this work included developing a menu. “I started with the recipes my mother used to cook,” Malkit explains. “My mother was a great cook.” Over the years, the menu options have evolved to include other Punjabi dishes, as well as some South Indian food. Everything is prepared using fresh ingredients of the best quality, which is a key priority for Malkit. “Health,” she asserts, “is most important. And health is related to good food.”

The next generation
Now, at 67, Malkit says she is too old to deal with the stress of running a kitchen, which “requires a lot of time and labour.” Cooking duties recently shifted to another member of the kitchen staff, whom she trained. As for the future, Malkit sees the restaurant as a family legacy. “I want to pass it on to my son. I want to keep it in the family. I worked so hard . . . all my life. I want him to keep it going.”

The restaurant’s atmosphere is inviting and warm; the décor is romantic. Tantalizing aromas of butter chicken and tandoori hang in the air as the chefs prepare for the dinner crowd. “The key to success,” Malkit reinforces, “is good food . . . and hard work. If you make good food, people will come.” And good food is what this family-run restaurant has brought to the Danforth.

Related posts:

1. A Taste of Tradition
2. Like Father, Like Son