116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Saatvik Swaad opens in NewBo City Market with vegetarian Indian food
Vegan, gluten-free options and samples available
The large, warm naan is tender and crispy. Shahi paneer paired with light basmati rice has a spicy depth of flavor without too much heat. The mango lassi is a refreshing, fruity thirst-quencher with just the right amount of sweetness.
These are just some of the flavors you can experience at Saatvik Swaad at NewBo City Market in Cedar Rapids. Owner Neha Kuchhal he started selling baked goods in 2021 at the Iowa City Farmers Market and was then introduced to NewBo City Market by a friend who gave her a coupon that expired that day.
“I was so surprised. There was so much creativity,” Kuchhal said.
If you go
What: Saatvik Swaad Indian cuisine
Where: NewBo City Market, 1100 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids
When: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday; closed Monday and Tuesday
Contact: (319) 400-2029; Saatvikswaad@gmail.com
Website: located on Facebook under Saatvik Swaad
When a spot opened at NewBo in January, Kuchhal opened a small restaurant. Many visitors to NewBo City Market aren’t familiar with Indian food, and Kuchhal estimates that only about 20 percent of her customers, mostly young adults, know about it.
“They pass by and my food smells so good. They’re scared to try because they thought it was too spicy,” Kuchhal said. “When I offered the sampling, they loved it,” she said.
“People love it. They love the food.”
Divine taste
Saatvik means divine, and swaad translates to taste.
“Divine taste, that word means a lot to me. You can find taste in anything. But the divine taste is, like you know, you feel satisfied and your stomach, also, will be satisfied,” Kuchhal said.
Divine taste also means no meat, and recipes do not include onion or garlic — no smelly food, she said. Food is spiced with nutmeg, chili, cloves and black pepper for flavor and a little heat.
“I know if the taste needs sweeter, I add cinnamon or nutmeg. If you want spicy, I add black pepper, cloves and cardamom,” Kuchhal said.
She’s adapted recipes based on customer comments, such as adding more paneer — Indian cheese — or tomato to a recipe. Not sure what to order? Ask for a sample.
Portions are enough for one hearty appetite or shareable for lunch, and prices range from $8.75 for vegetable biryani to $14.50 for shahi paneer. Lunch combos start at $10 and offer a taste of more than one main dish, such as chickpea curry and shahi paneer with rice and naan. Or try chili paneer with shahi paneer and naan. The most expensive combo on the menu might be chili paneer, shahi paneer, chickpea curry, naan and rice or vegetable biryani for $17.50.
Main course dishes vary, but you can count on shahi and chili paneer served with basmati rice. Unique to Saatvik Swaad is a naan wrap stuffed with chili paneer. Ask for subtly spiced vegetable biryani.
And then there is the naan, a warm flatbread usually baked in a clay oven. Kuchhal has adapted the recipe for cooking in a hot pan because her market space can’t accommodate an oven. The key to perfect naan is letting the dough rise in a room at the ideal temperature and then holding that temperature before cooking.
Snacks or starters include samosa, vegetable tikki, served with chutney and yogurt, and samosa pakoda served with chutney.
Beverages include lassi with yogurt, mango pulp, milk and a “little bit of sweetness” or masala tea. Jal Jeera is a lemonade made with fresh herbs. End your meal with cookies flavored with cinnamon-coconut or rose, cardamom, pistachio flavor, fennel seeds, almond, or chai spiced. Modak is a dumpling flavored with cardamom, pineapple, rose, blueberry, cinnamon and coconut.
“I think all of my cookies are from my parents, my mother,” Kuchhal said.
She said the market space doesn’t allow for sauteing or frying. When the market expands next year, maybe she’ll get a larger space.
“Naan and the bakery stuff I can do here,” Kuchhal said. “Mostly I bring whatever we eat and what people demand.”
VEGAN AND GLUTEN-FREE
All the food and beverages are vegetarian, but you must ask for gluten-free and vegan options. Saatvik Swaad’s menu even includes foods that are both vegan and gluten-free.
Vegan foods, including samosa pakora, chickpea curry, and naan, are available upon request. Jal Jeera lemonade is always vegan.
BUSINESS OWNER
Much of the food is prepped or cooked Kuchhal’s licensed home kitchen in Palo. She cooks family meals separately, but her family asks for the market food. “They love it.”
Kuchhal moved to Palo in August 2023 after 15 years in Iowa City. The family had moved to the United States from India in 2007 when her husband Saket took a short-term contract that was prolonged and continued, she said. In addition to her husband, their family includes daughter Kamakshee, who is finishing high school in Iowa City before heading to Columbia in New York this fall, and 8-year-old son Reyaansh.
It was hard to find an entirely vegetarian restaurant in the United States, Kuchhal said.
She decided to serve whatever they eat at home. She’s vegetarian and gluten-free but has adapted some recipes to include gluten and dairy.
Through the Iowa City Farmers Market, she learned the steps needed to open a food business. Customers began asking her to add more menu items, and although she hadn’t considered serving hot food, she decided to give it a try.
“Slowly, slowly I just started, you know, first with chickpea curry,” she said.
A NewBo market space opened in January, and it took about a month to set everything up. After cooking too-large batches, Kuchhal learned to cook smaller batches and share samples with potential customers.
A typical week involves one or two days of sourcing ingredients and an entire day of preparing foods, followed by five days in Cedar Rapids. In May, Kuchhal expanded to the Dubuque Farmers Market. The addition of both an employee and a digital ordering system frees Kuchhal to interact with customers at NewBo City Market and to staff the booth at the Dubuque on Saturdays.
The nonprofit Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center receives 5 percent of sales. Kuchhal relies on the meditation practices she learned there to help her manage the stress of raising a family and starting and running a new business. Through the practice, she’s developed an affirmation: Do your best. Everything will be fine.”
“I found it transformative,” she said. “It helps me every day.”
“I like it a lot. The surprising thing was you will come and you will appreciate. Appreciation brings more motivation for me to bring more food and recipes,” she said. “I love it.”
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