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Coralville cook adapts after flood

By Gigi Wood

Change of plans.

The day it began flooding in June, Rosy Handa expected construction to begin on the expansion of her ethnic grocery store, Indian Mix. Located at 216 First Ave. in Coralville, the business was situated in a small strip mall along Clear Creek. It was one of the hardest hit buildings during the flood.

Her expansion was going to add a kitchen and more grab-and-go food offerings to customers.

“After four or five years we decided to do something more, so we decided to do cooking,” Handa says.

Busy University of Iowa students and faculty were a big part of her clientele and had to travel as far as Chicago to find some of the items she sold. She felt adding more prepared foods would be a good business move.

“When you come here to the university, you miss your food and your language,” she says. “I felt fortunate to provide that.”

The flood changed her plans dramatically. Handa recently opened Clay Pot, an Indian fusion restaurant at 925 25th Ave. in Coralville, in the same strip mall as HuHot Mongolian Grill and Cold Stone Creamery.

“I cook with my heart,” she says. “I cook everything and offer it to my god. It’s a prayer for me.”

Handa can often be found behind the counter helping customers with their orders, explaining the recipes. She says she tried to add recipes to the menu that will appeal to the entire community. Food items, such as yogurt and bread, are made from scratch twice a day at the restaurant to keep food tasting fresh.

“We create the aroma and the freshness and use spices from A to Z,” she says.

She often mixes two food cultures into her recipes, using a variety of flavors.

“I love to cook, cooking is my hobby,” she says. “Sometimes I will take an Indian recipe and add soy sauce or I will take a Chinese recipe and add my spices.”

Lunch and dinner crowds have been brisk since opening, she says. Prices range from $4 to $8.25 for soups, wraps, pastry shell and rice dishes.

Since Indian Mix closed, many in the Indian community are without certain grocery items. Eventually she hopes to offer a few ethnic grocery items for sale at Clay Pot.

“I know they are upset,” she says. “I know they miss it.”

This article originally appeared in the Coralville Business Journal.