New Indian restaurant Hut-K offers Ann Arbor a nutritious, inventive take on traditional fare

Chaats are savory Indian snacks. They can be served on a plate, in sandwich form or deep fried. Bhojani grew up enjoying these foods, and as a doctoral student, had to learn to make them himself.

“I had zero cooking experience until I turned 21,” he says, laughing.

A research scientist in molecular cancer research, Bhojani preferred not to cook by recipe, but instead combined some favorite Indian ingredients to formulate new chutneys and recipes.

For example, Bhojani took the traditional sweet chutney used in many chaats and removed all of the sugar, replacing the sweetness with that of fruits and dates, making it much richer in antioxidants and fiber.

He soon developed a reputation amongst his peers. Bhojani remembers the days when he and many of his fellow grad students would work around the clock, sometimes getting hungry at unusual hours.

“Hungry at 3 a.m.? 'This guy would have food,' they would say (of me),” he recalls. Bhojani quickly developed a loveable nickname, Motu, meaning "round one."

He started developing recipes, and dreamed of opening a chaat house one day. As he progressed in his career — he is now an assistant professor and research investigator in radiation oncology at the University of Michigan — he also cultivated his cooking skills, creating more than 20 unique dishes and serving them at catered events for as many as 800 guests.

Bhojani speaks with great care about developing Hut-K’s menu items, spending the last 23 years creating new recipes. He makes the flat bread for the “back 2 roots” portion of the menu using 12 ancient grains, 80 percent of which are organic and locally sourced. The spices and ingredients for his wraps and chutneys — one a tamarind mango, another a cilantro mint spinach — are also bought locally whenever possible.

Prior to opening the restaurant, Bohjani held tasting sessions that reminded him of the experimental process he is used to go through in the research lab. He hosted many families and people of all ages to sample and critique his recipes before choosing a menu for Hut-K.

Many of the dishes were a big hit. He and his wife, Sumi Bhojani, decided on an Inauguration Week Menu and plan to add items to the menu over the months, one by one.

They say they felt prepared for the grand opening April 2. What they were not prepared for was a full house.

He estimates that they fed 100 to 150 people, and did little advertising to announce the opening of the restaurant. Bhojani says the computer system also crashed early in the day, adding to his worry. Though the feedback was positive, “”I just want to take it slow,” he says.

Swaroop Bhojani is on a one-month leave from his position from the university, and Sumi Bhojani recently left her position as a Montessori teacher. They have three employees and plan to hire two more.

Hut-K is a small restaurant located on Packard, just east of Platt Road, and a stone’s throw from Bombay Grocery. The restaurant seats 40 and is open Tuesday through Sunday. It serves healthy Indian foods such as chaats, wraps, pizzas and fresh juices.

Hut-K
3022 Packard Road
Ann Arbor
Phone: 734-786-8312
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
11 a.m.- 7 p.m. Sunday

Angela Smith is a freelance reporter for AnnArbor.com.