Danville’s queen of biryani: G-Mama’s Halal Indian Food

Before opening G-Mama’s Halal Indian Food, Purnima Kalra had a feeling, call it a premonition, that notoriety would be hers. But it’s not what you think. There was no fortune or red carpet in these visions.

“I used to pray that I would find a small kitchen where I could stand and cook and give food to people,” says Kalra, sitting at one of the three tables in her tiny take-out joint located at 480 San Ramon Valley Blvd., on the outskirts of downtown Danville.

Kalra, who is the chef and owner, opened the restaurant in 2020 at the height of the pandemic and quickly earned a reputation as the biryani whisperer. G-Mama, as her grandchildren call her, firmly guards her recipes, but we know that she peels her own garlic, blends her own spices and loads her massive and aromatic basmati rice dishes with caramelized onions, a flurry of fresh parsley and a generous amount of tender, slow-cooked meat. No skimping here.

“That bugs me, when you are looking for the meat and it’s mostly rice,” Kalra says.

Kalra says she knows the price of meat is high but likes giving customers large portions — one biryani ($15-$20) easily feeds two, if not three people — because she is not “chasing money.”

“Money is not everything,” she says. “Instead of taking home $5,000, I’ll take $2,000. But I’ll have a line of customers. When I have customers, I’m so happy-go-lucky even when I am working until 12 o’clock at night.”

Regulars come not just for the lamb, chicken, mutton and vegetable biryanis — an accompanying herby green chutney adds the perfect zing — but for several specialties, like goat curry, black garbanzo beans and cauliflower and potatoes loaded with cilantro and Indian spices. Kalra’s butter chicken, a dish she’s been making since the age of 13, features juicy, bone-in chicken. Stuffed, handmade naan and fluffy rotis come out of the tandoor all day.

And the spinach paneer, a dish made with onions, garlic and ginger sautéed with garam masala and cumin that’s simmered with chopped spinach and cream, is a recipe handed down from her mother-in-law. Kalra learned most of her vegetarian dishes, including braised mustard greens and dal makhani, a blend of whole-spiced lentils and kidney beans, from her.

“It was an arranged marriage and I was very young, 15 and a half,” says Kalra, who has since divorced. “She was a wonderful woman and taught me so much.”

Born in Calcutta and raised in New Delhi, Kalra is the youngest of six girls and was drawn to the kitchen from a young age, peeling garlic and chopping cilantro for her mother and grandmother at age six. She worked as a dressmaker in India before moving to the United States in 1996 and joining her family of almond and prune farmers in Yuba City, where she now sources her produce.

But farming was not her long-term plan. Kalra went into banking, spending 17 years with Wells Fargo and Bank of America before retiring from the industry to bring G-Mama’s to life.

“This has always been my dream and my passion, to have my own restaurant and make pure things for my customers,” she says. She put the cauliflower side dish on the menu after asking customers what vegetables they like. She keeps her spice levels mild but happily cranks up the heat for those who request it.

Kalra started the process of opening G-Mama’s in the former Sig’s Little Kitchen strip mall location in 2019. Permits and a kitchen revamp, including installing a new hood, took a full year. Kalra hired two prep cooks and a sous chef who helps with meat butchering, but she does most of the cooking, including some of the sweets in the pastry case, herself. She’s always in the restaurant.

“I think that’s important,” Kalra says. “You have to give 100 percent to any work you do.”

Being a take-out business means food often needs to be reheated, something Kalra isn’t thrilled about. If you’re solo, she may invite you to sit down in the tiny space and eat before the food gets cold. While G-Mama’s is on delivery platforms, like Uber Eats and Grubhub, Kalra also invites customers to order via her cell. She’ll call them the minute their order is ready.

These days, the restaurateur is looking for a larger space, perhaps in Concord or Pleasant Hill, if nothing opens up in Danville, with plenty of seating so that she can serve those mountainous biryanis on sizzling hot platters. She’d also like to offer seekh kebabs cooked on an open flame.

“I want to serve people myself and the food will be so hot you can see the steam coming up,” she says. “I want a bigger restaurant so I can feed the whole community.”