PARSIPPANY — What began as a family investment in Indian dining has grown into a multi-location restaurant group across New York and New Jersey, and this month, Jashan by Dhaba owner Ankush Punhani brought that story back to Parsippany with a special culinary event featuring celebrity chef Ajay Chopra.
Punhani hosted Chopra, the well-known Indian chef and former MasterChef India judge, at Jashan by Dhaba, located at 252 US-46, on Friday, May 15, as part of a four-day chef series across the Dhaba restaurant family.
The series began on Thursday, May 14, at Dhaba NYC, continued on Friday, May 15, at Jashan by Dhaba in Parsippany, moved to The Imperia by Dhaba in Somerset on Saturday, May 16, and concluded on Sunday, May 17, at Social Hub by Dhaba in Parsippany.
For Punhani, the event was about more than one dinner. It represented the next step in a family restaurant journey that has expanded from New York City into Parsippany, Somerset, and beyond.
Punhani is an attorney by profession, but restaurants have become a major part of his life. Public profiles of Fine Indian Dining Group describe him as having established his law firm early in his career before investing in Indian restaurants and bringing his father, Vijay Punhani, back from retirement to help build the restaurant business. The group has been associated with several Indian dining concepts, including Dhaba, Sahib, Chote Nawab, Malai Marke, Dhaba Express, Jashan by Dhaba, and others.
Vijay Punhani has also been publicly identified as a co-founder of Fine Indian Dining Group and as Ankush Punhani’s father. One profile of Jashan Caterers describes Vijay as a seasoned entrepreneur with decades of industry experience who works alongside Ankush in the family’s restaurant operations.
That father-son story is part of what shaped the group’s growth. Ankush brought legal and business experience, while Vijay brought years of entrepreneurial and restaurant knowledge. Together, they helped grow a family-run operation into a restaurant group with locations in both New York and New Jersey.
Jashan by Dhaba became one of the family’s key Parsippany locations. The restaurant opened in 2019 after Punhani took a chance on a space that others warned him against.
“A lot of people told me, ‘Don’t do this location. It’s jinxed. Restaurants have failed,’” Punhani said. “But I had run restaurants in the city at that point, so I had a level of confidence that if we gave good service, good quality food, and ran it like a professional organization, we could make it work.”
Six years later, Jashan has become one of Parsippany’s recognizable Indian dining destinations. Best of NJ has described Jashan as part of a group of restaurants owned and operated by Punhani’s family, with the word “Jashan” meaning “to celebrate” in Hindi.
Punhani said the restaurant’s focus has remained consistent.
“Good service and good food, that’s essentially what our focus is,” Punhani said. “Consistency in the product is very important.”
That same approach carried into the Chef Ajay Chopra event. Chopra created the recipes and menu, while Jashan’s culinary team handled the preparation and execution.
“It was his recipes, but our team came together to make the food,” Punhani said. “At the end of the day, we did all the production.”
The menu gave guests a chance to experience something beyond the standard Indian restaurant dinner, leaning into regional flavors, chef-driven presentation, and dishes not always found on everyday menus.
“People appreciated trying something new,” Punhani said. “It was not just your everyday paneer or standard dishes. It was something different.”
The collaboration with Chopra began through a personal connection. Punhani said one of his college friends had moved back to Mumbai and knew Chopra. After seeing the connection online, Punhani reached out.
“I saw that they were best friends, and I said, ‘Wait, how do you know Chef Ajay Chopra?’” Punhani said. “He connected us, and we were talking for about six months. I said, ‘If you want to come to the U.S., let’s do something.’”
That conversation became the four-stop culinary series across Dhaba NYC, Jashan by Dhaba, The Imperia by Dhaba, and Social Hub by Dhaba.
Punhani said the timing reflects a larger shift in the American food scene. Indian cuisine, he said, is being understood more broadly than it once was.
“Indian food is more accepted right now than it has ever been,” Punhani said. “It used to be that the mainstream American audience thought Indian food was just spicy curry. Now people are more accepting of it.”
The family’s restaurant group has continued to build on that change by introducing different concepts, regional cuisines, private dining, catering, and special events. A 2023 Best of NJ profile noted that LaZeez by Dhaba was the ninth restaurant for Punhani and his family, with locations in New York City and New Jersey.
For Jashan, the Ajay Chopra dinner was both a special event and a reflection of the Punhani family’s larger vision: to keep growing while giving diners new ways to experience Indian food.
Some dishes from the Chopra dinner may return occasionally as specials, though Punhani said the evening was designed as a unique pop-up experience rather than a permanent menu change.
With additional openings planned in New York City, Woodbridge, and Somerset, Punhani said the goal is to continue building on the same foundation that helped Jashan succeed in Parsippany: quality food, strong service, and a willingness to bring something new to the table.
“This was something new, something different,” Punhani said. “And people appreciated it.”
