A Community Treasure: 4 Sisters Kabob & Curry
The smells of curries and spices—ginger, coriander, cardamom, turmeric, peppers, cinnamon—mingle with the scent of roasting coffee beans one block over. A line of people forms, all eager to order naan bread, samosas, butter chicken, lamb kabob and other Pakistani and Indian dishes produced inside the food truck located at the corner of Park Street and Dover Road in Easton, Maryland. The 4 Sisters Kabob & Curry has been a welcome addition to the town since its opening in the fall of 2019. A tribute to a mother’s love, 4 Sisters is a success in an area more used to crab cakes and burgers than palak paneer. The family’s story is one worthy of a novel and begins in Kashmir when owner and chief cook Shahida Perveen was a child, preparing food for her seven uncles.
“They would say, ‘go make me a chai’ to give me something to do,” says Shahida, whose father worked as a chef for a couple stationed with the American Embassy in Islamabad. She has not stopped cooking since. Shahida’s culinary road can be traced to the roads of her former life in Pakistan. As head of a household at an early age, it was up to her to feed the family. When her father sent home money, she would travel via donkey cart to a nearby village that had a grocery store to buy provisions. Having money allowed her to experiment and buy an extra ingredient or two, something like custard powder, raisins and almonds that she would add to a special dessert.
“She would buy the nicer rice and create a new chicken dish,” says eldest daughter Andleeb Khan, who goes by Ann. “Back home pancakes are not a thing. Mom makes a bread that’s very similar to a crepe in texture. She cooks it on a pan and adds butter and sugar. We love it.”
The family’s journey to the Eastern Shore began in 2001 when they left their native Kashmir, Pakistan to come to the United States. Like many immigrants seeking better opportunities, Shahida worked various jobs, including a 7-Eleven on Kent Island, while learning a new language and how to drive a car, and did some catering on the side. Ann created a contact list and every Thursday night they would text the menu for Friday pickup. Soon their list grew to over ninety customers and the family started looking for restaurant space in Easton but found nothing to suit their needs.
The women opened 4 Sisters Halal Meat & Groceries on Park Street in Easton selling spices and frozen foods. Realizing that most people couldn’t cook authentic Indian and Pakistani food, even with the seasonings, the daughters encouraged their mom to follow her passion of cooking her own food and started exploring the idea of a food truck affiliated with the store.
“We had $5,000 to our name,” says Ann, who is a nursing student at Chesapeake College as well as a wife and mother of two. “It’s all a work of God how this happened.”
Thanks to another local business owner (and neighbor) Tim Cureton of Rise Up Coffee Roasters, they found a food truck and within five months were able to start cooking.
“Not having a business degree, it was a challenge,” says Ann. “We worked with the Talbot County Chamber of Commerce and got the approval. Several family members helped with loans and we had our grand opening in September of 2019.”
As a child, Shahida acquired the basics of her native cuisine but she also liked to experiment by adding new flavors and foods. Something as simple as rice takes on a whole new dimension when bay leaves, star cloves, cumin seeds or black peppers are added, making a familiar dish innovative and original.
“I don’t think we even own a cookbook,” says Ann.
Using her own recipes, Shahida buys only the freshest ingredients and prepares everything by hand, incorporating her distinctive spice mixes to more traditional fare. With her deep knowledge of the curative properties of foods, she often includes healthful options like bitter melon and turnips in her side dishes. Her naan is made by hand without the benefit of a tandoor oven, cooked instead on a flat pan on top of the stove and with the dexterity of a seasoned chef.
In Kashmir it is more convenient to buy naan since tandoor shops there are abundant; almost every street has one. People make their own sauces but buy the bread. Tandoor ovens are not required to make the bread but are good for large quantities since a tandoor can make six to seven at a time. Having never made naan before living in the U.S., Shahida learned quickly using the base ingredients—yeast, flour, water—and a few others to attain the right consistency (not too dry and not too chewy). Daughters Areej and Shanza are considered the family experts along with their mom and often help since making naan is an ongoing job that requires constant oversight. A busy weekend calls for over 100 naan with some customers buying up to a dozen at a time.
The truck can go through two hundred and forty pounds of chicken and forty-five pounds of lamb a week and two whole goats per month. Customers are treated with a warmth and affection reserved for family, and it’s not unusual for samples of samosas and naan or curried turnips to be offered to someone waiting for an order.
Named as a tribute to Shahida’s four daughters, ages fourteen to twenty-seven, 4 Sisters is a family operation with each daughter helping when she can. Since all are in school, scheduling is key. Bushra attends Kent Island High School, and both Areej and Shanza are college students having earned full scholarships, Areej at Washington College, and Shanza at the University of Maryland. Ann helps with the shopping and the ordering. Ann’s husband helps with the butchering, cleaning up and wherever an extra hand is needed.
From the kitchen, patience reigns as descriptions are offered, suggestions are given and questions are asked about how hot you want it (mild, medium or spicy). Portions are big and meant to be shared. Since the food is often eaten with fingers—bread is ripped and dipped into sauces—it is a delightfully social experience.
“My mom inherited the flavor from our grandfather while I inherited my mom’s strength and independence,” says Ann, who helps in the kitchen and with the business side.
A dream realized in a small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore is its own kind of magic, lending spice to a family narrative that is only just beginning with plans being made for a sit-down restaurant. Until then we can make do with smiles, laughter and conversation emanating from a tiny kitchen in a truck parked on a side street that brings together a community like family.
4 Sisters has continued to serve the community during the coronavirus pandemic with the same hours. In addition, they have been serving free meals on Thursdays to anyone in need.
4 Sisters Kabob & Curry
600 Dover Road, Easton, MD
(410) 253-4074
Tuesday through Thursday 10am to 8pm
Friday and Saturday 10am to 9pm
Sunday 11am to 6pm
Closed Mondays
