Hari Bhatt, 28, mans the cash register of New India Bazaar on Polk Street, a store that has been in his family for 30 years. The family of regulars across the counter is trying to decide between buying a bag of low glycemic-index Basmati rice for the diabetic dad and rasmalai , a Bengali dessert, for the kids. They can’t afford both with the recent price increase on Indian imports.
Take the rice and you can still make kheer for the kids, Bhatt tells them. Kheer is another festive Indian sweet dish made from rice, milk and jaggery. The family agrees.
In late August, President Donald Trump added a 25 percent penalty on imports from India as punishment for the country’s purchase of Russian oil . This was on top of an existing 25 percent tariff that he had already imposed on goods fr