A new Indian cuisine restaurant is operating inside Hotel Aiken.

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JACKIE RICCIARDI/STAFF

Chef Sunny Kalra makes naan bread at Chaugan, a new Indian restaurant in Aiken.

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JACKIE RICCIARDI/STAFF

Sunny Kalra and Dori Langley pose for a photo at Chaugan, a new Indian restaurant in Aiken, on Thursday.

Owners Dori Langley and Sunny Kalra, the chef, decided to open Chaugan, at 235 Richland Ave. W., to bring traditional Indian food to the Aiken area, Langley said.

Kalra, who is from India, previously worked as the chef at Bombay Central in Augusta, she said.

Langley said she met Kalra through a friend and enjoyed his food so much that she wanted to open a restaurant with him.

“We invested everything we had to redo the kitchen, order the uniforms and paint the restaurant,” Langley said.

Chaugan has six employees. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner and seats 50. It also provides catering and serves food at the Hotel Aiken bar.

“Everything is authentic. The spices come from India,” Langley said. “I believe in healthy food. Indian food is very healthy. There’s no gluten, no MSG, no peanut oil. Lots of people that have allergies can eat the food.”

All of the restaurant’s food is cooked in a charcoal tandoori oven, she said.