- 2 weeks ago
Rick Stein's India - S01 - E02
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00:00There's something about a curry that's all-pervading.
00:16Just the thought of it ignites a longing deep inside us.
00:21It's the only food I can think of where the sense of smell works so wonderfully well with memory and imagination.
00:29At the mere mention of the word, I sense turmeric, coriander, garlic and cumin.
00:35No other food I know gives the taste buds such a rollercoaster ride.
00:44For nearly three months, I travelled all over India, tasting curries and watching cooks,
00:49trying to find out their secrets, because curry is full of complexities,
00:54and it's taken very seriously here.
00:58But I wanted to show that there's more to curry than three pints of lager and a prawn vindaloo.
01:05First-class curry, Ricky.
01:07That's a mind-blasting curry, Ricky.
01:14That's a mind-blasting curry, Ricky.
01:23Well, I was sitting on the plane this morning, reading my notes coming into Bombay, Mumbai.
01:36And I was really interested to see that 500 years ago, there was nothing here but a series of fishing communities on a string of islands.
01:51The Portuguese came along and they saw what a fabulous harbour this was, so they built a series of forts to protect it from other greedy European nations.
02:06Well, in time the British took over, and they reclaimed a lot of land from the sea, and they built a railway down the coast, and Bombay flourished, and it became the most successful and opulent city in the subcontinent, the gateway to India.
02:25I'm pretty glad I'm not a historian, actually, doing this programme, because I can be a bit flippant about the gateway to India, because I can't help feeling it sort of looks like something on a tin of curry powder, you know, because it's so imposing.
02:49Of course, it was supposed to be imposing, because it's a bit like the British Raj's front door.
02:55You sort of arrived here maybe off a P&O steamer.
02:58And quite ironically, and quite sort of romantically, I think, it was the gateway where the last British troops marched through ceremonially just after independence in 1947.
03:11It was built to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary when they arrived here in 1911, and it became the proscenium arch where the great and the good, bedecked in their ostrich feathers and gold braid, entered the rich, colourful stage, which is India.
03:32And talking of rich, colourful stages, it doesn't get much better than this.
03:53It almost has a biblical feel to it, Sassoon Docks, the main fish market in Bombay.
04:02Well, I must say, I'm always at my happiest in a fish market, my most exuberant.
04:08My wife, Sarah, says, I am a fish, because I love my fish so much.
04:12I don't know why it is, but that fish and boats and open-air scenes like this at dawn are what really, really makes me excited.
04:23I mean, look at it. I mean, I think in a sense, we're all excited by sights like this, because it sort of takes us back to a time when things were simpler, when people got on with each other much more closely.
04:36I mean, the great thing I always find in scenes like this in India is that you never feel that people have got it in for you, because they're too busy doing their own thing, doing their own work.
04:46I think in the West, somehow, because everything's so tidy and clean, we've just lost that sense of kinship.
04:53Well, I've been able to talk to a few people about what the fish sells for here, and some of the really big fish, like tuna, sailfish, swordfish.
05:11I've just seen some fish sold for 38,000 for export. But also, there's lots of little fish, which people make a small living out of.
05:21I was talking to the driver that bought us here, and he said his dad used to come here with a bucket and just buy lots of little fish and take them out to the neighbourhood around here.
05:32And he'd make about 300 rupees, which is nothing, but it was enough to keep his family in food.
05:39And also what I've noticed, and I hate waste, OK? Being a chef, I hate waste. There is no waste here. Nothing gets thrown away.
05:49Even the little fish that fall out of boxes or the stuff that's thrown onto the key, because it's too small to sell, is picked up by children and taken and sold.
06:00Fantastic. I've finally found it.
06:05This is one of the most important fish in the whole series. Doesn't look much, but it's called bombill.
06:13And it's what we used to know in the UK as Bombay duck. But can I find it any more? No way.
06:19Apparently, it's salted and dried, but it's not hygienic, they tell me in the EEC. But I suspect it's because it smells and people don't like the smell.
06:30But this is my childhood. We always used to have Bombay duck sprinkled on our curries. I'm determined to find it.
06:39The fishing boats here are all the same design. A stocky triangle of thick teak with a broad stern. Clearly a design to be trusted.
06:56I found it a little disconcerting to see the swastika blazoned on the side of wheelhouses.
07:03It's strange how over here it means a sign of good fortune, whereas in Europe it became the most sinister symbol in the whole of the Western world.
07:13Well, as the Australians would say, I'm like a kid in a lolly shop here.
07:25But it's not just really about the fish here, it's about the curries that's really exciting me.
07:31I mean, because being the most popular city in the whole of India, Bombay has fish curries from everywhere.
07:38Mangalore, Maharashtra, Madras, Kerala, Goa, you name it.
07:44And I can't wait to get out there and try them all.
07:49So the overall effect is that this place inspires you to cook.
07:58My little house at the edge of the lagoon is the perfect place to cook a curry resonant of that vibrant fish market.
08:06So I'm just slicing up my squid here and just cutting it into rings.
08:12It's been prepared apart from that with my trusty Indian blue knife, which cost me 40 rupees.
08:18Not a lot of money.
08:19Now I'm going to make a masala.
08:21Into my masala grinder, I'm going to put some coriander seeds, cumin seeds, some black mustard seeds, and then some garlic and red chilli, and some turmeric.
08:37And finally, some fenugreek.
08:41Turn it on, with it up.
08:44And there we go.
08:45Only takes seconds.
08:47And I'm just going to turn that out into, on top of my coconut, just to remind me to put both into my trusty carri or chatty.
08:57There's quite a good quantity of just ordinary vegetable oil in there.
09:02I'm going to fry off some sliced onions.
09:05Stir those around a little.
09:08Then I've got some garlic, erm, chilli, green chilli, and sliced ginger.
09:15There we go.
09:16I'm going to stir that around to cook it.
09:18And next, while it's still very hot, I add my squid.
09:31OK, there we go.
09:33In goes my masala now.
09:35And the ground grated coconut.
09:40Just think it could do with a little bit more colour and probably, thinking about the amount of chilli in there, a bit more oomph.
09:48So, I'm just going to add some chilli powder, about a British teaspoonful, I should think.
09:55And now, add some tomato.
09:58There we go.
09:59Just chopped up.
10:01This hot, country tomatoes all taste deliciously sweet.
10:07So, that's looking good.
10:08I'm just going to add a little bit of water.
10:10So, I wanted just a bit of sauce happening here.
10:13I always keep a water bottle near me whenever I'm cooking those Indian dishes.
10:18You never know when you might need it.
10:20Quite often, just if the spice is burning a bit, or you want a little bit more liquid for a sauce.
10:26Now, I'm going to add a very important ingredient in Mangalorean cooking tamarind.
10:32Lovely sour note.
10:36Sometimes I find them a little bit too sour, so I'm a bit apt to put a little bit of sugar in there as well.
10:44And I'm using jaggery, which is cane sugar.
10:47It's very, very unrefined.
10:49Tastes wonderful.
10:50Tastes like fudge.
10:51I'm just going to add now a little bit of coriander.
10:58You know, it's just, I love curries like this, because it's not all that long, thoughtful cooking Indian curries.
11:04Sometimes you can do it in minutes like this one.
11:08And very good it is too.
11:13I had this in a little restaurant.
11:15Well, it wasn't really a restaurant.
11:16It was just a gap in the wall, where they serve really good fish dishes.
11:21This took barely ten minutes to make.
11:24It's cheap, no fuss cooking, and I love it.
11:37On my trail for the elusive Bombay duck, it looks as if I'd missed the boat,
11:42because all that's left on these drying racks is a fish called a snake fish,
11:47inferior to the famous bombill that I saw earlier in the market.
11:55But I was invited to go to a fisherman's house in Visova
11:58and offered a taste of the famous, much-loved Bombay duck,
12:02an offer I couldn't turn down, because I haven't tasted it since my early 20s.
12:07I think it's fair to point out that the reason it's hard to get in Bombay,
12:16this dried, salted Bombay duck, is that restaurant owners can't stand it,
12:21because of the smell in their restaurants.
12:23I mean, you could appreciate that.
12:25I mean, back in Padsta, I think I'd be a little bit worried about
12:28sending hot Bombay duck out like this.
12:30It is a bit strong, but what I like is fried, let go cold,
12:35and then crumbled over a curry.
12:40Well, I've just been watching, and they're going to bring it out now.
12:42I have to say, it's a vegetarian day for them, so they're not going to try it.
12:46They've just done it specially for me.
12:49And also, they normally do it with a masala,
12:51but I just wanted to try it plain, just like a snack,
12:54because it's more like what I remember having sprinkled over my curry.
13:01It's very good.
13:03I mean, I don't know why people get so, sort of,
13:05nervous about things that are a bit smelly.
13:08This is wonderfully salty and savoury.
13:11Be great with a glass of beer.
13:13Lovely. Thank you very much.
13:15Thank you very much.
13:27I think we all know in the West that Bombay, or Mumbai,
13:30is really on the move.
13:33There's serious money here, and there are so many Indians
13:36who, having left their mother country to find fortune elsewhere,
13:39are coming back because the economy here is so buoyant.
13:43And I think that this place has always,
13:45since the days of the Arabs and the Portuguese,
13:47been very cosmopolitan.
13:52So this is Britannia.
13:54I met a food blogger, Per Vermeera,
13:56who took me to a well-established restaurant.
13:58It's a Parsi restaurant.
14:00Now, the Parsis escaped Muslim persecution in Iran
14:04nearly a thousand years ago
14:06and came to the western coast of India.
14:09The British loved them because they spoke English,
14:11and I think the Parsis really like the British
14:14because this restaurant is called Britannia.
14:18I notice you've got a picture of the Queen up there on the wall.
14:22You want the picture?
14:24No, no, no.
14:25So do you remember the days of the British Raj?
14:28Yes, I remember.
14:30How was it?
14:31I was at that time a young man, about 25 years old,
14:38when the British left.
14:40If you are going back to London,
14:44please give all my love to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.
14:49Well, I've met her a couple of times.
14:51Please tell her we want her back,
14:53and we all will be very happy again.
14:56Thank you very much.
14:58I'll do my best.
15:01So we're going to have...
15:03Can we have the...
15:04Yeah, we're going to have the berry pula.
15:06The berry pula.
15:07Yes, please.
15:08You want to have it chicken or mutton?
15:09We like the chicken is good, please.
15:11Yeah, fine.
15:12The chicken berry pula.
15:13So one chicken berry pula.
15:14One chicken berry pula.
15:15Yeah.
15:16OK, thank you very much.
15:20So Purva ordered berry pula,
15:22one of the most popular dishes here,
15:24and it's made with rice and barberries.
15:26They're deliciously sour and gleam like rubies,
15:29and they come from Iran.
15:32The whole dish is made with chicken and fried onions,
15:34lots of fried onions.
15:39Purva, I can't actually tell what's in here,
15:42and they won't give us the recipe.
15:44No, they won't.
15:45It's a family recipe.
15:46It's actually developed by Mr Kohino's wife.
15:48Ah.
15:49No chilli, is it?
15:50No chilli.
15:51Maybe just a hint of it,
15:53but the whole idea is the fragrance,
15:55because a pulao has to be aromatic.
15:57Yeah.
15:58Otherwise it fails as a pulao.
15:59In Australia I've got hold of dried sour fruit,
16:03mostly cherries from Iran.
16:05I think it's a speciality.
16:06It is a speciality.
16:07So who are the parties then?
16:09They actually fled the Muslim invasion.
16:12They did not want to be a conquered people.
16:14So they came and they settled in Gujarat.
16:16They brought with them dishes like chicken danshak,
16:19or danshak in general.
16:20So that's where danshak came from?
16:22Danshak came from the Parsis.
16:23Right.
16:24And they were excellent tradesmen.
16:26They still run the top businesses in the country.
16:28Well, I mean, I love it.
16:29It's a little bit sort of moth-eaten,
16:31but presumably they're keeping it the way it always was.
16:34Yes.
16:35Britannia, for instance, was set up in 1923.
16:38And Mr Bahman Kohinoor, who owns the place, is now 91.
16:42That's who we've just been talking to?
16:44Yes.
16:45Fabulous.
16:46He's managed the place for 75 years now.
16:48Good Lord.
16:49The Queen might watch this.
16:50He is.
16:51He's a loyalist.
16:53Doing his last thing.
16:55Well, let's tuck in.
16:57I have a strong feeling that Indians, not all, but certainly the ones I've met,
17:12regard the British with affection.
17:14Of course, nobody knows who I am over here, and nor should they.
17:18But when I say I'm from the UK, their faces light up.
17:21It's as simple as that.
17:22And this is just one of the legacies we left behind
17:25that has become as much a part of the country as Royal Enfield motorbikes
17:29and Austin Cambridge cars.
17:31So British, and yet so Indian.
17:38I was just wondering how many games of cricket there are going on here.
17:41About 100, I'd imagine.
17:43I'm just looking around a bit because I don't really want to get caught by a ball,
17:46but it's only a tennis ball.
17:48But I was just thinking if we were back in the UK,
17:52how many games would be allowed?
17:55Well, probably two per field.
17:57So you'd probably get four games here.
17:59If you wanted five, you'd have to come back on Thursday.
18:02No wonder the Indians are so good at cricket.
18:05I need something a bit faster than that.
18:15I never was any good at it.
18:21Kipling, in his poem to Bombay, talks of the people here
18:35who traffic up and down but cling to the city's hem
18:39as a child to their mother's gown.
18:42Maybe people have always come here to the water's edge
18:45to get away from the dynamo of the city.
18:51And this is where lovers go to hold hands but never kiss.
18:55It's not allowed.
18:57I'm told by my guide, Krishna,
18:59that most young couples have nowhere to go
19:01in this very expensive, overpopulated city,
19:04except here, to gaze out over the sea,
19:08away from the noise of clogged streets
19:10and their parents' tiny apartment.
19:13Here, they can talk about their dreams
19:15until the sun goes down and beyond.
19:18But they can't kiss.
19:20It's not allowed.
19:31Whilst on the subject of love,
19:33this is what the people who come from here absolutely adore.
19:36It's called Pao Ba Ji.
19:38It is, I'm told by Purva, my foodie guide,
19:41the quintessential Bombay dish.
19:45It's made with loads of butter, chopped onions,
19:48and the onions are always red in India,
19:51unless anyone knows better.
19:53Then cumin seeds, mashed potatoes,
19:57loads of freshly chopped tomatoes,
20:01and marrow-fat peas.
20:04To me, the indulgence of eating a cracking Pao Ba Ji
20:09is similar to a great hamburger.
20:12It's all about a combination.
20:14In this case, the vegetables, the freshly baked bread,
20:17and loads of butter.
20:19Next, Pao Ba Ji masala mix,
20:23chilli and coriander powder, salt,
20:26and then lots of chopped coriander.
20:29It smells lovely.
20:31It's a funny thing to say,
20:32but it's sort of like a very exotic bubble and squeak.
20:35The masala is the most crucial part,
20:38and as you can see, it's burning on ice.
20:41Yeah.
20:42So you can imagine how potent it is,
20:44but that's where all the flavour is at.
20:46It seems to have an awful lot of butter in at the beginning.
20:48A lot of butter.
20:49A lot of butter.
20:50I mean, there's like a pound, an old measurement,
20:54and then to start with.
20:55Precisely.
20:56Butter is indispensable to the dish.
20:57Yeah.
20:58It's greasy, that sort of fat taste.
21:01It's unapologetic, though.
21:02If you don't have butter, you can't have Pao Ba Ji.
21:04You can't call it Pao Ba Ji without the butter.
21:06Well, I really can't wait to try it.
21:08Because the thing is,
21:09it's dishes like this that are the most memorable.
21:11Well, if you come to Bombay and you don't eat Pao Ba Ji,
21:13it's like you missed out.
21:14Well, look, I haven't eaten it yet, so...
21:16Well, you're about to.
21:18I mean, I'm glad you're doing this,
21:19because this is quintessential Bombay street food.
21:22So what do we do now?
21:24All right, so you have to get your hands dirty, Rick.
21:26Fine.
21:27You break the bread,
21:29and you scoop up the butter,
21:31but break a piece.
21:32Yeah.
21:33Or you can ladle it on there, that's fine.
21:34What would you do?
21:35Just you do it.
21:36OK, I'll show you how it's done.
21:37So we break a piece.
21:38This is so exciting.
21:39We break a piece.
21:40Oh, I see.
21:41And you just scoop it up, butter and all.
21:43And voila.
21:52Wow.
21:53What do you think?
21:54This is superb.
22:02I mean, this is the sort of like...
22:04Who cares about the diet?
22:06I'm going to have some fun.
22:07Precisely.
22:11Unbelievably lovely.
22:12You can taste the butter, can't you?
22:14Mmm.
22:15It's all butter.
22:20I got this dish which is chicken with apricots from Bombay, Mumbai,
22:24whichever you prefer.
22:25I went to the same restaurant twice because it was that good.
22:29And this is one of the dishes I had.
22:31And I asked the manager there where it came from.
22:33And he said he thought it was from Gujarat.
22:35But he thought originally it was a Parsi dish.
22:38But like so much in Bombay, there's 20 million plus population there.
22:43And most of them come from other parts of India.
22:46So, for me, it's a Bombay dish.
22:48So, first of all, I'm going to put into my hot chatty, or karai, some oil.
22:53And now I'm going to temper some spices.
22:55And I really enjoy doing this now.
22:57It's something I've learnt in India.
22:59You put whole spices in hot oil.
23:01And it just infuses the hot oil with the flavour of those spices.
23:05First of all, some peppercorns.
23:07And now some cloves.
23:09Some bruised cardamons.
23:11That means that the seeds are sort of popping out.
23:14A couple of chillies.
23:18I should have taken the stalk off that one.
23:20Doesn't matter.
23:21And now just break up a bit of cinnamon.
23:24Stir those around for about 30 seconds.
23:30Lovely smell.
23:32Now I'm just going to add some onions.
23:34Not a lot.
23:35And just brown those.
23:37So, there we go.
23:40Time now for some roughly chopped garlic and ginger.
23:45Just let that brown a little bit.
23:47I love the smell of garlic and ginger.
23:50Right, that's browning quite nicely.
23:53So, now I'm going to add some tomatoes.
23:55And the recipe says cook it down until it's syrupy.
23:59So, I'll just let those tomatoes come down nicely.
24:03Just giving off all their moisture.
24:05And now I'm going to add some salt.
24:09Excuse me if I add a bit more than you think's healthy.
24:15A teaspoon and a half.
24:17Generous teaspoon and a half.
24:19And now to add my dry spices.
24:21First of all, some turmeric.
24:23Probably only about half a teaspoon.
24:25And next, some chili.
24:29Probably I'm getting a bit sort of keen on my chili.
24:33I think I'd have written this recipe for just one teaspoon before.
24:37But now I've made it two.
24:39Now some ground coriander.
24:41Teaspoon.
24:42And some ground cumin.
24:44Teaspoon.
24:45And some garam masala.
24:47Let's say a teaspoon and a half.
24:50Love my garam masala.
24:52Just stir that around.
24:53That is getting quite hot that now.
24:55I don't want those powdered spices to burn at all.
24:59So I'm just going to add a little bit of water.
25:01Just to take.
25:03Sorry.
25:04Too much chili.
25:06There we go.
25:08That's very nice.
25:09And now I'm going to add the chicken.
25:11Cook that a little bit.
25:13Not brown it.
25:14But just take the sort of pink colour off it.
25:17Now I'm putting jaggery in.
25:20Which is this cane.
25:21Very, very raw cane sugar.
25:24Very nice.
25:25I just love eating it on its own.
25:27So in goes that.
25:28But here's the dried apricots.
25:30Lots of them.
25:32And that gives the dish a lovely sweetness.
25:37Contrasted with the next ingredient.
25:40Which is vinegar.
25:42Now this is toddy vinegar.
25:44Which is actually made from the sap.
25:46Of the coconut flour.
25:48You can use white wine vinegar at all.
25:50Of course.
25:51A couple of tablespoons of that.
25:54So it's that sort of sweet and sourness.
25:56That I think is the real.
25:58Beguilingness of this dish.
26:00And finally.
26:02We need to add.
26:03At this stage in the cooking.
26:05We need to add.
26:06Some water.
26:07Just to barely cover that.
26:08Just stir that in.
26:10And that is now.
26:12Going to cook for about 30 minutes.
26:14First covered.
26:15To really cook the chicken.
26:16And then for the last 5-10 minutes.
26:17I'll uncover it.
26:18To reduce it a little bit.
26:19Can't find the bleeding lid.
26:20Oh there it is.
26:21Where I left it.
26:22See you later.
26:23While that's bubbling away.
26:24I talked about chilli powder earlier.
26:25So you've got to see this.
26:26This to me sums up everything.
26:27That's so ingenious.
26:28About the Indians.
26:29I call this the spice pistons.
26:31It sounds like a band.
26:32It sounds like a band.
26:33This to me sums up everything.
26:34That's so ingenious about the Indians.
26:35I call this the spice pistons.
26:36It sounds like a band.
26:39Oh.
26:40Oh.
26:41Oh.
26:42Oh.
26:43Oh.
26:44Oh.
26:45Oh.
26:46Oh.
26:47Oh.
26:48Oh.
26:49Oh.
26:50Oh.
26:51Oh.
26:52Oh.
26:53Oh.
26:54Oh.
26:55Oh.
26:56Oh.
26:57Oh.
26:58Oh.
26:59Oh.
27:00Oh.
27:01Oh.
27:02Oh.
27:03And you get your spice ground in a large big factory.
27:06They're doing hundreds and hundreds of kilos at a time.
27:09They grind it really fast.
27:11And it gets hot.
27:12And it starts to burn.
27:13And that actually burns off part of the flavour.
27:17So the real joy of this machine is it stays cool.
27:21And you get all the fragrance of the chilli.
27:24Thank you very much.
27:29much well that's what two kilos of whole chilies looks like as powder smells smells absolutely
27:39fruity and fragrant and it tastes i mean don't use spice powder try and grind your own even if
27:51you're using a coffee grinder you'll get something like this taste there is so much more to it now i
27:56would actually say that one of the main things i'm learning in india is go for fresh spices all
28:04the time it just transforms every curry you're ever going to make
28:12so after 30 minutes or so that's perfect the right consistency rich and velvety and notice i'm leaving
28:19the whole spices in well that's what they do here as well as leave the chicken on the bone more flavor
28:25they say that looks so nice lovely color this one i think now i'm just going to sprinkle on these
28:34some coriander but now these these chips which is quite unusual india india but it's so nice
28:41just put them on the top like that and when you eat the curry and you've got these crisp crunchy matchstick
28:46potatoes fab so we're going to your favorite restaurant then this is my new friend krishna
29:01who is also our translator and guide
29:07you have to like this not
29:08okay and he assures me that feeding the cow will bring me an abundance of good luck
29:16ah i got the time now that's good luck thank you we're going to his favorite restaurant in the
29:22whole of bombay i don't think it's even got a name but the food is supposed to be really good
29:27you're feeling nicely feeling wonderful
29:35well this is just a little bit frustrating no disrespect to krishna because we asked him
29:41where his favorite restaurant was in all of bombay and he's chosen this tiny restaurant so small
29:48that only the cameraman can get in there basically i've asked for a fish masala and as far as i can
29:55work out what they've done is taken a whole lot of spices whole chili coriander cumin coconuts and dry
30:02fried them then ground them then they put that in a pan with water and then they've added wet ingredients
30:09ginger garlic tamarind tomato and lots of green chilies and boiled that together and now they're ready
30:17to put the fish in which i think is going to be shark
30:25so he says it's just the best and i i don't doubt it but i'm slightly irritated with david the director
30:31because you know he likes making things difficult for me and i feel a bit like sort of keith floyd in
30:36a way do you remember those programs where he used to complain about the director making
30:40him go up in balloons and all this sort of thing same guy the portions are not what i call gargantuan
30:48it's mostly rice flavored with this spicy hot tamarind sauce and just the merest amount of fish
30:55well that's how it is here what do you think about it see that's you got the tamarind sea
31:01it's lovely i mean it's incredibly um economical for a start you've got not a lot of fish but you
31:09don't need it lots of rice yeah and the the masala is exquisite it's real tastes really fresh i'm sorry
31:16i'm so bad at eating with my fingers but it's just devilish difficult to get used to it yeah i know you
31:21have to learn you know but you couldn't pass me a napkin could you because my i just want to have some
31:26of that rice special napkin designed for uh kerkera canteen this one you finished no no no i just get
31:34my hands get so dirty because i just want to try some of this which is rice water rice water yeah
31:39they don't give water they give rice water it's very nice you have all the energy of the rice here
31:45yeah you don't miss it okay so like another four five hours you know i always feel you know when
31:52you burp you know yeah that rice flavor comes out and it feels so nice but i really enjoy this
31:59this is how we my mom cooks at home you know so if somebody asks me like which is your favorite
32:05food you know i i say oh the the fish curry which my mom cooks okay so this for me this is kind of my
32:12my home and i think that's really what eating out is all about really i've suddenly realized this
32:18why i've never run a sort of michelin-starred restaurant myself because i can't stand all
32:23that you know well we call it really all that sort of like over the topness all i really want
32:31yeah yeah sometimes i mean the director is now going to say well what about your prices then rick
32:36when i knew i was coming to bombay i naturally wanted to visit the slums the vast sprawling
32:57corrugated shanty town i'd seen in slum dog millionaire
33:06and i'm not alone because many visitors holiday makers and business people make a beeline here
33:13not out of any morbid curiosity more as a genuine interest in how so many people get along run a
33:20business raise a family and educate their kids it's a marvel
33:36so uh yeah a lot of industries happening here really like recycling you know because it looks
33:44like a bit shocking that's true but i can i'll show you something please come here good lord
33:51unbelievable i mean the contrast what are they doing that's that's androidy they make uh the logos
34:00i would like the t-shirts it can be anything if you want you can make your own local so so really it's
34:06it's a question of attitude really isn't it you can either say this is a frightful slum or it's
34:13you know it's testimony to people's ingenuity to do things for me it's it's kind of you know
34:18possibilities it's a shame in a way that it's called a slum isn't it maybe it's because there's not any
34:24other name yeah you have to say so um yeah so a lot of work going on here a lot of people live here
34:36yeah a lot of migrants community you can just have a look here you know and all the king's
34:40something cooking yeah yeah please come please come excuse me please come see i feel a bit like
34:48we're imposing that is beautiful and you can see no oil no it's uh it's healthy does he mind me
34:55touching it or no no it's okay anyway if you want you can eat it oh i'd love to eat it you believe in
35:02sharing the food so that's the party i've ever eaten he's asking you on some vegetable i'd love some
35:11what's he got in there then green chili salt you liked it i love it
35:18take this information eat oh i will all it was was courgettes green chilies onions garlic and salt
35:29it felt strange walking down these alleyways because i never knew what was behind each door we passed
35:35krishna wanted me to see a blast furnace right in the middle of this township imagine you're a health
35:41and safety officer where would you start see the melting the aluminium there can't be very healthy
35:48for them yeah that's true i mean especially you can see the working condition right i mean it's in a
35:52small place smoke and also they don't even wear gloves or mask yeah but if you tell them yeah so why
35:58can't you wear some gloves or masks they say no it's hot and we don't want it it's it's okay no
36:03problem you know it's it's kind of uh they're very proud of their work just as well can we get out of
36:10here i'm beginning to choke krishna tells me that people like lawyers and doctors live here because
36:18they choose to bombay is so expensive and the alternative is to move miles away and commute
36:25so they prefer to stay here in the center of things noticing walking around and of course there's
36:32you know lots of other people have said this is you can think of a slum as being depressing or you
36:38can think it as being ingenious once you're inside you see it is really organized okay but if you see
36:45the combo the the the uh infrastructure which is really really poor for example there are open
36:53drainages electricity wires hanging everywhere working condition is poor yeah but despite of
36:58that you see the sense of community huge and then uh people are doing something there's some kind of
37:04positive stuff happening one of my literary heroes who incidentally was born in bombay is rajad kipling
37:16if this slum had been in existence in his time i know he would have come here because he said in this
37:22peace about bombay the smell of oil and spices and puffs of incense and sweat and darkness and dirt
37:30and lust and cruelty but above all things wonderful and fascinatingly innumerable
37:52there are certain places you go to that you're not absolutely sure where you are well i know i'm in
38:06india but i feel i've been transported somewhere maybe on the french riviera and i'm warming to the idea
38:14of a nice cold glass of rose and maybe a buirbis
38:26this is the town of pondicherry three hours drive along the east coast road south of madras now known
38:44as chinai it used to be the jewel in france's indian crown the churches twinkle in the sunshine they look
38:53as though they were freshly built almost edible the roads are wide and the street signs acknowledge
39:00three centuries of french rule this little corner on the romantic coromandel coast will forever be la belle
39:09france
39:16their language remains and so do the smart kippies worn by the local policemen
39:22and so does the patisserie
39:27this could be anywhere in france and tradition aside it's such a great idea all these tourists that
39:33come here from europe dreaming of coffee freshly baked bread and apricot jam they can't go wrong
39:41historically france's grip on the subcontinent wasn't so assured as the british
39:47but quite simply it came down to british sea power britain had the bigger navy the stronger navy
39:54and took over india otherwise i suspect places like calcutta and mumbai would have french
40:00architecture wide boulevards lovely graceful white buildings not so austere as the british ones
40:07and of course i'll be sitting having a cafe and a croissant anywhere and probably looking forward to
40:13steak frites and a glass of red wine for dinner
40:19they can't make enough baguettes here and they're authentic
40:22the name baker street reeks of french humor it's very obvious the manager is ellie jimadi
40:31i had your baguettes for my breakfast this morning and i could have been back
40:35in paris they were that good we tried to make it each and every time exactly proper french
40:43baguettes so you you've lived in france though i live i've been in 25 years since 25 years 10 years
40:51in production 15 years in sales your cafe downstairs is filled with french people yeah but do indians
40:58like this bread too surely surely say they are now each and every time they are a lot of french people
41:04indian peoples from banglore daily and name chennai main local peoples pondicherry peoples when they
41:12try these baguettes and now maybe indian peoples they love our french baguettes
41:27i wanted to taste a fusion of french and tamal cuisine they call it creole here
41:32a friend of mine suggested this place quite a posh hotel that prides itself in this fusion of taste
41:45and so the specialty on the menu du jour is sauteed lemon pickled prawn aaron and ashok ashok's the one in the chef's whites showed me how it's done
41:59after sauteing ginger garlic and shallots they add some sliced courgettes and then some plumptuous prawns
42:10which i imagine came off the fishing boat only hours ago on a beach nearby
42:16next a pinch of pickled lemons an influence that spreads all the way from north africa where the french
42:23dominated dominated and then some garam masala
42:29and now the dried almost provencal herbs rosemary and thyme finished off with fresh basil coriander
42:38and some seasoning this looks really good i mean i can see the french ingredients there you got the
42:43thyme and the rosemary and the olive oil yes sir but then you put in garam masala in as well which is
42:49uh sir because this is supposed to be a creole cuisine but creole uh you know pondicherry creole
42:55which means when french came to india uh they brought their own ingredients but it did not last for
43:01long as a result they started using our ingredients also but this is still recognizably a french sort of
43:08dish albeit with local flavors yes that's right sir perfect fusion yes sir
43:13i'm very keen to try this shallot please yeah i mean i can i can taste the olive oil and taste the
43:23garam masala yes it's a very nice dish it's a real fusion actually it really is
43:34i think it's fair to say that gandhi's peaceful mission to boycott all things british
43:39in the early 1900s would have gone down extremely well with the french in pondicherry maybe that's
43:46why the people here erected this massive statue in his honor gandhi actually came from an upper middle
43:54class family in gujarat was an intellectual and before his famous passive resistance where he inspired the
44:01independence movement he actually went to the uk to study law and as a strict vegetarian couldn't
44:09really find anything to eat um part from what he had at his land ladies which was boiled cabbage
44:15potatoes bread cake and jam and cups of tea he did finally discover that he could cook from indian
44:23shops in london for himself vegetarian food but the only british dish he really liked was porridge
44:30there was a time when even he had his doubts about vegetarianism simply because all of india's
44:37powerful invaders the moguls the portuguese the arabs and of course the british all ate lots of meat
44:45so therefore the young mahatma thought hang on a tick if all the indians could eat meat they'd be
44:51strong enough to kick the british out apparently he tried a bit of roast goat and found it a dreadful
44:57experience and never again to be repeated all thoughts in that area were soon forgotten
45:03in honor of gandhi's passion for all things veggie back at my house on the edge of the lagoon i'm going
45:12to cook my favorite vegetable curry a curry i could eat for breakfast every day i'm now going to make aloo
45:19dam or in this case actually i'm going to call it aloo mutter because it contains peas as well as potatoes
45:25the aloo dam is probably the most common vegetable dish all over india you get it everywhere and i think
45:33it's a bit like chips with everything you have aloo done with everything so first of all i saute some
45:40parboiled potatoes in mustard oil you don't need any longer than five minutes then a sprinkle of turmeric
45:48to give it a nice golden glow stir that in and put to one side add a little more oil mustard oil and
45:58now some indian bay leaves it's just not worth using european bay leaves if you haven't got these um
46:04don't bother about it i often think they've got a slight flavor of cinnamon so um if you haven't got
46:11it might be an idea just to put an inch or so of um cinnamon in here just a tiny bit of asafoetida
46:19which is very pungent but as the indians say if it's not there you notice it and to complement
46:27the asafoetida and enhance the dish even further i add freshly made paste of onion garlic and ginger
46:34and now some powders now i say powders but i have actually ground these up well not me i got them
46:46done actually it wasn't actually me teaspoon of chili powder a teaspoon of coriander and a teaspoon of
46:56cumin powdered and now quite an unusual ingredient which is called amcha which is actually dried mango
47:07and not too much about half a teaspoon it's very concentrated
47:13so now a little bit more turmeric and then some salt now quite a lot of tomato i've just bought
47:21tomatoes and whizzed them up in a food processor they're so good here that you don't really need
47:26to buy tin tomatoes you probably couldn't buy them anyway next some sliced green chillies i like
47:32a bit of heat in my food so i've kept the seeds in and a splash more water to keep it moist
47:38and now the potatoes
47:43that is looking so nice and may i suggest that next time you go down to your local indian if you don't do
47:50this already make sure you order aloo dam which is just the potatoes or aloe mutter which is with
47:57the peas you'll be so glad you did
48:02and finally i'm going to put in some garam masala about a teaspoon
48:08very often in indian dishes you end the dish with some garam masala but you might start it with garam
48:14masala as well but the point of it going in at the end is it just gives all that spiciness a real
48:20lift finish off with a sprinkle of freshly chopped coriander and by the way that am sure gives it a real
48:28sour zest there it is what do you think of that
48:33i met up with a cookery writer lord louis who comes from an eclectic family of tamil french and
48:46vietnamese to her pondicherry is a place like no other so what would it have been like here in the
48:54colonial times in the 50s 40s 50s we had a lot of french people the european french living here yes and of
49:01course the local pondicherryans who had the french nationality and we had also the schooling in
49:07french wow and many people in pondicherry many pondicherryans speak french at home really just like
49:14our mother tongue lord lives on the outskirts of the french quarter and she's offered to cook
49:23me a typical dish from pondicherry chicken vindai she starts off with oil and it's sunflower oil she's
49:33using then a bay leaf they do taste different these indian bay leaves cinnamon the merest hint
49:42just one clove and a little bit of star anise next onion
49:54so you're starting with some whole spices yes the whole spice you don't pound powder them
49:59leave it as as such uh-huh and i notice you've got um star anise in there which is quite rare in india
50:05uh but in pondicherry cuisine we have a lot of uh standards but very little because of its medicinal
50:13value you know we value a lot we balance the food yeah not only for the taste but also for the medicine
50:21medicinal value and most of the food we cook is uh based on ayurveda ayurveda is uh ayur is life
50:29veda is science science of life and we believe very much that we are what we eat which is true
50:36you are a chef you know it very well try my my is very hot that's beautiful there's a really sort
50:46of plumptiousness to use english about it yes and it's sweet thoroughly cooked and i can even only put
50:53a tiny bit of star anise in there but i can taste you can taste it yeah very subtle very very subtle lovely
50:58and you you it's not overpowering no this is garlic with cumin and a wee bit of uh finugreek a d-bit
51:08little bit a v-bit i really like that i shall use it for now and say a v-bit just means a little pinch yes
51:16good chili powder uh turmeric powder stir it a bit be very careful not to burn the spices
51:31and now the tomato
51:36but now we have to cover it and allow the tomato to cook
51:40because you know why we use the spices it's just to you know we believe in india that the meat you know
51:46of fish have a kind of a smell that disturbs the palate that has been used to vegetarian food
51:53so it is to just really yes so what is there a word for that like we call it in south kouchi
52:00kouchi kouchi smell of the meat smell and the fish smell in the same way the chinese put ginger with
52:06fish i think exactly yeah exactly once the tomatoes have cooked right down lord adds the chicken pieces
52:14and white wine vinegar the ingredient that gives this dish its name vindai this dish is called vindai
52:23yeah i think it's a deformation of the french dish right they have stuck it together called it vindai
52:30so um this is unique to pondicherry it's very typical nowhere else you'll get it nowhere actually
52:36just uh i do remember in in goa vindaloo vindaloo nothing to do with this nothing to do with this
52:42the vindaloo has nothing to do with this yeah but they do use vinegar there though they use they do use
52:47vinegar but not white vinegar they use a kind of a vinegar made out of the cashew nut fruit and
52:53i'm sorry you don't like it no sorry the smell is very yucky it spoils the curry in fact fine
53:02if i i bet you if i went to go and said you know they use vinegar over in pondicherry tell them tell
53:07them it's different vinegar different taste you know now you'll taste tell me uh craig taste and tell
53:12it's rick after about 15 minutes the dish is ready to serve i must say it smells really good and i'm
53:24rather looking forward to tasting it bon appetit rick merci
53:30that's very nice like it not too hot for you no not too hot it's very um subtle subtle yeah
53:46mild yes i love the tomato in it personally of course i love the uh vinegar in it because i like
53:51that sort of tangy using curry in the generic sense of being indian food generally i'm looking for my top
53:59ten and yes i think this might well be in that top ten thank you thank you
54:09talking of top dishes i have to tell you about this place actually i stopped here on my way down
54:15to pundicherry from chennai i was told about an ancient 8th century temple in the town of mamala
54:23but always being a bit peckish i headed straight to the little restaurants on the beach instead
54:29it's funny but when i see a sign like this roughly stenciled on a wall in such delightful indian colors
54:39i just know that the food is going to be really good
54:44and if you're in southern india then fish curry should be the top of your list
54:49the folks here at the seashore garden restaurant make i think one of the very best
54:54the ingredients are fresh as can be and the cooking time is minimal what seems like an enormous
55:02amount of chili powder is fried with shallots green chilies curry leaves and garlic
55:11and here's the star ingredient a beautiful snapper firm and absolutely fresh caught just a few miles
55:20off this very beach on the coromandel coast to finish the masala sauce in goes some tomato paste and what
55:28makes this curry undeniably south indian tamarind a few more whole green chilies for added heat
55:35and it's time time to taste like this yeah just watching him putting some of the some of the sauce
55:50on his hand then tasting it it's because the hindus just will not taste anything but it's all about
55:56hygiene you put a spoon in something and you taste it it's unhygienic am i right yes i'm right
56:09i actually tried when i was back in the uk one of these what i like to call madras fish curries rather
56:14than chennai fish curries it was made exactly like that and seriously it's the best a very good fish
56:20curry it's the best fish curry i've ever tasted want to get it back home on in the restaurant and i know
56:26it's going to be superb this to me is a seafood chef's nirvana sitting feet away from the water's
56:38edge in balmy sunshine enjoying a mind-blowing fish curry cooked in hardly any time at all this place
56:47is a great find and life can't possibly get any better can it
56:56that is just simply perfect i mean the fish is so fresh it's you can taste the sea you know when
57:01it's dead fresh fish like that oh heaven and the tamarind just gives it such a zest
57:08and the curry leaves and of course the green chilies in it it is superb so would you put that on your list
57:14of best curries would i i mean seriously for me and i think i'm a bit biased have to say but fish curry like
57:23this could be could be the one i know i've got to be thinking about this because some of those chicken
57:32ones are really good we haven't had any beef ones yet we've got to go to to kerala where there's lots
57:37of christians to have beef and the goat the mutton curry is fantastic but fish a big piece of snapper
57:43like this oh ever i know there are other curries out there that maybe could possibly eclipse that
57:55moment but what a joy of a journey to find out if that's true
58:05we've been traveling now for three weeks and i have to find the perfect curry
58:09the crew have tried to tempt me with things like egg and chips pork chops green beans roast beef
58:17all those things that remind me of home but no i should continue in this quest to find the perfect curry
58:39that's a mind-blasting curry ricky
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