Episode 1 Indian Food Made Easy

I'm Anjum Anand. I'm a food writer and a chef,

and I'm on a mission to show how easy it is to cook Indian food.

It's really quick. All we did was make a paste, marinade and fry.

In Britain, we love Indian food, but it's often thought that it's too complicated to cook.

In this series, I want to show you

that there's nothing to be afraid of.

That's the second dish.

-That was really easy.

-Now you're thinking like a cook!

-Gorgeous.

-And that fantastic flavour's going to go right into your food.

My family and I eat Indian food every single day,

simple traditional dishes passed down through the generations.

-Isn't it good?

-Oh, I love it!

-I want more!

-This week, I'm taking my simple, healthy Indian food

to the heart of the English countryside.

I've persuaded my friend Panthea, who doesn't cook at all, to help me raise money for charity,

selling my food at the Sherborne Country Fair in Dorset.

I'm going to teach her everything she needs to know -

from the basic spices to buy...

Cumin seeds, cumin seeds, I'm sure cumin seeds was one.

..to making samosas.

This is simple, healthy Indian food anyone can cook.

The country fair's in a week's time, and I've got a lot of work to do

if I want to show the people of Dorset that Indian food can be more than just a balti.

My friend Panthea is going to help me.

She's from Iran. Her two passions are shopping and eating.

I love Indian food. I think it's delicious.

Panthea's sales patter is second to none, so she's bound to help bring in the customers at the fair.

There's only one snag - she's more used to ordering food in restaurants than slaving over a hot stove.

I wouldn't cook Indian food because I think it's very complicated.

It just looks complicated with all the different spices, and all the things that go into it.

She's never been a confident cook, and relies almost exclusively on packaged food.

This is the perfect opportunity for her to get over her fears in the kitchen,

so I'm going to make her a delicious lunch and convince her that she's the one for the job.

-Mwah! It's been ages.

-I know, how are you doing?

Not bad!

I need you to help and come with me and help me cook, and help me sell.

Help you cook?! Why...?

I mean, how can I help you cook when I don't cook?!

You're jobless. You'll be so fantastic at selling the food because you love it

and you're passionate about your food.

-Talking about food, I'm starving, can we eat?

-All right.

To try and twist her arm, I'm going to cook pan-fried halibut

in a crushed chilli, ginger and garlic paste with a crunchy salad.

What I want to do is to cook the fish in a mixture

of flour and desiccated coconut because I want to get a nice crust.

-That's really good.

-Basically, halibut takes three to four minutes a side.

What do people actually eat in these fairs? Hamburgers...

Satays... Something that's really easy, you know?

I think wraps are a good idea.

People can eat them in their hands, you're right.

-Or samosas?

-Samosas are a good idea.

I can't believe how quick that was.

It IS really quick. All we did was make a paste, marinade and fry.

Tuck in, let me know what you think.

I know you can recreate this.

But will you please, please, please come to the fair with me first?

-Just nod, eat and nod.

-Fine, I'll come to the fair.

Thank you!

At the fair, most people will be wanting food they can eat with their hands without getting messy,

so I'm opting for a tasty British favourite, tandoori-style food wrapped in tortillas.

Chicken tikka with a green chutney.

Lamb brochettes marinated in coriander and cumin.

For the vegetarians, a delicious mushroom, spinach and paneer wrap

and an unusual savoury semolina cake -

spongy, crisp and full of goodness.

To help Panthea get to grips with the ingredients,

I've sent her off to buy the five basic spices of Indian cooking.

They're all available in almost every supermarket.

OK, this is really easy because they've got Turkey, Egypt,

Hungary, Indonesia all written, so we just look for the India ones.

SHE MISPRONOUNCES: Cumin seeds, I'm sure cumin seeds was one.

She's looking for cumin, a rich, dark spice full of flavour.

Powdered spices tend to lose their flavour quicker than whole spices

so I buy them as nature intended, and then grind them up in a pestle and mortar as I need them.

That way, my spices are always fresh.

Coriander seeds are very different from the leaf.

This spice is mild and aromatic, and I tend to get through an awful lot of it.

Chilli powder, which adds great heat and colour.

Turmeric is also used for its fabulous colour, as well as its medicinal properties.

The root is dried and then pounded

to a fine, yellow powder.

And garam masala, a mixture of many spices ground together, fragrant and aromatic.

These five spices form the base of many Indian dishes.

Victory! I've got all five spices!

While Panthea's off shopping, I'm going to meet a man

who knows everything there is to know about tandoori food.

Gaylord was one of the first Indian restaurants to open in London in 1967.

Their hot clay oven is the secret to great tandoori food.

It's like, fiery coals inside...

Mr Singh has been cooking here for almost 20 years.

Like every great tandoori chef, he has his own secret recipe for perfect chicken.

This is an opportunity to observe a real master at work. The first stage is to slash the chicken.

So that the spices can go inside.

Totally marinade the whole chicken.

Yup, yup. Got it, got it. You're going to salt the chicken.

And chilli powder.

-Chilli powder, OK.

-This is a methi powder.

Methi is dried fenugreek leaves powdered.

-Garam masala.

-That's your secret garam masala.

-Mixed garam masala.

-OK.

Black pepper, and ginger and garlic paste.

-Why's that green if that's ginger and garlic paste?

-Ginger, garlic paste and...

-Green chillies!

-..green chillies...

Green chillies also. You see you're keeping more secrets from me now!

OK, with my hand, all right.

And lemon juice.

Lemon juice.

You put quite a bit of that.

So I've mixed all of the spices, and the ginger, garlic and chilli paste.

OK, now we make the yoghurt.

'Then it's time to create that famous tandoori colour with a yoghurt marinade.'

Chilli powder and salt and garam masala

and black pepper and kasuri methi and garam masala, ginger powder.

Is that red chilli powder?

-Is that for colour?

-Yes.

-You don't use any fake colourings, do you?

-No, no.

People think there's a lot of fake colouring in Indian food but it's not really true.

Look at that beautiful orange colour! So that's from the paprika?

-Yes.

-'Once the chicken is covered, it's ready for the tandoor.

'This is the final stage in the process and is where the chicken gets its chargrilled flavour.

'To make this happen, the tandoor must be extremely hot, over 250 degrees.'

Oh, my big tandoori moment.

Wow, it is HOT.

Whoo! That's hot!

So that's going to take about half an hour to cook.

I can't wait, I'm so excited. My own tandoori chicken.

Grab a cloth, just take it out.

Is this clean? I put it in here.

-Lovely!

-Thank you.

-I'm a pro!

-Very good.

-Thank you.

So do it the Indian way.

Just kind of use the naan to protect my fingers.

-Mm!

-Lovely?

Not spicy at all, maybe slightly, but good spice.

Really full of flavour.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

Having tasted Gaylord's chicken, back at home, I'm feeling suitably inspired to start cooking my own.

Because I don't have a tandoor oven, I've created my own recipe for authentic tandoori food.

It'll work just as well in a normal oven or on a barbecue.

Even though you haven't started cooking, it smells really nice!

That's cos you're near the spices.

'The yoghurt marinade I'm going to make is much simpler

'than Mr Singh's, but will work really well in my normal oven.'

If you add about a teaspoon and a half of chilli powder,

-about three teaspoons of garam masala.

-Which is? That one?

Tandoori food is really similar. It's a lot of yoghurt and some spices,

and then you customise it

to whatever you're in the mood for, right? This is the generic.

If you don't want to do anything else to it, it's this simple.

That's my ginger roughly chopped,

so I'm going to whizz it all together and add it to the yoghurt.

'I'm also adding eight cloves of garlic.'

Could you just get a lemon and squeeze in half a lemon's worth?

I'm going to add my ginger and garlic.

Can you add a good slug of oil? That comes out slowly so just enough that it doesn't get too dry.

Do you usually do it the night before so you can keep it in the fridge for a whole 24 hours?

Exactly. The longer the chicken will marinade, the more the flavour gets into the chicken

because when you barbecue it, just a little bit remains on the outside,

so it needs to have gone inside, the flavour.

Grate up that cheese.

'And now for my secret ingredient, cheddar cheese.

'It may seem like a strange addition to Indian food, but it makes the marinade really creamy.

'I'm also going to use an egg to bind all the ingredients together

'and help the marinade cling to the chicken.'

-I can't even do that properly, I got a bit of shell in it.

-Did you?

That's not so OK!

'Panthea's not used to getting her manicured hands dirty, but I'm convinced

'that with a little help, she'll make a good cook, as she's got a real nose for spices.'

It's really familiar, I know this.

Close your eyes and what are you eating?

What are you eating?

It's really familiar.

-What are you eating?

-Cardamom.

Cardamom is a common ingredient in Indian cookery.

The seeds are removed from the pod, which are then pounded to a fine powder.

-If you have a green cardamom pod after your meal, it's like having an After Eight mint.

-Really?

'I use it wherever I can and it'll give a delicious, aromatic flavour to the marinade.'

I love green cardamom, so I'm happy to add it to anything.

OK, that's done.

So that, in effect, is our entire chicken marinade.

-If you can add the chicken into there, then don't lick your hands cos the chicken is raw.

-Sorry!

But how does that taste now?

Really good, I could just use it as a dip.

Even though it's very garlicky.

But then you're from Iran, so you have garlicky dips, don't you?

-Yes, I like that.

-So put the chicken inside then throw it in the fridge.

-All right.

OK, well, this is pretty good.

-I think I could do this.

-You could do that?

-Yes.

-That would feed a whole load of your friends and they'd be very appreciative.

But they would all think that I bought it from outside.

No-one would really believe me even if I really was doing it.

'I'm going to leave the chicken to marinate overnight.

'I'm also going to do lamb tikka brochettes and tandoori mushrooms.

'It's the same basic marinade as for the chicken, but because lamb has a stronger taste,

'I'm adding coriander leaf and extra garam masala.'

-That's the second dish.

-That was really easy.

'And for the tandoori mushrooms, a touch more cardamom.'

So can we just add the mushrooms in?

-Yes.

-That's it.

Great.

So you could have added peppers and some other stuff if someone was vegetarian.

Exactly. See, now you're thinking like a cook.

-In the fridge.

-Excellent.

-Thank you.

Although the people of Dorset will certainly have come across tandoori cooking,

one dish they may not be familiar with is my delicious savoury semolina cake.

It's just really light and fresh, and full of vegetables, and I think it's a perfect teatime snack.

If I could ask you to weigh the semolina.

If you could give me 165 grams, just put it in here, that's fine.

Perfect.

Let me get some yoghurt out of the fridge.

I'm going to use really good quality, fresh whole yoghurt because I really want this to be

slightly rich, because it really doesn't have much butter or oil. We need to make it slightly moist.

If you just kind of grate a little more than half, that should be enough.

'It might seem strange to Western taste buds,

'but adding vegetables to a cake

'is traditional in any Gujarati household.'

Just chop them up into not-too-small pieces, but slightly even.

Add those in. In they go.

'I'm also putting in some frozen peas, some grated ginger, and mix.'

All we need now is a little bit of tarka.

Tarka. Tarka is...

heating some seeds or spices up in oil and adding it on top.

So the process is called tarka?

Yeah. Or tempering.

Oh, I've heard of that, I've heard of tempering.

Tarka is the Indian word for tempering.

Cumin seeds,

mustard seeds, and sesame seeds.

This is a very Gujarati dish actually. They often like their things

to be slightly sweet and savoury, and they use a lot of mustard seeds.

They're one of the few people who use a lot of sesame seeds also.

You bite into little seeds and it gives you a new flavour, and it's really delicious.

Just be careful whenever you're making a tarka or tempering spices

that you want to heat the oil up so that the seeds get into the hot oil,

but not so hot that they burn, because seeds are very delicate,

and become bitter really quickly.

-OK, I'm going to pour that in there...

-MIXTURE SIZZLES

-Can you smell the seeds and flavours?

-Smells gorgeous.

And that fantastic flavour is going to go right into your food and flavour the entire batter.

A bit of bicarb of soda.

About half a teaspoon's worth.

And then, the trick is to mix it, pour it into your pan and put it straight in the oven.

And then I'm going to sprinkle some sesame seeds on top, which will kind of roast

-and toast a bit in the oven.

-It will look nice at the top.

And it'll add a little crunch as you bite into it.

If you could spoon it out...

Thank you.

-We take our sesame seeds.

-I love that combination of sweet and salt.

That will take about half an hour.

I'll have a check with a skewer.

I'm getting peckish. I want the cake NOW. I don't have patience.

It's been in there for about half an hour, so it should be done.

-What's that stick for?

-That's to see...

If the skewer comes out clean with no batter, then it's done. So it's done.

Oh, wow.

-Oh, that looks yum.

-Can you see all the beautiful moistness and the peas?

-And it smells so good.

-It's crusty.

Shall we?

I think it's yummy when it's hot. I wouldn't like this cold.

It's good cold, too.

Whilst the people at the fair might find my cake unusual,

there's one dish that they're guaranteed to recognise.

Chef Cyrus Todiwala owns the award-winning restaurant Cafe Spice in East London,

where he makes some of the best and most interesting samosas in Britain.

His signature dish is coconut and beetroot.

What a great colour, it's fabulous!

'On a rare day off, he's agreed to cook for us at home.'

-That really looks good.

-We use a lot of different things.

-We used to use minced lamb.

-Yeah?

Just peas, potato and peas, daal, dried daal.

Seafood, we make a lovely prawn samosa.

-Anything and everything, really, as long as it's dry.

-See?

Oh my God, that is really good.

Seriously, that is really good.

Turn it out into that plate.

Spread it out a bit so it starts cooling quickly.

Now, ideally, we shouldn't be stuffing the samosa with a hot filling.

-Now, we're going to make the samosa.

-OK.

'The pastry for traditional samosas is simply made from wheat flour and water.'

Now, would you like to make one?

I know how great you are at cooking. Yeah?

Yeah, I'd like to try, why not?

It's easy. So, face you half-moon towards you.

And then, you bring it down in one third.

See that it looks equal.

Put the glue on the three edges.

'The "glue" is a flour and water paste.'

OK? Just apply it on the edges.

-OK? Got it?

-Then I close it.

-Hole completely closed at the bottom.

That's most important.

OK, now you pick it up.

Hold the thinner side towards you and open it up.

So that side towards you.

Right? And all we do is we go...

Don't worry about that you can lick it later, or wash it off.

-I'm getting into this!

-You really are!

Gently! You're applying a lot of pressure.

Then, once it's nicely pressed in like that...

Beautiful colours.

..then what we do is we fold that in.

So if we hold the thick end, it won't fold in very nicely.

The stuffing shouldn't be visible. Push it in at the back like that.

OK? Then you've got your glue again.

Apply it there. On one side only.

You just fold it over.

And just press it in nicely.

-Your first samosa!

-God, that is really impressive!

-Yeah, it's not bad...

-What do you mean?! It looks just as good as yours!

It shouldn't have an empty pocket.

It shouldn't have open holes. The oil will get into it.

-Well, not bad for a...

-But it's not bad for a first try.

You lift and put it in gently.

'The problem for me with samosas is that they are traditionally fried in oil,

'but I have a much healthier alternative.

'The big difference is that I'm going to bake mine.

'My filling is a pea and potato mixture.

'Very traditional and very healthy.'

A sheet for me and a sheet for Panthea.

Panthea's going to work, is she?

-I figure she's done it your way, she should do it my way.

-Fantastic!

'I'm using filo, a lighter pastry with a brush of butter.

'You can buy filo fresh or frozen from any supermarket.'

It's spread so thinly, but if you look at how much butter is in there...

Maybe a teaspoon, a bit more than that.

Which is too bad, actually, instead of a deep-fried samosa.

I feel like I'm having painting lessons.

Take a handful of your potatoes. Thank you, Cyrus.

You put it in the middle and you just turn this and again, you don't want any holes.

So this is the fun part.

Now that you've got the filling all secure

you're not so worried about it.

You roll the samosa in triangular motions.

-Brush with the butter.

-God, I'm really good at this!

And then, just cos I feel like a samosa without something is a bit sad,

I'm going to put some sesame seeds.

But again, if you have poppy seeds put poppy seeds on.

You don't have to worry about making a dough, you just buy filo pastry.

-It's really good.

-You don't have to turn it over, just let it cook.

It takes care of itself. Thank you, Cyrus.

Cook for 30 minutes until golden.

CRUNCH!

Oh! It is so flaky and...

Mmm!

Nice.

You know, it's funny, because when I look at the filo one,

it looks... healthier than the fried one.

Both pastries work for samosa. They're both crisp.

They're both lighter than the traditional one.

-And they're both so quick.

-Very quick.

I like filo because I think it's easy to find,

but you need to have the butter to keep it nice and crisp.

I'm going to dig into your beetroot one.

That looks...

Oh! I'm going to take my own. You guys can share that one.

Beetroot never tasted so good, Cyrus. I'll tell you that now.

I think the British are too used to eating boiled beetroot.

When you have something like that and the flavour comes out...

I hope Panthea realises that we have to make hundreds of these for the fair!

Back at home, I need to give Panthea a taste of the tandoori food we're going to sell.

Tortilla wraps with three fillings -

chicken tikka, lamb brochettes,

and mushrooms, paneer and spinach.

To re-create that tandoor heat, I'm setting the oven up high.

If you could just find the skewers that I left soaking earlier.

Why did you leave them soaking?

So they don't burn in the oven when you're grilling the chicken.

-Clever.

-OK, baking pans.

Baking pans, baking pans, baking pans.

Just give that a little oil. You don't have to run your fingers through it. Just drizzle that over.

-And we'll start skewering.

-Brilliant.

'The chicken, lamb and mushrooms go into the oven for ten to 15 minutes.

'I'm going to serve the meat in tortillas with a herb chutney and a crunchy salad.

'But for the mushrooms, I'm going to make a beautiful spinach and paneer sauce.'

All my spinach.

Going to give my garlic cloves a slight chop.

And then do the same with my ginger.

Chillies.

Going in.

Peanuts.

Salt. A little coriander.

A drizzle of oil. And blend.

By now, the skewers are ready to come out of the oven.

First, the chicken.

The anticipation is killing me.

-We can take it off the skewer now.

-All right.

-So you can just basically hold it like that.

-Pull the skewer out.

Gently but firmly. Add some salad.

-Oh, wow.

-I'm going to make mine. My mushrooms are probably done.

Put some of this wonderful spinach, peanutty spinach puree in the middle.

I'm also crumbling in some paneer, a soft Indian cheese.

These wonderful, meaty mushrooms.

The meat replacement for the vegetarian, the paneer and the mushrooms, perfect with both.

Really tasty.

-Isn't it good?

-I love it.

I want more!

That's Panthea's lunch taken care of! Now for the people of the fair.

The organisers are expecting 16,000 hungry visitors

and we're going to try and make as much money as possible for children's charities.

Chicken...

-Do you think country people will know what paneer is?

-Just say vegetarian.

We're facing stiff competition as all the food stalls get ready for the lunchtime rush.

I just hope that a few of the punters will ditch the burgers

in favour of my home-made tandoori food - chicken, lamb and mushroom wraps.

There's also our baked pea and potato samosas.

Oh! Anjum, these are lovely!

No, you're SO staying away from the samosas!

And finally, my delicious savoury semolina cake.

Nice colour.

Yes. Fresh vegetables inside. It looks great.

But before we start, I've got one final treat -

strawberry lassi, a traditional Indian drink.

I've got these fantastic local strawberries, sugar, and this local yoghurt which I'm dying to try.

Lassi is basically buttermilk. But it's hard to find buttermilk.

So a combination of half yoghurt, half water

becomes buttermilk or at least gives you the same flavour.

Because strawberries are quite watery, I'm just going to use yoghurt

and if it's too thick, I'll add some water.

Oh! They are so good.

Leave some for the customers! What is wrong with you?

It looks like strawberries and cream.

This lassi's going to be amazing.

Look at how easy it is. We've got some strawberries,

-let's take a clean spoon.

-It really looks like cream, doesn't it? Gorgeous!

It's delicious. Can we get this in London?

I've never seen this brand of yoghurt there.

-I like this country bumpkin lifestyle.

-I know.

-We should do this more often.

-I love my wellies.

I'm really happy that I agreed to do this with you. It's so much fun.

Add a touch of sugar and blend.

I'm trying it properly.

Oh, it's good though. Oh, it's really good.

It's lunchtime and it doesn't take long for the customers to roll in.

The best food in this whole place, trust me.

'Panthea starts to work her magic on the crowds as well as the food.'

It's like Indian food without the grease.

You can basically have food that tastes delicious, but it's actually really light.

-Chicken all round?

-Chicken or lamb?

-Lamb, please.

-Lamb.

-Chicken.

-Lamb, please.

-Two lamb, two chicken.

Fresh, hot, succulent lamb kebab.

What do you think?

Be honest. What do you think?

-It's really, really good.

-Yes? I like the "really, really".

-Yeah?

-Perfect.

-Did you hear that? Perfect.

-Thank you!

It appears that my Indian food is going down really well in the countryside.

And the queues are getting longer and longer!

Anyone having a vegetarian wrap?

It's paneer, which is an Indian cheese, spinach and mushrooms. Anybody?

Two? Fantastic. How many chicken wraps?

One, two, three, four. I feel like I'm in an auction house!

The samosa's really good. One of the best I've ever tasted.

Thank you. They're quite light, aren't they? Cos I haven't deep-fried them.

-There's no heaviness about it.

-It's crisp. I'll tell you my secret.

It's filo pastry. I bake them in the oven.

-No deep frying.

-Oh, very clever!

-There you go.

-Thanks.

One lamb coming up.

So far, so good. But I wonder if they'll get my savoury cake.

Vegetables, a tiny, tiny bit of spice. It's very mild.

'It was amazing. They were all very happy with the food,

'which made me feel happy.'

Cos I had helped and some of the things I had done by myself.

It was wonderful. It was really good.

I was really happy that I did it.

Food that's beautiful! Yeah!

Please help yourself to a samosa.

I think I didn't realise how easy Indian cooking can be.

And I'd definitely do it again. It was a lot of fun.

It's absolutely beautiful.

-I thought you said I'M absolutely beautiful!

-Of course!

The food's gone down a storm and we've made over £350 for charity!

I think Panthea's now got the confidence to start making Indian food at home.

-Absolutely lovely.

-Thank you so much.

-The flavours are brilliant.

Thank you very much. I'm happy!

If you want to find out more about the five basic spices

of Indian cooking and all the recipes from the programme,

log on to -

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