Episode 6 Indian Food Made Easy

My name's Anjum Anand. I'm a food writer and a chef and I want to show how simple Indian cooking can be.

Over the last five weeks, I've been banishing

the Indian takeaway and revealing the secrets of healthy home cooking.

Isn't that the best thing to do with cabbage?

Along the way, I've worked with some sceptical cooks...

It's popping out everywhere. That's why I don't cook!

But I've convinced them how easy it is to make Indian food from scratch.

-Hmm, I did this!

-Very good!

To say thanks, I've invited them over for a lunch party.

I'm going to serve some of my favourite dishes -

recipes that are simple but still work for a special occasion.

India has such varied regional recipes that you're spoilt

for choice when putting together a party.

But before I start cooking for them, I want to challenge my converts

to make new recipes, building on what they've learnt.

My old friend, Alex, was amazed that we could make Indian cheese, or paneer from scratch.

-Fill it with water.

-Mmm hmm.

-That's it. Paneer done. Made.

-Easy.

-Queezy!

I want him to go one step further and add fresh spinach

and spices to get the classic north Indian dish, Palak Paneer.

Paul, the fireman, burnt his toast when we first started cooking.

Sorry, I was distracted!

But he was a natural with naan bread, so he's going to attempt naan with a filling.

Haven't got any weighing scales.

Elisha Carter, head chef at Charlton House Hotel and Health Spa,

felt that Indian food would be too heavy for his guests.

Nah! Not at all.

But I think a wild mushroom pilaff could work a treat on his menu.

They're all dishes I'm going to make for my summer party.

The centrepiece will be a north Indian spiced roast leg of lamb.

The lamb will go well with a mushroom pilaff.

The spinach and cheese dish will provide a veggie element

and the sweet stuffed naan breads are great for mopping up the sauce.

To finish off, a refreshing melon and pomegranate dessert.

With so much food to make, it's lucky that most of it can be made the day before.

I just hope the English summer doesn't turn into an Indian monsoon.

First of all, I need to source my lamb.

An average leg joint will feed between 8-11 people.

Our family is Hindu, but my mother has always gone to a Muslim Halal butcher for her meat.

To be Halal, a prayer from the Qur'an is said

while the animal has its neck cut, facing in the direction of Mecca.

The blood is drained away and some say this is what makes Halal meat tender.

I find that a Halal butcher is more likely to have the cuts of meat

needed in Indian cooking - like lamb trotters for example.

It's not uncommon to find goat in a Halal butcher either.

It's much deeper red in colour than a lamb leg.

The lamb leg will look...

-A lamb leg will look like that.

-Slightly milkier.

The goat is very dark and you probably see the fibres.

It's quite fibrous. Amazingly fibrous, when you compare it.

That's why the lamb cooks quicker.

Yeah. It's more tender to start with.

A young animal is more tender. It's a bit tougher. It takes a long time to cook.

-But it becomes absolutely tender...

-Indeed. Once the curry's finished... Yummy. Very nice indeed.

Goat is a great stewing meat with strong flavour.

But I'm after some tender lamb to roast.

-This is an English lamb.

-Yeah.

-You can see that it has a good layer of fat...

-Yeah.

Whereas meat, traditionally back home in India and Pakistan, they're usually leaner.

That's the leg there, if you can see that.

Do you find that a lot of other nationalities want their bone out?

We always cook with our bone in but it's not something everyone does.

That's right. A lot of people who come to Halal establishments, a lot of them, they want no fat.

-They trim it all off.

-Yeah.

-But they want the bone.

That's what people don't remember. They take the bone out and then they add meat stock.

But the meat stock is made with the bones they've just thrown away.

What better than having the natural bone within the meat itself?

Giving the flavour and keep it tender and juicy.

-Absolutely!

-That looks perfect, thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Thanks a lot. Bye!

-Bye bye.

In India, a spiced roast leg of lamb is called a raan.

This is a North Indian recipe and I've taken inspiration from

the Kashmiris who use a lot of nuts and raisins in their cooking.

'For me, the marinade is the most important part of this recipe.'

I'm going to make my lamb.

'All good marinades should have a bit of oil to keep the meat moist.'

Some lemon juice...

'A dash of acidity.'

..without the pips. 'The acid in the lemon will tenderise the meat.'

'And then you have the spices to add more flavour.' Garam masala.

Whoops!

A bit of chilli powder - not much.

Lots of coriander.

Salt.

Ginger.

Six cloves of garlic.

Lamb is a naturally strong tasting meat and is complimented by

the heavy hearty flavours of ginger and garlic. A little bit of water.

It'll really give the marinade some oomph.

In a curry, the flavours are in the gravy, but in a roast joint,

they're all in the meat, so I want to give it time to absorb all these wonderful flavours.

Deep incisions help the marinade work its way into the meat.

Leaving some of the fat on the joint will keep the meat tender and stop it from burning in the oven.

Just try and get them...

really in there.

I find that a plastic food bag is the cleanest and easiest way of refrigerating the joint.

Acids in the marinade can react against metal or ceramic glazes and alter the taste of the meat.

That's it.

Put the lamb in the fridge to marinade for at least 24 hours.

That's just going to keep the marinade really well coated on the lamb itself.

Every now and then, even on top of the plastic, give it a bit of a rub.

In India, this lamb would traditionally

be marinated in yoghurt and spices for about 48 hours.

But because lemon begins to chemically cook the meat, we only need half that time.

I'm going to make some Peshwari naans for the party.

They're just like plain naan, but with a filling of almonds, raisins and pistachios.

They're a real North Indian treat and a perfect accompaniment to my lamb.

At Leigh-on-Sea in Essex County Fire Station, Paul, the firefighter,

used to feed the Blue Watch baked beans and takeaways.

Firemen usually eat something that's quick and easy.

But now he's a pro at whipping up a plain naan bread.

Pizza. She'll kill me if I say it's pizza!

But I want to see if he can go one step further and make the filling for his own Peshwari naans.

I haven't got any weighing scales.

The raisins, almonds and pistachios are so tasty, he won't go far wrong.

I'll get round it. I'll guestimate. So, that's 70.

It's got to be sort of half that.

We'll just chuck that bit in there.

Caster sugar. Where have I put that?

And a half and a little bit for luck.

I can't even get the lid on.

Put that in there.

Now the next bit is the dough.

Paul's naan dough has been rising for about one hour.

I don't mind saying so myself, that looks perfect.

Remember to do both sides.

If it's thicker on one side, the naan will rise too much.

Get me, hey!

The blended filling of sugar, nuts and raisins goes in.

I've got to bring them up

to a point.

So, it's like a small money bag as Anjan told me.

I'll tell you what, I've amazed myself. I'm quite impressed.

I imagined to do it and everything fall out and just explode.

That is one Peshwari naan.

And I did that.

I like to prepare as much as possible the day before a party,

so I've decided to make a delicious dessert that will keep refrigerated overnight.

It's easy too - the flesh of a juicy melon is crushed into coconut milk

and served over a glass of iced pomegranate juice.

This is my take on melon rasayana.

This beautiful delicate dessert is inspired

from a dessert they make in South India.

They make it there with bananas or mangoes, but this fruit is

in season, so I thought it would be nice to do it with this.

'I'm using cantaloupe melon but Charantais or musk melon will work just as well.

'Remove the seeds and chop the melon into small chunks.'

This is such a beautiful summery dessert.

It's really light. The fruit is seasonal and it's refreshing.

I'm going to add some coconut milk...

..and some sugar.

How much you add depends on how sweet your melon is.

So, what I'm look to do is just to eke some of the juice out of the melon so it leaks into

the coconut milk and the coconut milk then gets some of the wonderful, summery flavours.

Taste for sugar.

Mmm, perfect! 'The iced pomegranate juice is a great trick for desserts and so easy.'

I'm going to make this beautiful pomegranate granita

with this pomegranate juice I bought from the shops.

It couldn't be simpler.

Lemon for tartness.

And sugar to taste.

Always oversweeten anything you freeze because when it's cold, you don't taste the sweetness so much.

Pour into a sealable container and then freeze.

After a couple of hours, all I have to do is run a fork over the iced juice.

That loosens the crystals, making a granita.

Now I can leave the melon mixture and the pomegranate granita

overnight and will assemble them in glasses during the party.

In Leigh-on-Sea, Paul, the firefighter, is about to do the final taste test.

The naan will cook in just under one minute.

And its smell has drawn in Blue Watch.

What have we got then? It had better be good.

-Ah, yes.

-It looks good.

I think he's got the hang of it.

We haven't tasted it, have we? Can I have a little bit of butter on it?

Make it nice and yummy.

Go on, you try it first. Try a bit of that.

-You might poison me.

-I shouldn't think so.

-That's all right. That's good.

-Nice?

-Won't be the first time, will it?

-It's quite sweet.

-Chunky?

-Yeah, lovely. That's fine, mate. That's good.

-Good.

'I hope my naan get the same response at the party.'

-No, there's none in there, there's nothing left.

-The butter's a bit greasy on the fingers.

Oh, well, I'm sorry about that, Sir(!)

-Thank God it's stopped raining.

-'My friend, Panthea, has come round to lend a hand.'

It smells really good.

It's the usual masala tea.

Spices, ginger. Yeah, exactly. 'A month ago, Panthea loved to eat but hated to cook.'

But you don't make it! You buy it packaged.

I just like packaged food because it's so easy.

But now even she's been inspired to give it a go.

You did teach me that it was easy to get all these fresh ingredients and blenders are the best thing.

-'Well, it's back to business.' Cucumber.

-All right.

Onions. Tomatoes.

'I want Panthea to help me make a really simple dish for the party.'

You can prove yourself to me today because you can make raita.

Raita is a traditional yoghurt side dish.

You can be adventurous and make it with

any number of fruit or vegetables but this one's a classic - just cucumber, tomatoes and coriander.

A lot of North Indians eat a lot of yoghurt because yoghurt's cooling on the body.

It balances the heat of the spices.

When you add things like coriander, mint and cucumber, it is even more cooling.

-Do you know what you're doing?

-Yes.

-What are you doing?

I'm only using the nice bit of the cucumber and then I'm going to chop it up into tiny bits.

I just don't like these bits, you know?

Yoghurt is a soothing part of any spicy meal

as it has cooling properties which counter the heat of the spices.

Water opens the pores on your tongue and only intensifies the heat.

Will you toast some cumin?

Is just a handful enough then?

Yeah, that's plenty.

'The cumin is toasted without any oil to bring out its nutty qualities.'

Mmm, the aroma's amazing!

-'

-The seeds can burn and become bitter so I carefully watch for their colour to slowly change.'

I think this will really go well with the lamb.

The lamb is just full of delicious spices.

This yogurt with the mint and the cucumber and the coriander will really balance it well.

-Oh, wow!

-So, cucumber, tomatoes.

Obviously, you don't put so much onion because it's quite strong.

I'll just chop up some of this coriander.

-Brilliant!

-'A grind of pepper and salt.'

And some mint.

-Mmm, smell that.

-Mmm.

-It's so fresh.

'It's nice to add a touch of fresh mint along with the coriander.'

That's the Iranian version. Now we'll make it the Indian version by adding that in.

-That's done.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, that looks lovely.

Mmm, it does. It really does.

Mmm!

-Works very well.

-'The raita will refrigerate overnight and tomorrow I'll add more fresh coriander.'

Add lots of fresh stuff in.

A few weeks ago, I met Elisha Carter, head chef at the Charlton House Hotel and Spa.

He prides himself on only using fresh seasonal produce.

Canape for eight, please. One halibut, one lamb. Eight minutes.

-Two mullet. Two soup.

-Yeah, Chef!

So, as fungi are coming into season, I thought I'd see how Elisha would get on with a wild mushroom pilaff.

PHONE RINGS

Hi, Elisha. It's Anjam.

'It could be the perfect addition to his light and healthy menu.'

This is a special occasion rice dish.

You'll need to go on a hunt for the wild mushrooms and they are more

expensive than regular ones but the results are worth it.

The secret to well cooked rice is to measure one part rice to one and a half parts water.

Wash the rice well to get rid of the starch and then soak to elongate the grains.

This makes for a light and fluffy texture.

There are hundreds of different types of rice in the world.

I'm using Basmati rice in this recipe which is mainly grown on the foothills of the Himalayas.

Basmati's at least three times longer than other grains

and continues to lengthen when cooked, retaining its shape.

Its subtle, nutty fragrance will compliment the mushrooms in our pilaff.

Look at all these amazing mushrooms!

'Mushrooms aren't a significant part of Indian cooking

'but are eaten in certain areas when they're in season.'

We've got lovely ceps here.

These are morels, they're French morels.

Kashmiris are particularly fond of morels, although they're expensive and only used on special occasions.

Then we've got these Scottish ones.

I've put together some nice spices. Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Right. So, we've got some cumin seeds.

-I've got a few black peppercorns...

-Yeah.

And I've got a few pieces of cinnamon bark. Yeah?

-Very nice.

-You can imagine that flavour altogether - amazing!

'This is black cardamom.

'It has a distinctive flavour and is much larger than the green variety.'

-Do you know what?

-Black cardamom.

Yeah, you know how hard that was to get.

Yeah, they're so rare round here.

A nice, bacony kind of flavour, without the bacon.

OK, right. I'm just going to put a little bit of oil in.

We'll put the spices in and get that nice and hot.

'A couple of bay leaves go in for extra flavour.

'The character of this dish begins here as the spices are heated through

'for just seconds, releasing their fragrance into the hot oil.'

I've got these cashew nuts. Throw them in and slightly brown them off.

Now, with all these fantastic mushrooms.

Let them cook again for four to five minutes. Let all those flavours be released.

A nice bit of garlic. A great combination - garlic and mushrooms.

It's like strawberries and cream, butter and bread. It's amazing.

Then we're going to add the rice.

-Yeah.

-So, the water goes in.

'Bring to the boil and then cover and simmer on a low heat for about ten minutes.'

Hmm, that smells really good. Let's put a touch of lemon juice in it.

-That's good.

-Yeah.

-Mmm.

-That's really nice.

'As well as rice, every table needs a vegetarian dish and this spinach and cheese recipe is a classic.

'When my friend, Alex, and I cook together, we made paneer kebabs.

'His family are from Italy so the combination of spinach and cheese should be a natural fit for him.'

-Hello!

-'I hope this new recipe will build on his knowledge.'

-How are you?

'It's really simple to do.'

Come over anyway. You can sort of oversee how I do it and keep an eye on it.

'But it seems a bit of moral support is needed.' All right.

'Five weeks ago, I showed Alex how to make paneer.

'Just heat the milk and add yoghurt to sour.

'When the milk splits, the curd is strained in muslin and washed.

'The end product is a soft, crumbly cheese.' A block of cheese!

Mmm, smells fresh cheesy. We're going to add spinach to the paneer

to produce a classic dish found in most Indian restaurants.

Palak Paneer.

OK.

So, we'll get the spinach going.

'Palak is the spinach.'

Watch your head!

'Of course the spinach does wilt to a fraction of its original size.

'Cumin seeds go into a small tablespoon of oil to bring out their flavours.

'Then I drop in the onions...'

We'll cook until they're soft and translucent.

'And follow with the garlic and ginger.'

'The chillies go in whole so that I get the taste without the heat from the seeds.'

That's beginning to look like a real curry.

-A couple of teaspoons of...

-Coriander.

-Coriander.

-Add some salt.

-OK.

-The spinach is the base of the curry. Put all the flavours in here.

'Running the spinach under cold water seals in the wonderful green colour.'

OK.

That's enough.

-Can you just put some water in there?

-Yeah.

That should be fine.

It's a nice kind of loose curry already. I don't want it to be too thick.

When I put the paneer in, it will absorb some of that water.

'Some people fry the paneer, but I'm trying to cut out

'all unnecessary oil in my cooking and the cheese is tasty as it is.'

Let me try.

There you go.

-Just straight in, yeah?

-Yeah.

Leave it to cook - maybe five or six minutes - so it just absorbs all the spinach.

Then, we'll just put a bit of lemon juice in it and some garam masala.

'For a treat, I'm adding in some cream.'

The cream just goes so well with the spinach and the paneer.

-But, when you're at home, I add milk.

-It's a beautiful colour.

-Yeah.

-OK.

-It's beautiful.

-Shall we try it?

-Let's have a try.

Mmm. It's beautiful.

It's been raining like a monsoon all day today.

Not the best weather for a party!

Fingers crossed it'll turn out well tomorrow.

After 24 hours, the lamb needs to come out of the fridge and reach room temperature before cooking.

At this stage, I like to add a second marinade of almonds

and yoghurt that forms a wonderful crust when the lamb is roasted.

So, for the almond crust...

It's just yoghurt, almonds - blanched - honey.

Not all of it because I want some of it to drizzle over the lamb when it comes out of the oven.

Blend.

I'm just going to put it all over the lamb. It's a beautiful, thick, really creamy mixture.

You can see little nuggets of almonds there.

That'll just add some crunch.

Then put it in a hot oven for about 20 minutes so that it browns really nicely.

'Then turn down the heat a bit and roast until cooked.

'An average joint can take around two hours.

'Halfway through cooking, I drizzle the rest of my honey over the roast.

'It gives the lamb a rich sweetness.'

If it's cooking too quickly, cover with silver foil and continue.

The food is sorted and I want to give this party an extra kick.

In the world of cocktails, Ben Reed is called a mixologist.

To you and me, that's someone who creates cocktails.

I've asked him to shake up some specially designed drinks using Indian spices for an added twist.

-Hi!

-Hi, Anjam!

-How's it going?

Well! This cocktail I'm going to make relies heavily on using different spices.

We're going to crack open these cardamom pods to release the seeds.

You want to use, I'm sure it's the case with your cooking, the freshest ingredients possible.

I'm just going to gently press these to release some of the flavour.

-We're going to use some gin.

-Yep.

-London dry gin, which is flavoured with herbs and spices.

-Ah!

-I'm going to take some freshly squeezed lemon juice.

-Mmm hmm.

And then some sugar syrup.

OK, just to go with the theme, we're going to add some Angostura bitters.

-I love Angostura bitters.

-It's actually the most widely stocked bar product worldwide.

-It's so versatile.

-Contrary to popular belief, bitters don't lend bitterness to the drink,

-they give it a depth of flavour.

-Yeah.

Dry chilli in there. I don't want to blow people's socks off.

-No.

-People get scared when they see chilli in a drink.

-You're not really chopping it up. You're just getting the flavours...

-Exactly.

With all the drinks I make, as much ice as possible.

In this country, people think that the more ice you put in a glass, the more watery your drink becomes.

The more ice you put in a glass, the colder your glass is. Therefore, the slower the ice dilutes.

I'm going to give it a short, sharp shake.

Again, just to chill the flavours.

-OK.

-Marry the flavours and chill the ingredients.

-OK, marry and chill, marry and chill.

-Exactly!

Take our glass of ice.

-We're going to double strain it just to get rid of some of the little bits.

-That's such a beautiful colour.

I'm just going to put a little chilli in there as a garnish.

The longer we keep that chilli in, potentially, the more spicy the drink.

-It's going to get spicier.

-So, the slower the drinker, the spicier the drink.

-Yeah, I'd probably leave that in there for an hour.

-Yeah.

OK.

Mmm. That is so delicious.

Just at the end, you get a slight kick of chilli which is really beautiful. It's a really cold drink.

None of the spices or flavours overwhelm the other. They all work quite nicely together.

There's a great synergy between the different flavours, I think.

-DOORBELL RINGS

-Hi!

'It's lunch time and 20 hungry guests are heading this way.'

-You'd do it again?

-Absolutely, the paneer is very easy to make.

Hi, come on in.

Are you still going to hide behind papa?

Just a bit of...

'My Peshwari naans are ready to go.

'It's time to get Paul's professional judgement.'

You're my best friend now.

'The cocktails are getting us off to a good start.'

-That is awesome!

-I've learned loads.

-Different spices.

-It's quite easy, yeah.

-It is.

It's a question of getting into the rhythm of it and practising it.

-I've been practising on the kids at home. We've had cinnamon naans.

-Did they like it?

Absolutely loved the naans.

'It's not long before head chef Elisha comes in to lend a professional hand.'

-That looks nice.

-That looks wonderful. Hi!

'My friend Panthea should be helping me cook.'

Panthea keeps eating while I'm trying to serve.

Again?! Again!

The spices, especially the black cardamom seeds are really amazing.

That smells good.

-It does, doesn't it?

-Mmm.

Hi, everybody! Food's on.

'Time to make a dash for the kitchen before the rain starts again.

'It's taken me almost two days of cooking to get all these dishes ready but it'll be worth it.

'The spiced roast lamb is really succulent and ready for carving.

'The mushrooms have added fantastic flavour to the pilaff and I'm sure my Peshwari naans will

'go down a treat with the spinach and paneer dish.

'But not everyone is convinced.'

Do you like the rice?

-No.

-HE LAUGHS

-OK, and Leah, did you like the rice?

-Yeah.

Oh well, if you insist.

It's a rarity to eat so much.

'While I have the kitchen to myself, it's time to assemble the melon and pomegranate desserts.

'Finishing them with a crunchy topping of toasted coconut, almonds and some fresh pomegranate seeds.'

-Very good.

-Is it good?

-It's really good.

-I like the red bits.

-Nice texture.

-How are you? The famous fireman.

-I hear you're very good... Better looking now then the pictures she showed me.

-Really?!

It does me justice, does it?

-It does!

-Seeing me in the flesh. All of it.

-I'm going to need you.

-You're going to need me?

-Yeah.

She reckons I'm going to burn down my house. I'm always burning things.

To find out how to put together an authentic Indian meal at home

and for all the recipes from the series, go to:

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd.