00:00I don't want to suffer the consequences of our future president not liking my Indian food.
00:03Can I just tell you something?
00:04Yeah.
00:04I've never made dosas.
00:05This is so funny. I told my dad I was like bringing over the stuff from the store. He's like, obviously I put them in Taster's Choice.
00:32But this literally was how my mother kept all of this stuff.
00:35That's so funny.
00:36What is that?
00:37Did they tell each other about it?
00:42Hi guys, it's Mindy. I'm here in my kitchen.
00:44And today we are cooking, but we have a very special guest.
00:48Very special.
00:49Senator Kamala Harris.
00:51Hi guys.
00:52Wait, so here's what I want to know.
00:53Okay.
00:54Is it respectful to call, like I should be calling you Senator Harris, right?
00:57No, you should not. That's not on my birth certificate.
01:00Okay.
01:01Kamala?
01:02Yes, please.
01:03The Indian in me, I feel like my parents, my dad will watch this.
01:06Just don't call me auntie.
01:07Okay.
01:08I won't call you auntie.
01:09They'll be like, how could you call her by her first name? She's worked so hard.
01:13Okay, so what we're going to cook today is an Indian recipe.
01:16Yes.
01:17Because you are Indian.
01:19Yes.
01:20Okay, and I don't know that everybody knows that, but I find that wherever I go and I see Indian people at the supermarket, on the street, everyone's like, you know Kamala Harris is Indian, right?
01:27It's like our thing we're so excited about to have you running for president.
01:32Yeah.
01:33So we're both Indian.
01:34Yes.
01:35But actually we're both South Indian.
01:36Yes.
01:37You look like the entire one half of my family.
01:39Okay, thank you.
01:40You do.
01:41I've been telling people we're related already, so this is perfect.
01:43It's basically true.
01:44And so were you raised eating South Indian food?
01:47South Indian food, lots of rice and yogurt, potato curry, dal, lots of dal, idli.
01:53Yes, idli.
01:54That's a deep cut.
01:55Okay, so what we're cooking today is two things.
01:57One of the South Indian staples is dosa, which is kind of like a sourdough crepe.
02:02And then we're going to make a potato curry, which is the traditional accompaniment.
02:05So I printed out, so we're doing it the old fashioned way, which is I printed out a recipe from the internet.
02:11Okay, I'm ready.
02:12Okay, so when I told my dad that I was going to be cooking South Indian food for you, he was extremely excited.
02:17He said, I shall get the spices.
02:19But he took them all, all the Indian spices, and he put them in.
02:22In the Taster's Choice jars.
02:24And this is exactly what my mother would do.
02:26So when I walked in and saw this, literally, I didn't know it was actually a thing among our people.
02:32I guess it's an Indian thing.
02:33It apparently is a thing.
02:34Okay, cool.
02:35So this is all the spices we're going to use, courtesy of my dad.
02:37Okay.
02:38And then, dosas take a really long time to make the batter.
02:40Yes.
02:41So what we have is this great company, this Indian company actually, makes ready to make.
02:44You can get it at the Indian store.
02:45Okay.
02:46So if we're busy, it's dripping.
02:47Okay, oh yeah, it's dripping.
02:48It's fine.
02:49Okay.
02:50So South Indians, it's vegetarian.
02:52Yes.
02:53It's all vegetarian.
02:55So when we were growing up and we'd go to India, and my grandfather was a little mischievous.
02:59So my grandmother, of course, was like strictly no, nothing.
03:03If it had a mother, it was not getting eaten.
03:05Mm-hmm.
03:06And if my grandmother would go out of town, my grandfather would then, he'd get very mischievous and he'd say,
03:12Okay, let's have French toast.
03:15Because, of course, that has eggs.
03:18So when I would go and visit my family, obviously, no meat.
03:22Even the dog would eat rice and yogurt.
03:24Rice and yogurt.
03:25Yeah, the dog would eat rice and yogurt.
03:26The dog would like the rice and yogurt.
03:28Very good Hindu vegetarians.
03:30But then I'd get older, cool cousins who would take me out on their motorcycles,
03:35and we would go get, we would all split like a lamb burger.
03:38Right.
03:39Because fast food.
03:40But like no beef or anything, obviously.
03:41Right.
03:42But we would have lamb burger, and then we couldn't tell any of our grandparents about it.
03:45That's a fine shop.
03:47Right.
03:48Okay, Senator Harris, I say this with respect.
03:49You're kind of a show off.
03:52It's like, meanwhile it's taken me 20 minutes to do this much of ginger.
03:58Okay, what can't she do?
04:00You got my vote.
04:02So your mom worked, and my mom worked, but my mom also.
04:05I know, your mother was a doctor.
04:06Well, it's this interesting thing about Indian women of a certain generation is you had to do both.
04:10Yeah.
04:11Right?
04:12Like my mom would wake up at 5 in the morning before she went to the hospital to see patients,
04:15and she would cook food for the whole week.
04:17Oh yeah, Mommy did that too.
04:19And so some food that was cooked, dinner food was cooked at 6 a.m., and then she would leave.
04:24And then so all of our food was cooked.
04:26And we, of course, didn't understand.
04:27We're like, we want to go to McDonald's.
04:29But there's this four-course Indian meal for us, even if she wasn't there to eat it with us.
04:35And it was that kind of a thing that was completely normal when you're the children of professional immigrants.
04:40Listen, this is how it was because we would often come home from school before our mother would come home from work.
04:47And there was always fresh-baked cookies.
04:50No.
04:51Always.
04:52Always.
04:53Always.
04:54Oh my gosh.
04:55So all of that stuff, like everything was from scratch.
04:57And this is why maybe I've become hopefully not a snob about food.
05:01Someone who can cut up onions like that.
05:03Like we're on a cooking show.
05:05But I take it very seriously.
05:07Listen, this is controversial.
05:08I put peas and cashews in mine.
05:11I noticed that.
05:13You know, I mean, it's fine.
05:15Okay.
05:16All right.
05:17Your silence was very damaging.
05:18I knew what you wanted to do.
05:19No, but you know what?
05:20I want to try it.
05:21Go on.
05:22Go for it.
05:23No, because I don't want to suffer the consequences of our future president not liking my Indian food.
05:25So why don't I just play it safe.
05:28Okay.
05:29Put a couple in.
05:30Just put a couple in.
05:31Can I just tell you something?
05:32Yeah.
05:33I've never made dosas.
05:34Okay, but you're really good about critiquing them.
05:35Great.
05:36This is going to be great for me.
05:38All right.
05:39So let's get to the cooking part of it.
05:41I always use too much oil.
05:42I'm often surprised when I make things from scratch.
05:45Right.
05:46This is why I needed a U.S. Senator to witness me do it.
05:48You are doing such a good job.
05:51How old were your parents when they came over?
05:53My parents were, I think, almost maybe late 20s, like 28, 29, 30.
05:59Oh, really?
06:00Yeah.
06:01See, my mother came when she was 19.
06:02Wow.
06:03By herself.
06:04No way.
06:05Wow.
06:06My grandfather was very progressive, and she wanted to study science.
06:10My mother's father was the same way.
06:12And, you know, this is the thing that's really interesting, because people have these stereotypes and actually misconceptions about who Indians are.
06:20I mean, at least I can speak about my own experience, and you have a similar experience, it sounds like, where, you know, my grandfather was very progressive.
06:26Like, his daughter wanted to go and do that, and he was like, go ahead.
06:29I think this is done.
06:31I think so, too.
06:32And I think that we can move on to dosa.
06:33Okay.
06:34Here's my pre-made dosa mix that thousands of Indian women around the world are gasping that I'm using.
06:39I'm just going to put some oil in the pan.
06:40Okay.
06:41Now, would your family, would they do the thing where they took the paper towel and spread it around, or do they just leave it like this?
06:47Oh, yeah, yeah.
06:48I just want to let you know that I'm really stressed about doing this, since you're...
06:51Okay, can I just tell you, I'm in awe that this is happening at all in a real kitchen in front of me.
06:57Look at how gorgeous that is.
06:59You're doing such a great job.
07:00So, I think the key to dosa is very simple, which is a lot of oil.
07:07So, what I do is put a little bit of oil in the holes to make it, like, crispy.
07:11Oh, that's smart.
07:13My dad kind of always did this.
07:15Hi!
07:17This is your father?
07:18This is my dad, Avu.
07:19Hi, uncle!
07:20This is Senator Harris.
07:22How are you?
07:24It's so good to meet you.
07:26Thank you for coming.
07:27My grandparents lived in Besant Nagar.
07:29Yeah.
07:30Actually, my family lives there.
07:33Yeah, I would go and take walks in on the morning on the beach with my grandfather.
07:38Dad, do you know that her family keeps spices in Taster's Choice bottles?
07:41We would keep the same in Taster's Choice bottles.
07:43Why is it that you guys keep these things in Taster's Choice?
07:46I never asked, but my mother drank Taster's Choice coffee every morning, so I guess...
07:51And we recycle everything, of course.
07:53Wait, Senator Harris, what do you think of this dosa?
07:55Do you think it's done?
07:56That's really good.
07:57I think it's going to be pretty good.
07:58There we go.
07:59Wow.
08:00I am really impressed.
08:01Okay, so now the components are all ready.
08:04And we're just going to take the potato and put it into the dosas.
08:10Yum.
08:11And now we'll fold them over.
08:15That was the better way to do it.
08:19Yes, wait.
08:20Look at how gorgeous that is.
08:21I'm going to do the same thing in mine.
08:23So, masala dosa.
08:25Thank you for eating this.
08:27I would give this a hard B minus.
08:30The dosas, I didn't think they were...
08:32But the flavor is very nice.
08:35I was nervous cooking in front of you.
08:36But you shouldn't be.
08:37You're such a good cook.
08:38Okay.
08:40This is very good.
08:41Maybe when you're in the White House, I can come and cook you a meal.
08:43Thank you so much for cooking in my home with me.
08:45I'm so glad to be with you.
08:47I'm so honored and excited to vote for you.
08:49You're the best.
08:51Don't miss out.
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