- 1 year ago
The Food Truck NZ - S02E05 - Indian
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00New Zealanders love their food, and they love it fast.
00:06But with more than a third of Kiwi adults tipping the scales,
00:09it's time for a tasty new menu.
00:13Michael van der Elzen is a fun-loving gourmet chef
00:16with a passion for fresh food.
00:18Beautiful.
00:20He's back with his trusty Bedford truck
00:22to challenge the way we eat.
00:24Oh, yeah, look at that. This is awesome.
00:26I think it's perfect. Hey, guys.
00:29Tonight, can Michael soup up a healthy take on Indian curries
00:33with the price, speed and taste Kiwis want?
00:36Find out in The Food Truck.
00:44When it comes to fast food, there's a very hot topic on everyone's lips.
00:48Curries.
00:49Indian takeaways didn't arrive in New Zealand until the late 70s,
00:53but now we simply can't survive without that spicy stuff,
00:56be it fresh, frozen, on a pizza or delivered to your door.
01:01Kiwis really are crazy for curry.
01:04I went to India with my wife Bea in 2004.
01:07It was just awesome, and that's where I fell in love
01:10with the true, authentic Indian curries.
01:13I took a wicked takeaway, had an awesome delivery,
01:16and when you get them home, crack them open, they're always piping hot.
01:20With traditional Indian food,
01:22there's an enormous range of healthy regional options,
01:25but here in New Zealand, we mostly just love chewing the fat.
01:28The first thing that pops to mind is butter chicken.
01:31Butter chicken. Butter chicken.
01:33Always a healthy option.
01:35Tasty but terrible for the ticker,
01:37butter chicken packs a mean and very unlean 23% fat.
01:41So there's plenty of room for improvement,
01:43and that's the message Michael wants to hammer home, literally.
01:47I have a mobile food truck, so I think for the first time,
01:50instead of going to a festival, why don't I do home deliveries?
01:54So I have to take the truck to your house,
01:56and then I have to cook the curry and deliver it to you.
01:59Ha ha! God, I've made my life tough.
02:01So bring on the curry challenge.
02:04But first, Michael wants someone to bring him some curries.
02:07Quickly.
02:09Jeez, that was an earful.
02:11Let's just hope he doesn't have to wait long.
02:14For all our sakes.
02:18For that authentic Indian takeaway taste,
02:20Michael's ordered a cross-section from around Auckland,
02:23and in most cases, it was curry in a moderate hurry.
02:26Oh, fantastic.
02:28It's a mountainous pile of curries here.
02:3130 to 40 minutes.
02:33If I can deliver my food in the food truck in 30 to 40 minutes,
02:36I'll be pretty happy.
02:37Dig in.
02:39Most of the curries cost around $16,
02:41but the beef vindaloo gives you real bang for your buck.
02:45God, it's got some fire.
02:47Beef vindaloo, you know, it's been invented for Western days.
02:50Beef is not served in India. It's sacred.
02:52In saying that, it tastes damn good.
02:55Next up, it's the curry Kiwis can't get enough of.
02:58Butter chicken.
02:59Very sweet. Lots of cream.
03:01Maybe some coconut milk.
03:03Upside is this just tastes really moorish,
03:06and you just want to go back and have more.
03:08Downside is you know there's a lot of butter and a lot of cream in there.
03:11And finally, Michael samples the spinach-loaded lamb ciguala.
03:16The flavour of this is awesome.
03:18All the spinach, all the onions, coriander and tomatoes,
03:21it's going to be my pick of the bunch.
03:23The curries are as diverse as India herself,
03:25but each has a common, cunning characteristic.
03:28All of these meats are all precooked, all of them.
03:30I want to make these curries fresh.
03:32That's my challenge, is to do it quickly
03:34and to do it so that I'm not sacrificing quality,
03:37health and above all, taste.
03:43But to make sure he doesn't murder the curry,
03:45Michael's arranged to meet an Indian guru of flavour.
03:50All India is as authentic as you can get in New Zealand.
03:53With 16 restaurants around the country,
03:55every chef has been mentored and trained in traditional Indian techniques,
04:00including Auckland store manager, Bobby.
04:02How are you, sir?
04:04Oh, hello.
04:06First, it's a lesson on the famously fatty butter chicken.
04:10And the chicken cooked today in the tandoor,
04:12which gives extra flavour to the chicken.
04:15I don't have a tandoor oven in my truck.
04:17Could I use raw chicken in this process?
04:19You can, but you may not get the right taste.
04:21So tandoor obviously enhances the flavour.
04:24The curry base is added, anchored by a spicy mixture called garam masala.
04:29Garam masala is the key, and we grind it ourselves.
04:33How much sugar would be in the base?
04:35Our food is from North India, and we do not use any sugar.
04:39Michael, you want to give it a try?
04:41Looks delicious.
04:42There you go. All yours.
04:44That's beautiful.
04:45Buttering up the chef gets Michael promoted.
04:48I'm going to jump in there, make my own jalfrezi,
04:51under the guidance of Bobby.
04:53You're a little indie chef today.
04:55I've even got a crowd of people looking at me.
04:57Look at that.
04:59Ginger, garlic.
05:00Fresh onions.
05:02Fresh tomatoes.
05:03A little bit less.
05:04Yep, that's good.
05:06We're going to put some lamb.
05:07So this has already been cooked in our gravy?
05:09Yes.
05:10Otherwise meat would be too tough when you're making it.
05:12It would be half cooked with sugar.
05:14Red pepper.
05:15Red peppers.
05:16A little bit of spring onion.
05:17Beautiful.
05:18A little bit of a curry masala.
05:19This one?
05:20Yep, perfect.
05:21Garam masala.
05:22A little less.
05:23No, it's too much.
05:24Too much?
05:25Too much.
05:26Too much?
05:27Too much.
05:28Yep.
05:29Coconut milk.
05:30Coconut milk kind of brings it all together, huh?
05:31A little bit of chili.
05:32Dig it out.
05:33Medium?
05:34Yep.
05:35Keep stirring for two more minutes.
05:36That looks splendid.
05:37It does.
05:38Fresh coriander.
05:39I'm like, so fast.
05:40Because I was supervising you.
05:44Fantastic.
05:45Nice and hot.
05:47You try it too.
05:48It's not one-dimensional, it's multi-dimensional.
05:50It's everywhere.
05:51It's awesome.
05:52Mike's passage through India continues as he learns how to make naan bread.
05:57And do this.
05:58What does that do?
05:59Like stretch it?
06:00It expands it, yes.
06:01Any sort of shape, Bobby?
06:02With you, any shape is fine.
06:05Jeepers creepers.
06:07The dough gets slapped into the tandoor oven.
06:10A hair-raising, stubble-blazing 450 degrees Celsius.
06:15That is so hot.
06:17We lose hair every day and then come back.
06:19I don't have much hair to lose.
06:2290 seconds later, it's ready for mopping up sauce.
06:25And here you go.
06:27It's a little bit smaller, it's not quite the perfect shape.
06:30But in theory, it's perfect.
06:32It may or may not be perfect.
06:34But with Bobby's help, Michael's managed to make a meal of curries.
06:38Fantastic.
06:40It was great working in the kitchen with little Bobby
06:42and just seeing the inside of what goes into Indian cookery.
06:45This is obviously not my one.
06:48I think the biggest thing is the speed.
06:50There was a lot that went on inside that kitchen before I even turned up.
06:53The rice was cooked, the spices were already ground.
06:56I don't know whether I can do that in my food truck to that amount of prep.
07:01I've only got two or three days before game day.
07:04I need to start on it now, really.
07:08I think it will be really hard for Michael.
07:11Inside I have a full-fledged kitchen and we know what we're doing.
07:14Michael, to do an Indian curry, he'll struggle.
07:18What do you say in Indian?
07:22Cheers, bro.
07:24Oh, cheers, bro. Here you go.
07:26What if I made a carrot salad?
07:30Chef Michael van der Elzen has declared war on home-delivered curries.
07:34Oh, fantastic.
07:36God, it's got some fire.
07:39In a few days, he'll attempt to deliver healthy curries to the doors of hungry house dwellers.
07:44But first, he needs a menu.
07:47So, to try out his ideas, he's come to Auckland's curry hotspot, Sandringham.
07:52It's wall-to-wall curry restaurants here,
07:54so Michael and his food truck will probably just blend right in.
07:58Today is about making everything from scratch,
08:00and try and do it really quickly,
08:02but still retain that Indian spice, that Indian intensity of flavour.
08:07First up, a healthy take on naan.
08:10Michael subs white flour for wholemeal flour.
08:13We want that wholemeal goodness. We want the outside of the kernels.
08:16Next, brown sugar and salt, baking soda and powder are added.
08:20Then it's warm milk and low-fat yoghurt to complete the dough.
08:24Leave it somewhere warm. It's probably going to take an hour.
08:27Well, with thyme and dough yeast on his hands,
08:29Michael's attempting fresh garam masala,
08:32an aromatic blend of coriander seeds, cumin, black cardamom pods,
08:37cloves and cinnamon bark.
08:39Roast those off on a hot heat. You can see they're starting to smoke there.
08:42After getting into a spice war...
08:45Spice grinder will do this in about two seconds.
08:48..the food truck grinder grinds to a halt.
08:50OK.
08:51Fresh garam masala is stunning by itself,
08:54but add turmeric, paprika, white pepper and salt,
08:58and it's a tasty curry powder.
09:00After a quick veggie chop, Michael's ready to take on his first curry.
09:04Starting with making a base for his lamb curry.
09:07Into the processor, go onions, garlic,
09:10more coriander, mint and that garam masala.
09:13And whatever that was.
09:15That's potent, man.
09:16Don't worry, the heat kills everything.
09:18Michael adds water till it's just right.
09:21And that's the base sorted and simmering.
09:24Now for the fun part.
09:26So what I'm going to make now is kind of a mixture
09:28between a jalfrezi and a sagwala.
09:31Just so that I get a little mixture of that dry, healthy vegetable curry,
09:35and I just want a little bit of gravy background.
09:37It's then loaded with greens.
09:39Marrow, okra, capsicum, ripe tomatoes
09:43and the Indian cucumber they call tandoori.
09:45It all goes in the pan with a curry leaf.
09:48Cook that down slowly till the water's evaporated
09:50and then we just pull it straight out again.
09:52So here I'm going to add two tablespoons of my base
09:55and our fresh spinach which has been blanched and pressed.
09:58And then finally, a little bit of fresh coriander,
10:00touch of fresh mint.
10:02And there we go.
10:03The food truck, jalfrezi, sagwala combo.
10:06Michael's made a mongrel curry combo.
10:09But does it bite the hand it feeds?
10:11The vegetables are awesome.
10:13Really well flavoured but you can still taste the vegetables.
10:15Lamb, a little bit boring.
10:18I think maybe I should marinate my lamb ever so slightly.
10:20That will get the flavour of that garam masala penetrating into the lamb.
10:24So what did the curry faithful of Sandringham think of Michael's spinach surprise?
10:29Wow, this is awesome.
10:30Fantastic, woohoo!
10:32The flavours are amazing.
10:34It's just different flavours coming through.
10:36I could easily eat this.
10:38Fantastic.
10:39As a full dish.
10:40Here we go ladies.
10:41I really like it.
10:42I love all the greens.
10:44You kind of get the best of both worlds because it's got the meat
10:47and it's got all the vegetables as well.
10:49Do you make curries at home?
10:50Yeah.
10:51Not as good as yours though.
10:52We want the recipe.
10:55Next Michael tries butter chicken but without the cream or butter.
10:59He's making a slimmer version with the bird marinated in yoghurt and tomato puree.
11:04When the yoghurt hits that non-stick pan it just colours up straight away.
11:08I'm trying to recreate that flavour of the tandoor oven in a real basic food truck way.
11:13Shallots first, ground ginger, ground garlic.
11:16For a bit of sweetness I'm going to add some beautiful ripe peaches.
11:19I've never made a butter chicken let alone making a butter chicken using peaches.
11:23I'm hoping it will work.
11:25Well chances are it will turn out peachy.
11:27The homemade curry powder goes in with unsweetened yoghurt and low-fat coconut cream
11:32and hearty cashew nuts blended with a slug of oil.
11:35And then we want to add our chicken back into this.
11:38And there we go.
11:39Colour wise we haven't quite got that red colour of butter chicken.
11:43Well he's not seeing red but really it's all about the taste.
11:46Not half as sweet as the butter chickens I've eaten but the flavours are just awesome.
11:51Both curries are ready to roll.
11:53So it's time for Mike to finish that naan bread.
11:56Hot little buggers.
12:00Pretty average actually.
12:02I don't think the wholemeal flour works.
12:05So I think I'll drop these today.
12:07I think I need a lot more work on these.
12:10Mike's naans are a flop.
12:12So his butterless butter chicken will have to fly solo
12:16against a squadron of ace curry pilots.
12:19And they're approaching right now in battle formation.
12:24Actually it's just the chefs from the Indian restaurant across the road.
12:28Hello gentlemen.
12:29I've been to your restaurant before.
12:31Now you're at my house.
12:32This is my butter chicken.
12:33Dig in, let me know what you think.
12:35As curry experts they'll be sure to have plenty to say on the topic.
12:43Come on.
12:45I'm in suspense here.
12:47Put me out of my misery.
12:48Yeah.
12:49First of all the main important thing in the butter chicken
12:52you grill the chicken first and you did that.
12:54The gravy is a little bit different but it's very good.
12:58I can say in this country this butter chicken is good.
13:03Mike's butter chicken is very nice
13:05because they are not using the sugar too much,
13:08not using the cream and not using too much colour.
13:10So that's why it's very nice, it's Mike's butter chicken.
13:13Thank you very much.
13:15It's high praise from the high chefs of curry.
13:18One turns out to be an Indian, Jamie Oliver.
13:20This chef, he came from India recently
13:23and he's the top 10 chef in India.
13:26Really? That's great.
13:27And he also likes this.
13:29Oh, thank goodness, a pass.
13:30He creates his own spices and own creativity, all those things.
13:33He creates something different, I can appreciate that.
13:36That is Mike's butter chicken, it is good.
13:39So it's all OK on the curry front and the chef's happy.
13:43What I loved about today is I got to serve Mike Curry's
13:46made my way to some pretty harsh critics
13:49and overall the feedback was really great.
13:52Well, it's a good start
13:53but Mike has to deliver and sell his curries in just two days.
13:57Will he be able to perfect his menu
13:59and will anyone at home order a curry from the food truck?
14:03Chef Michael van der Elzen is turning his food truck
14:06into a curry delivery van.
14:08The flavours are just awesome.
14:09Everything's on the up, except for his wholemeal naan bread.
14:13Pretty average actually.
14:14It's back to the baking board to refine the menu.
14:17My naan bread was a disaster.
14:19It was all crumbly and I couldn't pull it apart.
14:22So I'm going to start again
14:23but this time I'm going to use a finer wholemeal flour
14:26which I hope will give me a little bit more lift
14:28and a little bit more elasticity.
14:31So this will rest and it will settle down
14:33and it will turn into something that we can actually mould.
14:36Ninety minutes later.
14:37This is so soft.
14:39Look at that.
14:40It's looking good
14:41but like all sticky fingered boys
14:43he simply has to fiddle.
14:45To get a little bit more health into my naan breads
14:47I'm actually going to put some mung bean spouts in there.
14:51It's quite heavy, isn't it?
14:55It's lovely and soft.
14:56Those mung beans running through just give you a nice little bite.
14:59Just got to roll it a little bit thinner
15:01and bang, I think we've got an awesome naan for the food truck tomorrow.
15:03But it doesn't end there.
15:05To spice up his menu
15:07Michael's using his melon
15:09to concoct vegetarian versions of both his curries.
15:12I'm going to use watermelon as my vegetarian alternative
15:14to my butter chicken.
15:16Give it a whirl.
15:17Keep the pieces large so it doesn't dissolve.
15:21It is damn good.
15:22You've still got that refreshing watermelon sweetness coming through
15:25yet the sauce just coats it.
15:27I'd honestly prefer to eat this watermelon
15:30to the chicken alternative.
15:32And I'm a chicken man
15:33so that says a lot.
15:35And for his other curry
15:36chicken man is swapping lamb meat for eggplant.
15:40Fold it through, it's going to give it a lot of bulk.
15:42It's just an awesome thing to use.
15:44So I think I've nailed my curries.
15:46But now, there's not much use making great curries if nobody orders them.
15:49So I'm going to have to do some advertising.
15:52So the paperboy gets to work.
15:55It's an old school flyer drop round Mount Albert.
15:58For one night only
15:59locals can select from Michael's menu
16:01and have it home delivered by the food truck.
16:04For my two curries I'm going to charge $12
16:06then my naan bread $2
16:07rice at $2
16:08and a delivery fee of $5.
16:10I don't want to charge a delivery fee
16:11but every time I take the food truck into the garage to get fixed
16:14it costs me a fortune.
16:16I'm just going to bang these into letterboxes
16:18and hope to God that someone's going to ring me.
16:21The food truck's been down many roads
16:24and Michael's delivered on his promise to challenge what we eat
16:27and make fast food healthy food.
16:31But without a crowd of people or a place to stop
16:33how long will Michael have to roam the suburban streets
16:36until an order is placed?
16:39Hello, Mike's Indian deliveries.
16:41Apparently, not very long.
16:42No problem.
16:43Should be about 20 minutes.
16:46I've got my first call.
16:4810 minutes later
16:49he hasn't even started cooking yet.
16:52One eggplant, hot.
16:53One lamb, hot.
16:54One watermelon, mild.
16:55Three naan, three rice.
16:58Bing, bing, bing, bing, bing.
17:00It is going to get really smoky in here.
17:03With 10 minutes already lost in transit
17:05Michael only has 10 minutes left to get this order out the door
17:09and time's running out fast.
17:11I need to get these done, packaged, ready to go in 5 minutes.
17:14Get a little bit of colour into this lamb.
17:16Damn hot in here, man.
17:18Right, let's get these naans on.
17:20What are you up to?
17:218 minutes.
17:22Michael is using wax paper to roll thinner naan bread
17:26but this new, softer dough has created a bit of a sticky situation.
17:33Right, oil.
17:34Here's another bash, this time with oil on the wax paper.
17:38Now we're talking turkey.
17:39Here we go.
17:40Having been flat out making naan
17:42Michael needs to concentrate on finishing those curries.
17:45Getting the order out in 20 minutes might have been a touch ambitious.
17:49So how long has it taken?
17:51All up, nearly 30 minutes.
17:53You've got 5 seconds.
17:555 seconds.
17:56Let's do it, let's do it, let's do it.
18:003 rices, 3 curries, 3 naans.
18:04He's done it with blood, sweat and tears.
18:07Mostly sweat.
18:08Holy moly.
18:10In the end, Michael's 10 minutes late.
18:12Well, at least it's hot.
18:14Good evening, food truck delivery.
18:16Fantastic, looking forward to it.
18:17While Michael heads off to his next customer
18:20it's time to see if he's curried favour with this family.
18:24You've had that before?
18:25Have you ever had watermelon curry before?
18:27Me, me, me, me.
18:28Oh, you've had it before?
18:29Look at those big bits of watermelon.
18:32It's got little peas in it, eh?
18:33Are they mung beans?
18:34They're mung beans.
18:36Not as spicy as I expected.
18:37Really?
18:38Yeah.
18:39It's good though.
18:40Do you think the curry's yummy?
18:41Or yucky?
18:42Yucky.
18:43You think it's yucky?
18:44I think it's yummy.
18:45The watermelon was amazing.
18:46It's just that burst of fruit amongst the cashew nuts was just stunning.
18:49Kind of a win-win if you're getting fast food and it's healthy.
18:52Yeah, it was efficient, it was good.
18:56Mike's Indian deliveries.
18:57OK, cool.
18:59Meanwhile, Michael's already cooking up his next order.
19:04These naans are starting to look good.
19:06Finally, I think I've cracked the naan.
19:09Delivery!
19:10Hi, how are you?
19:11Busy day?
19:12Oh, not really.
19:13No?
19:14Oh God, I'd love to not have a busy day.
19:17Well, there's no time to stop and chat then.
19:19The people need curry, not small talk.
19:21Lamb, yes?
19:28Hello?
19:29This is great!
19:30The orders are just rolling in.
19:33And the curries are rolling out.
19:35Quick, healthy and delicious, everything is going to plan.
19:41Damn.
19:45Damn.
19:46Well, almost everything.
19:50Jeez, that's a rubbish idea, Michael.
19:57He's in, with a lightly fried knee.
20:00And it's straight back to the grindstone.
20:05Two butter chickens, one naan, three rice.
20:07That's it?
20:08Yeah.
20:09I'll be ordering another one on the way.
20:11OK.
20:12Another chicken?
20:13Yeah.
20:14OK, I'll do that now and I'll come back.
20:15Quick as can be, Michael bashes out another curry à la minute.
20:19Your final curry.
20:22We have my husband on a low-fat diet,
20:24so it's really, really difficult to find a meal that's decent without the fat.
20:31So having that meal from Michael was great.
20:37Low fat, yummy.
20:42Life's Indian deliveries.
20:43This home delivery is actually really, really hard work.
20:46How are you?
20:47Because not only do you have to figure out where you're going,
20:49you've got to turn up, you've got to cook, run up to the houses,
20:52meet these people, give them their food.
20:54Hi, how are you?
20:55It's just awesome, I'm loving it.
20:57It's been a hard slog, but Michael's feeling at home with his home deliveries.
21:01Good evening.
21:02Yeah.
21:04Just sit down.
21:05Oh, yeah.
21:06Maybe just a touch too at home.
21:08So you've got one lamb and rice hot and one chicken and rice mild.
21:13Perfect, awesome.
21:14Lovely spot.
21:15Yeah, it's beautiful.
21:16I know.
21:18Okay, bye.
21:20The health perspective is fantastic.
21:22You know, the big bits of okra and the courgette
21:24and the nice big leaves of spinach in there.
21:27It's fantastic, lovely and healthy for sure.
21:29So good and easy too, isn't it?
21:32All up, 12 rounds of curries cooked and delivered in 45 minutes or less
21:36Hi, how are you?
21:37by Michael in his trusty food truck.
21:39Two curries and a rice.
21:40Curry may not be every kid's favourite,
21:42but to Mount Albert mums and dads,
21:44it was the perfect end to a summer's day.
21:47That was absolutely full on.
21:49From the minute we started to now, it has been go, go, go.
21:53Today was all about food.
21:55It was about serving healthy curries in under 20 minutes
21:58and it's authentic.
22:00Today, the food truck delivered.
Recommended
19:57
|
Up next
19:58
19:29
17:04
15:50
15:06
21:02
21:02
21:03
21:03
21:04
21:03
21:03
21:02
21:01
21:00
21:02
42:34
21:03
42:32
39:14
39:12
39:16
39:13
39:11
Be the first to comment