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Nisha Katona's Home Kitchen Season 1 Episode 4
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00:00I'm Nisha Katona. Over the years I've been a barrister, a restaurateur, an entrepreneur but
00:08always a food lover. Gorgeous. It's a real cockle warmer. It's fantastic. From my home kitchen in
00:16the Wirral I'll show you how to cook simple delicious dishes from all around the world.
00:19Here we go, now it gets exciting. Tasty and fabulous recipes inspired by my heritage,
00:26my family and my northern roots. Now we can lick the pie. I'm also blessed to be part of a
00:34community that shares my passion for big flavours and homegrown produce. I've got some goodies for
00:39you. Look at these. Amazing, amazing, amazing. The potatoes have a real kick. Really tasty. The
00:45beauty of it is these cattle have never been inside. This is about as good as it gets. So
00:50join me and my extended two and four-legged family. No, I knew you would do that. No. For
00:56a slice of my life. Is she trying to feed it to the dog? And some amazing food.
01:20Running a business, looking after our family and keeping an eye on those with four legs keeps
01:27me on my toes most days. But working from home, enjoying this wonderful location, well, it makes
01:35everything a pleasure. Because where we live is not just a family home, it's a haven. I wanted to live in
01:45this house because of the trees that it had in the garden. You know, I raised my children in a flat.
01:50So to come somewhere where they have these old pine trees meant the world. I work pretty hard and I
01:56travel the country and I travel the world working. Coming back to a house where there is nature,
02:02where there are trees, where there is silence, where there is the whirring of the wind in the leaves,
02:07it completely grounds me. It completely strips you back to the human you are meant to be.
02:13And it's here that I love to create my family recipes. Simple, hearty and above all, delicious.
02:23Today, I'm planning a tomato and salmon curry, just like I'd make for those family dinners at home.
02:30And as a special treat, I'll be creating some delicious gooey chocolate brownies with my daughter,
02:38filled with those tasty sweets that you find in your local corner shop. But first, I want to create
02:49something to pay tribute to one of the four-legged family members. When we sadly lost some of these
03:02trees in a heavy storm, Andy, a local artist, was able to create something beautiful from them.
03:07Andy is the most incredible artist. It's one thing that he has that skill to create, you know,
03:14lifelike images. But it's also that wonderful attitude of taking dead wood, trees that have fallen,
03:20to be able to turn the wood from those trees into the beautiful birds that used to nest in them,
03:27was so momentous. Andy's a chainsaw artist, using these huge tools to create something intricate
03:37from dead or deceased wood. Sometimes I come across lovely pieces of
03:43crazy shaped timber, which of course lend themselves to weird and wacky shapes like,
03:49for instance, you know, a dragon with its wings out or a bird of prey landing with its wings out. So
03:54when you might come across a Y-shaped log, for instance, where you can actually see what you want
04:01to carve and let that give you the vision for what you want to make from that piece of wood, rather than
04:06just something quite mundane.
04:12I've asked Andy to create something new for my garden, a sculpture of someone very special.
04:18I've got a lovely piece of oak. I'm going to turn the piece of wood that I've got into, hopefully,
04:24a close replica of an Italian greyhound made of oak with chainsaws for Nisha.
04:33Today's the day I get to see it for the first time. I wanted you to do me a little goose.
04:38Yes.
04:38I eat my little Italian greyhound dog, who's now five.
04:41Yes.
04:42And I know she's very fine and fiddly, and I know that's not easy in wood,
04:47especially when you're carving with a chainsaw.
04:49Yeah.
04:49But I'd like to set you a challenge. So how's it gone?
04:52Well, it was quite a difficult proposition. So as you know, I work with chainsaws,
04:56so I had to get a big piece of wood. And I did come and meet Goose, and I sat with her,
05:01tried to keep her warm, because I know she likes to be warm.
05:04And she sat with me for about half an hour while I got about 20, 25 measurements.
05:08And then I did a few of my own photographs and a few little videos as well, so that I can refer to
05:13that later. And then it's a case of just going back to my barn, putting all those measurements
05:18onto the piece of wood, and then just cutting away the bits that don't match up with Goose.
05:23I do think you've got that gift. I mean, there's a lot riding on this.
05:27A lot of pressure.
05:28Yeah. So my heart's a little bit in my mouth, to be honest, because she means an awful lot to me.
05:32It's never going to be anatomically correct.
05:33Yeah.
05:34But I'd always just try and get the essence of the dog.
05:36Yeah.
05:38I can't wait to see how Andy has used something so dramatic as a chainsaw
05:43to capture my tiny little Goose.
05:48Oh my God, it's amazing.
05:50That is incredible. Andy!
05:53It's that totally archetypal Italian greyhound pose.
05:57That is amazing. And the years back and the questioning and the, what are we going to do next?
06:01Is everything okay? Oh, she's amazing. Thank you so much.
06:04Thank you, thank you.
06:05How do I need to look after her?
06:07So the key thing with these is, I mean, as you can see, this is a piece of oak.
06:11That tree was actually about 200 years old. So you will always get little cracks and splits
06:17that develop in this. I always say to my clients, you know, raise it off the ground slightly.
06:22Don't let it sit in moisture. And then I use a really good oil.
06:26I'm thrilled with her. Thank you so much.
06:28Great.
06:29Beautiful. Absolutely fantastic.
06:31Great. Thank you.
06:32Absolutely got her to a T. Thanks for having me come and do it.
06:38Amazing. I need to just get her out now to see it.
06:41But she's wrapped up in a blanket in bed, it's just too early for her.
06:44It's a bit windy and cold, I suppose.
06:45It's a bit windy, yeah.
06:46Yeah.
06:47Fantastic. Thank you.
06:48I guess we'll have to wait for a slightly warmer day before Goose can admire the likeness.
06:56But having a family member commemorated in this way has made me feel quite romantic
07:00about my own history.
07:04I want to create something my ancestors would make fresh every single day.
07:09Delicious roti or chapattis, if you prefer.
07:13Made with what my family call an aubergine funeral curry.
07:18It's a vegetable dish and I'll explain the unusual name a little later.
07:22The theory is, with vegetable dishes you have chapattis, with meat dishes you have rice.
07:28That's generally how it works in the Indian home kitchen.
07:31And because India is primarily vegetarian, chapattis are absolutely necessary.
07:38I'm using chapatti flour, which is whole meal, so pretty good for you too.
07:43To that I'm going to add a little pinch of salt.
07:47There's no fat in this, it's just water.
07:50And this is where you get your hands dirty.
07:53And you're just going to make a nice tight dough.
07:55When you're happy with its consistency, let it sit while you prepare the curry.
08:01And I'm using one of my favourite vegetables.
08:04Aubergine is India's most beloved vegetable.
08:08The reason it is, is because it absorbs flavour so wonderfully.
08:12The other reason it is, is because remember that the majority of India was completely vegan.
08:17There is something about the texture of aubergine that is also quite meaty.
08:23You know, so you're getting that texture, you're getting that flavour.
08:27I'm cutting some big chunks of onion, just going to quarter them,
08:30and then peel my potatoes before cutting them into equally big chunks.
08:35Then, time for action.
08:38In with a little bit of oil. A couple of tablespoons of oil, that's all you need.
08:43And then comes one of my favourite spices, fenugreek seeds.
08:48It is the ultimate curry spice. When you fry with it, or when you use it,
08:54I'm going to drop a little teaspoon into some warm oil and I'm going to let it heat up.
08:59Don't drop it into hot oil because they'll suddenly burn and they become bitter.
09:03Warm oil, let it heat up and let them start turning golden brown.
09:07You've got to wait to that point.
09:10I'm going to add a clove of garlic and then in go those onions.
09:14Start getting some colour on those onions.
09:17I'm going to put my salt in at this stage, a little bit.
09:21Encourages it all to soften. Brings all the flavours together.
09:28In we go with our potatoes.
09:30Now, we need to turn that heat down.
09:37These potatoes are going to take a while to cook.
09:41A little turmeric and chilli powder go in to complement the fenugreek.
09:44OK.
09:49I'm going to put my seasoning in at this stage as well because, remember, the salt's going to encourage those potatoes to cook quickly.
09:54Now, I'm going to leave those like this.
09:57A little half cover, not a full cover because that will just steam it.
10:00A little half cover. You're still getting the frying action and the air through, but you're encouraging softening.
10:06I'm going to wait for those to get nice and soft.
10:09While those potatoes are softening, I've got time to feed a few of the hungry mouths.
10:14Coming up, I'll be getting to grips with an even bigger challenge.
10:19So, you want to hold on to the body, hold on to the neck like this.
10:23Hold them quite close to you.
10:25Yeah? So, hold them, get closer.
10:26I'll go.
10:27We'll go.
10:28Bye.
10:42I've been preparing a dish that I call Aubergine Funeral Curry with chupattis.
10:47It's a family favourite and I think it's time to reveal why it got its rather strange name.
10:52So, my dad, bless his soul, liked aubergines best, rubbed with turmeric and just fried.
11:00And in that form, they drank so much oil. They're so unhealthy.
11:06So, when my mum made this curry, without deep frying the aubergines first,
11:12he would come in and he would say in Indian,
11:17which means, what the heck is this? Is it a funeral for aubergines?
11:22And that's why I call this dish the funeral aubergine curry,
11:27because for my dad, it was like a funeral for aubergines.
11:30But he would devour every bit of it because it's absolutely delicious.
11:36I'm just going to bring down the heat and allow that to slow cook.
11:40Lid half on, let the air through, and we are talking about 20 minutes.
11:46Now we can concentrate on the chupattis.
11:49You'll hear the word roti, same thing.
11:51Ruti, chupatti, roti, all interchangeable.
11:56Start by making a ball and press it into your hand.
11:59I've just got a metal skillet here, a nice cast iron metal skillet.
12:04You don't need that. It could be a frying pan.
12:06In India, they call them tawa.
12:09Then, with a little flour, take a chupatti ball and press it flat.
12:13Now, you lean slightly to one side, and when you lean slightly to one side,
12:18can you see how the chupatti's rotating there?
12:20As I'm going round, nice and light, the chupatti is rotating with me.
12:25Keep using it to mop up more flour, it loosens it from the base,
12:29and that chupatti continues to go round and round.
12:34Shake off the excess flour and put it on the skillet.
12:37What you want to happen is you want a little seal of the base.
12:42What that does is it traps the moisture into the rutti.
12:46I'm then going to turn it over. Can you see?
12:49I'm getting a seal on the other side now.
12:51But as I do that, you can see these little bubbles begin to appear.
12:56Flip it over again and you'll see steam forming in the middle.
13:00This air pocket will help your chupatti inflate.
13:04OK, you want to drive all that air to the edges of the chupatti if you can.
13:08There we go. Nice. Nice chupatti into a bowl.
13:13So the secret is put it in a bowl, cover it with another plate.
13:17You want the steam to stay in, yeah?
13:22OK. My curry's looking pretty good now too.
13:25The potatoes are lovely and soft and the aubergine nice and brown.
13:30I'm going to sprinkle in some coriander powder
13:32and a squeeze of lemon to bring everything together.
13:40Perfect for those chupattis.
13:42This is how you eat in an Indian home kitchen.
13:45You get your chupatti and you chase a bit of curry up the centre of it like that.
13:57You eat it like a tortilla.
14:00It's so humbly and so flavourful.
14:13Eight main courses in one dish, it's fantastic.
14:16So my dad used to call this, of course, the aubergine's funeral,
14:20but it is the most delicious wake I've ever been to.
14:23Gorgeous.
14:24I love looking back through my personal family history to inspire future dishes.
14:32I also love any opportunity to grow my family too.
14:37And I've got three brand new members to welcome into my home.
14:42These alpacas are gorgeous, but proving a little bit of a handful.
14:46So I've roped in my daughter and niece to see if I can get to grip with these wonderful creatures.
14:51We got alpacas a few weeks ago.
14:55And it is really important to learn to handle them so you can check them over.
14:59They're very strange animals because they don't like being handled at all.
15:02So they're not like some kind of pet that you can snuggle.
15:05But you do need to be able to corral them and halt to train them so you can get hold of them
15:10and you can check their bodies because they get things like fly bite.
15:13They get lots of those diseases that sheep would get.
15:16So you can't just leave them be.
15:18My daughter is the chief alpaca wrangler.
15:22I'm still really afraid of them.
15:24And that's not good because they can sense that.
15:27So she's going to teach me and my niece how to wrangle the alpacas today.
15:31You're not afraid of these alpacas, are you?
15:34Not really, no. No, I think it's important not to be.
15:37Because once they sense fear, they don't really trust you.
15:39And then they will just kind of do their own thing.
15:42They can kick, can't they?
15:44They can, but I don't think they will. I think you'll be fine.
15:46Okay, but I'm really scared of them.
15:47So I need to get over this. We need to get over this fear.
15:50And the thing is, there's got to be three of us.
15:51So you can't just lead one alpaca or two alpacas.
15:53They are such close herd animals.
15:55Yeah, they like to stay together.
15:57They get very anxious if they're kind of separated.
15:59And we'll take them all on a little walk and see how they get on it.
16:03Okay, so you show me how to do this, because I've never done this before.
16:05I've never put a halter on an alpaca.
16:07So what I'm going to do is I'm just going to give you each a little bit of food first.
16:12And then we're going to try and get them over to where we're going to put the halters on them.
16:16And then I'm going to introduce you to them, because they've all got names and personalities.
16:20Although they don't like us very much.
16:22Birdie!
16:23Birdie is the most confident.
16:25Got that second.
16:25So can I tell you, this is Birdie.
16:27Can you see Birdie has got a twisted jaw?
16:29Birdie is our welfare alpaca, right, new Birdie?
16:32So Birdie would eat from our hands.
16:34Giraffe looks like a giraffe.
16:36And he is a beautiful colour, so he's really unusual.
16:38He's an Appaloosa, like our spotty horse.
16:41This is Rue.
16:42Rue is what they call a modern grey, really unusual colour.
16:45Got a beautiful face.
16:48So look at this.
16:49I'm going to try and touch him now.
16:50He's eating.
16:53He hates it.
16:54He hates it, but I love it.
16:55I'm just getting used to it.
16:58He's trying to yell at your bucket now.
16:59So this one's proper name is Keshul.
17:00Do you know what?
17:01We call them the Birdies, because they're almost bird-like.
17:03Your attitude towards them, I think, has almost got to be as though you're dealing with birds.
17:07They're so flighty, and so special, and so otherworldly.
17:11We're just getting used to them.
17:12But I think they're very interested in us.
17:14They're very inquisitive, and I think they do like humans in a way,
17:18but they just, I don't think they fully trust us just yet.
17:21Yeah.
17:22Because it's quite early days, but I think if we just do a little bit with them every day,
17:26then they just kind of trust us a bit more.
17:28Should we get them in the corral?
17:29Right, should we take them over?
17:30OK, so we've got to get them into a corralled area where we can handle them.
17:34While following my daughter's instructions, things start off pretty well.
17:38I don't think that you're walking.
17:39Birdies!
17:40Come on, birdies!
17:42That is until my husband decides to go on a little drive.
17:45But the promise of a feed seems to have got them back on track.
18:11Just be careful here, because they can...
18:12There you go. Well done, birdies.
18:15Just stand there.
18:16Well done, birdies. Right.
18:17Is that enough? They might get off.
18:19And after a few steps forward and a couple back, they're safely in one place.
18:24And I can try to place a halter on them.
18:26I'll hold.
18:27So what you're going to do, I'm going to basically do it with Rue.
18:28Rue's going to go. Rue's going to go.
18:31And you're just going to coffee me.
18:32OK, I'm going to coffee you.
18:33OK. So you want to hold onto the body, hold onto the neck like this.
18:37Hold them quite close to you.
18:39Yeah, so hold them close. Get closer.
18:41OK, get closer with your body.
18:46Closer.
18:46OK, not quite the best start. Let's try that again.
18:50I want to put this over the mouth.
18:54Good boy, good boy.
18:58Carl, why don't you just see if he'll eat something?
19:00Well, that looked all very straightforward.
19:06Let's see if I can make it look as simple with giraffe.
19:09OK, I'm not scared.
19:11And, like, hold him, like, very firmly onto your body.
19:14He's a big giraffe, this one, isn't he?
19:16He's the biggest one.
19:17You move that thing away.
19:18Be careful.
19:19OK, sweetheart, I've got you.
19:21OK, I've got you.
19:22Good boy.
19:22Yeah, that's good, that's good.
19:23Good boy.
19:25I feel like these are complicated animals.
19:27You know, there's not a lot of them in the UK.
19:29There's not a lot of vets that know how to deal with them.
19:32And so it's really important that I learn everything I need to,
19:38when you take on an animal like that.
19:40Being able to handle them is absolute cornerstone of any animal,
19:43because then you can check them over.
19:45I'm so afraid of them, because I know what horses do.
19:48They can kick and they can bite.
19:49I know which parts of the horse to avoid.
19:51I know my goats can headbutt me.
19:53I need to know the parameters, and that's what I'm just getting used to.
19:59Not quite as easy as my daughter makes it look, but...
20:03Yeah, there you go.
20:03Good boy! She's got it on the wrong way.
20:06There you go. She's nice.
20:06It's fine, it's fine, it's fine.
20:07Yeah, yeah, that's good.
20:09That's good, there you go.
20:10And then just give him a little bit of food.
20:13Now that we've been properly introduced,
20:15we can take a leisurely stroll round the garden.
20:19OK. Let's go this way.
20:20Good boy, now.
20:20So we'll just give, like, a little...
20:22Come on, then.
20:23Leave a little gap.
20:24You're doing well.
20:26Well, after a slightly shaky start,
20:28me and the alpacas feel on much better terms,
20:31and I feel more confident about looking after them.
20:35It's crazy, you know, because I'm busy enough,
20:37but what I really realised is that, honestly,
20:39I work every hour that God sends me
20:43so that I can have these animals.
20:44I don't drive fast cars.
20:47I don't like flashy jewellery.
20:49I don't...
20:49You know, my complete comfort zone
20:52is these herbivores that I have around me,
20:55and carnivores.
20:56Bertram, that's your bottom.
20:58Anyway, these are what I work for.
21:13Our house and garden in this lovely part of the Wirral is perfect for entertaining.
21:22And I love nothing more than cooking for friends and guests,
21:26creating new and exciting dishes for them to try.
21:29But on one of those rare nights off, it's nice to prepare some real comfort food.
21:38I'm going to create a salmon and tomato curry alongside a potato and courgette curry.
21:43It's a great example of how many Indians treat their fish.
21:47Very simple in the way it's made, but so delicious.
21:53And these are the kind of dishes that we as Indians have when the guests have gone home.
21:58Talking of guests...
21:59Do I lie?
22:01Oh, I love him so much.
22:04I love his face.
22:06Mustn't get distracted by my beautiful animals.
22:12Back to the salmon curry.
22:14Now, the way that we always cook fish in the Indian kitchen
22:19is by first rubbing the fish with a little bit of turmeric and a little bit of oil.
22:25The turmeric will provide a pleasant, earthy flavour.
22:28Not that Dave looks that impressed.
22:32See, my guinea fowls are all kicking off
22:35because my lurcher was lying there.
22:37The other thing it does, and this is really important,
22:40is that turmeric almost takes the fishiness out of fish.
22:44It makes it more meaty.
22:46Because it's a ground root and tastes of the earth,
22:48it almost gives fish land legs.
22:52That's how I describe it, just to help you understand.
22:56After sprinkling with turmeric, a little oil and a tiny pinch of salt
23:00and then give it a good rub to spread the flavour.
23:04That seems to have woken the dog up.
23:06Bertram, it's fish, it's not beef.
23:09Nor is it cheese.
23:11I'm then going to add some vegetable oil to a pan.
23:16Just a wee bit of oil because I'm just going to seal.
23:20I'm going to seal the skin, seal the top, a little bit on the side.
23:25A little seal.
23:26We do not need it to cook.
23:30You just want to get a bit of brown.
23:33So don't overcrowd the pan because that reduces the heat.
23:35We want that quick sear.
23:38Look at that.
23:40Beautiful, golden and delicious.
23:42So time to leave those there and start on my potato and courgette curry.
23:48And I'm going to bring some seed spices alive.
23:51Because remember, seed spices are what we use when we're cooking vegetables.
23:55Because we want a lightness of touch.
23:58We want the vegetables to be able to bring out their own flavour
24:02without being subsumed by ground spices.
24:06Now, the spice I'm going to use here is a very exciting one
24:08that I want you to go out and buy a little bit off if you dare.
24:11It's called pach purun.
24:13Pach means five, purun means spice.
24:16Pach purun is a blend.
24:17Just give it a little shake because the mustard seeds tend to go to the bottom
24:19because they're lighter.
24:20The spices within this are gorgeous.
24:24Really perfumed, really clever spices do a lot of legwork for you.
24:28Mustard seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, nigella seeds and fenugreek seeds.
24:34These are all the kind of, you know, the big hitters of the Indian kitchen.
24:39Now, the way that we bring spices alive is we drop them into hot oil.
24:44That is how seed spices wake up and release their flavour into the oil.
24:49So, when you're cooking with pach purun, you can see the little nuggets in there.
24:54Can you see those jumping around?
24:56There's the fenugreek seeds.
24:58You don't want them too dark.
24:59You want them just the other side of golden brown.
25:02So, just watch the pan.
25:06In go some of those sliced onions for sweetness and then a little bit of salt.
25:13See, when I get to those little ribbons of sweet golden onion,
25:17that's ready for the potatoes.
25:19Now, all I'm using is leftover boiled potatoes.
25:22This makes the cook really super quick.
25:26Cubes of potatoes.
25:27It could be halves.
25:28It could be, you know, your salad potatoes cut in half and boiled.
25:31But in we go.
25:33So, now it's back to the fish curry,
25:35starting with some oil in a pan, ready for our seeds.
25:39So, nigella seeds, green chilli.
25:42Now, I'm going to make a sauce and into that sauce I'm going to poach the fish that we've sealed.
25:47The sauce is very simple.
25:49So, here it is.
25:50Tinned chopped tomatoes.
25:53Nice.
25:55Right.
25:56So, here we go.
25:58In goes our old friend turmeric and a tiny bit of red chilli powder to add a bit of warmth.
26:03So, you're cooking this tomato so that it kind of separates,
26:10so that the flavours have all melded and they become quite caramelised.
26:14So, it doesn't taste of tomato, it tastes of tang.
26:19This is a dead important little moment because,
26:24can you see how the oil in the pan has come to the top of the tomatoes?
26:28And it sits in these pools of lovely golden kind of glisten.
26:35That is how you know you're ready for the next stage.
26:38Can you see that?
26:39In goes a little salt, a touch of brown sugar for a little sweetness.
26:44And although some people might think it's strange, I'm adding English mustard.
26:48Tomato and English mustard are a match made in heaven.
26:54And it's a very Bengali way of cooking.
26:57Something magical happens when you add English mustard to a tomato-based sauce.
27:01Just try it at home.
27:04I'm going to bulk out the sauce with the remaining juice from my tomato tin.
27:08And into that go my beautiful salmon steaks.
27:17OK.
27:17One.
27:21And then we want a nice gentle bubble.
27:22And to allow those salmon steaks to continue cooking.
27:26Can I give you another really very typically Indian tip?
27:29We very often, to a curry like this on a tomato base, would add frozen peas.
27:36They, of course, become cooked peas.
27:37But this is just such an easy addition.
27:42Those peas don't just pad out the dish.
27:44They also add a lovely, fresh, sweet pop too.
27:49And I just want that to poach for the last couple of minutes.
27:52While that's poaching, I'm going to finish off my potato and courgette curry.
27:56In goes a smidge of turmeric and chilli powder.
28:00And I'm going to chop the courgettes about the same size as the potatoes.
28:06Now, what courgettes immediately start to do is they start to release liquid.
28:11And that is why you've got to put them in at the right time.
28:13You put courgettes and marrow in at the time where you want liquid to be released.
28:18You want things to quieten down in the powder bit.
28:21Because I don't want my onions to burn.
28:22My potatoes are already done, so now we need that to all sort of lubricate and become delicious.
28:28I'm going to half cover the pan so steam can escape and everything can soften inside.
28:42Okay, so there we go.
28:45We've just let that simmer nicely.
28:47The liquid's come out of the courgettes.
28:48If you're worried about it getting too dry,
28:50add a tiny little splash of water to loosen it all up.
28:54But now I'm going to switch that off and we are ready to season this.
28:58I'm going to use a spice called amchur.
29:00Basically, a ground green mango powder which brings out a little sharpness.
29:05And then a squeeze of lemon which brings everything together.
29:08I'm going to use the same lemon in my salmon curry.
29:12Here we go.
29:12And finally, a little coriander.
29:17And a slice or two of red chilli.
29:19A little bit of extra heat if you want to stir that through.
29:23And then let's get this beautiful fish curry served up.
29:27Let's just slide that in like that.
29:29There we go.
29:30So that is my tomato and salmon curry.
29:35And a real home style courgette and potato curry with five spice.
29:41A thoroughly delicious and healthy meal for the whole family.
29:44Of course, cooking at home for friends and family brings its own pleasures.
29:55But creating new and exciting dishes for paying clients on a budget and to a deadline
30:00can create its very own set of challenges.
30:03I opened up Mowgli, the first of my chain of restaurants in Liverpool, around 10 years ago.
30:11I've got more than 25 of them dotted around the country.
30:14And I'm always looking for ways to keep the menu fresh.
30:19So here's the thing.
30:20I use a lot of fresh spinach in my dishes here in the restaurants.
30:23I don't like waste.
30:25I want to use that spinach, put it into a dish where it's really, you know, at its very best.
30:30You don't get better than a spinach chicken curry.
30:33And that's what I want to develop.
30:34It's a really difficult thing to develop a recipe at restaurant standards.
30:38So everything is cooked fresh every morning, which is easy on a domestic level,
30:42you know, because you can really easily balance the spices.
30:44You know, it's just your teaspoons, aren't your teaspoons?
30:47The challenge is getting that dish and capturing it and writing it large across the country.
30:55With an army of chefs that are cooking fresh every morning,
30:58but they want to capture the taste of my grandmother's chicken spinach curry.
31:02That is the real challenge.
31:05I show Andy and Dave how to bring these ideas to life.
31:09So we're onion, ginger, garlic, starter.
31:12And I tell you, the other big dilemma for me, and honestly, this is a big point,
31:15is that fenugreek going in, do you know what I mean?
31:17Because that is such a, it's got a lot to say for itself.
31:20I personally prefer with the fenugreek.
31:22Yeah, it's really just that lift.
31:24Yeah.
31:25God, you're terrors, aren't you?
31:26Yeah.
31:27Aren't you?
31:27But in that case, we've got to get the fenugreek in,
31:30and then you're going to smell of curry for the day.
31:33This is one of the true joys of development, throwing in the ingredients and seeing what sticks.
31:39So onion, ginger, garlic, fried, fenugreek in.
31:41I mean, instantly, the smell.
31:43Beautiful.
31:44Yeah, will you, will you man the hob for me, Andy, can I just lob some bits in?
31:49The sights and smells of these wonderful ingredients have given me an idea.
31:54Not one, but two different versions of the dish.
31:57One for meat lovers, and the other veggie using some of this lovely paneer.
32:04I reckon we do, let's do some chicken and let's do a paneer version as well,
32:08because once that paneer is melted down into that sauce to die for, yeah.
32:12So let's get the sauce.
32:14Creating both the chicken and veggie version will allow everyone to enjoy this wonderful sauce.
32:21Here we go, garam masala.
32:24Bit of coriander.
32:26That tomato puree is going to make it so good and rich.
32:28So let's just think about, have we got, we're getting tomato puree in anyway.
32:31We've got the tinea.
32:32All these ingredients are already in the restaurants.
32:35We won't be having any new products.
32:36OK, so sauce, we've got onion, ginger, garlic, we've got fenugreek, we've got garam masala,
32:40turmeric, chilli, we've got coriander and a bit of cumin to give it a bit more oomph.
32:44We are going tomato puree and we're going chopped tomatoes and we are going to then put in fresh
32:50spinach and we're going to blitz that and I reckon green chilli towards the end.
32:54So if I just do that, Andy, would you stir that in for me?
32:58Let's get a bit of ginger puree.
33:00Now that that sauce is mixed, all those wonderful ingredients have combined to create not just
33:07fantastic taste and smell, but a wonderful deep colour too.
33:12We split the sauce up into two pans, one for the chicken, but first the veggie version.
33:17OK, paneer goes in.
33:21And as soon as that softens down, we're there on that.
33:25So with any kind of a spinach curry, you're expecting that really deep, rounded flavour.
33:32It's something that is a completely standalone dish, it's not a dish that you'd have any other
33:36sides with, so it's got to have that, you know, that taste of everything that is organic and deep and
33:41natural. And you want that bit of warmth, but you almost want that cumin hit, you want it to taste
33:48of like curry. You know, or something on a tomato base, it's light, it feels like a summer curry.
33:54That's almost like it. That's an autumn through into springtime. It sounds mad, but I reckon we'll
34:00see the sales on that go up as the weather gets colder. Whereas on things like the tomato base,
34:05I think, you know, through the summer you get those kind of sales. So I'm wanting those big flavors.
34:09So can I have a little, little taste? Just spoon a little bit of that on. Yeah, spoon it from there
34:13onto me. That's what my mum taught me, Dave, so I don't double dip. Thank you.
34:17Sorry about that.
34:18Uh-uh.
34:22Are you happy?
34:24That is so good.
34:25It's a winter warmer, isn't it?
34:26It's a winter warmer.
34:28That's definitely gone down well, but we're not finished yet.
34:31Would you like to try a chicken version?
34:33Oh yeah, that'd be amazing.
34:35I can't wait to see how that tastes.
34:48I've been working with Andy and Dave, developing my mother's spinach curry recipe to use in my restaurants.
34:55OK, paneer goes in.
34:58The veggie version using paneer has worked a treat. Now it's time to try it with the chicken.
35:03Let's just get some heat into that and then I'm going to put the chicken in.
35:06So we, I'll tell you the thing going through my head, is whether we get a little bit of our garam masala, ginger, garlic paste on the chicken.
35:16Just toss it in before we put it in. Why don't we do that? Give it a go.
35:18Fantastic.
35:19All right, so why don't we do that? So if I just toss it on, Andy, will you?
35:21Yeah, I will mix for you.
35:23Yeah, cheers.
35:24Bit of garlic ginger puree, just so that we're driving that flavour into the meat.
35:30The colour's fab, isn't it?
35:31Yeah. Yeah, I love it.
35:32It's very Popeye, isn't it?
35:35Yeah.
35:35Hey.
35:36Build the muscles.
35:37Yeah. I can't wait to get this on. So, can we think about this?
35:42So we just need to make sure, so you working on water content,
35:45are you working on just getting the right consistency?
35:47Yeah, I think just thinking up to a restaurant style recipe, we just want to make sure the sauce
35:52has got perfect consistency and we've got the right balance of flavours.
35:55Grill.
35:56Chicken dishes are incredibly popular in the restaurant, and it's exciting to think we might be present at
36:01the birth of a brand new one.
36:04So, Alicia, this chicken's ready to taste.
36:06Grill, you ready to grab a spoon? Tell me what you think.
36:09Yeah, yeah, yeah.
36:10Let's have a little go.
36:11Thanks, Andy.
36:11A moment of truth.
36:13Get a piece of chicken.
36:17Steamy hot.
36:19Good.
36:20It's very good.
36:21I think I'd touch more seasoning.
36:23I think the chicken did need that marinade.
36:25Yeah, it gives it more, doesn't it?
36:27Mm-hm.
36:27Erm, so here's the challenge then, is it's all good in these domestic amounts.
36:33It's ramping it up to feed 33,000 people a week.
36:38That's what I need.
36:39So let's get a diary date where we're going to meet.
36:41Let's get it up to those volumes.
36:42Yep.
36:43So that's the consistency I want.
36:44That's the flavour I want.
36:46That's your challenge.
36:47For them to get that consistency and that flavour, we just need that recipe completely locking down.
36:54Perfect.
36:55And then you've just got to train your army of chefs on that as well.
36:58So, erm, yeah, that's exactly what I want. Brilliant.
37:01The journey from my home kitchen table to the plates of my customers in my restaurants isn't an easy one.
37:08But I'm hoping both the paneer and chicken spinach curry can make it in time for the autumn menu.
37:14The story behind the spinach curry is it's honestly what Indians would go for sort of in the winter months.
37:21It's got fresh ginger going through it and garlic.
37:23I train my direct chefs so that they almost taste and think like my grandma and they taste the food in the way that I do.
37:31That army then goes and trains the army of chefs. Everything is specked to death.
37:36So this is what I say to my chefs. I say, when you create a curry for me, it's almost as though you're creating a tablet.
37:43Something almost medicinal. It is so, you've got to measure everything down to the microgram.
37:48Of course, cooking for a restaurant is hard work, but even cooking at home can come with its own pressures.
38:00When I was younger and busy building up my business, I didn't always get the time to enjoy cooking with my family.
38:08And today I'm hoping to make up for that just a little with my youngest daughter, creating what I call corner shop brownies.
38:16Delicious slices of gooeyness filled with chocolates the girls used to buy from our local shop.
38:23I don't come from any kind of a baking culture, really. Chocolate brownies were something that the children fell in love with.
38:30See, she's smiling because she's smiling because I never really made brownies very much with them. Is that what's your memory?
38:36Yeah, we'd always make them if we had babysitters over, but you would never want to make them because they're so sweet, but I just love them.
38:42They're my favourite dessert, definitely.
38:44And that is why my daughter is cooking them with me, because she is the chocolate brownie fiend.
38:50This is your order of choice, isn't it? In a coffee shop? Anywhere, yeah.
38:55What would make a nice chocolate brownie for you?
38:56Really, almost melted in the middle, really gooey.
39:00Yeah.
39:00Nice chewy edges.
39:03Really chocolatey.
39:04Thick or thin?
39:05Not thin.
39:06So that's a very clear direction, then. Let's get going on that gooey.
39:11So into that bowl, you're going to please beat two eggs and two types of sugar, white sugar and brown sugar, until it becomes almost double in size.
39:24And I'm going to melt butter and chocolate and use the whisk.
39:29I'm determined these brownies are going to be better than the one she made with those babysitters.
39:35See how I'm melting this with butter over a bandmarine? How would you melt it? Did you just microwave it? How did you put the chocolate in?
39:43I'd heat milk up in the microwave until it was really hot. I saw this online somewhere, and then I'd pour it over my dark chocolate and then stir it a little, heat it up for five seconds, stir it until it melted that way, and I'd just use that, and that seemed to work well.
39:58It made kind of like a ganache-type thing, but it was really nice.
40:02I mean, this is pretty messed up, isn't it? Me, as a mother who lives with my daughter, having zero idea what she's cooking in the kitchen, but the truth is, I'm just not one of those mothers that really bake with you.
40:16I mean, we used to make bread. I went through a phase of making loads of bread with them.
40:20Or coffee cake. You made a lot of coffee cake.
40:21Coffee cake I love, yeah.
40:22Not like nice coffee cake, just literally not even sweet. It was just cake with melted coffee granules in.
40:32And that was... It was more like bread, to be honest.
40:35I love that. But the thing is, I... What is so bad is that I probably bake the stuff that I like to not what you...
40:42With the chocolate and butter melted, I'm going to pour it into the eggs and sugar, whisking as I go.
40:50So if you do it over that thing, if you melt it over that, does it never crystallise, never burn?
40:56It shouldn't. It should, because you can monitor the... It can, because the truth is, that could get pretty hot, but it just gives you a bit of a...
41:02A break. You know, it gives you a little bit more control over the heat, so you, you know, you can monitor it a little bit more.
41:08That smells... I could eat it like that, to be honest.
41:10Does it? Yeah.
41:11Now it's time to add a tablespoon of cocoa powder.
41:15Why do we need cocoa powder if we've already got chocolate?
41:17Because you want to up the chocolate. I've used milk chocolate here. You're going to get a little bit more bitterness, a bit more intensity.
41:23Why do you use milk chocolate? Because I'd always use dark chocolate with brownies.
41:27You can do... I'll tell you why, because I'm making a corner shop brownie, so what I'm going to do is I'm going to add in all the kind of chocolates that you like from the corner shop.
41:35And so it's a bit more of a playful brownie, it's a bit milder in that way, you know what I mean?
41:41In with some plain flour, and then a pinch of salt.
41:45Because it always says on the recipe to put salt in, but I never get why.
41:50Do you know what the thing is? When you add salt, a tiny bit of salt, you know, like a lassie, a mango lassie, you add a little bit of salt into sweet things, it makes the sweet sweeter.
42:01It balances the palate out. It's crazy.
42:04Yeah, but I once made brownies with too much salt in.
42:07Yeah, that is so great!
42:08That was the saddest thing ever, because it looked so nice.
42:11And I think I must have put two pinches of salt in, and ever since then I just thought, I'd rather not risk it.
42:17Yeah.
42:17Now time for those sweet shop chocs.
42:21So, we're going to put Rolos in, which are going to give you that caramel.
42:24So you've got a little bit of salt, corner shop stuff, yeah?
42:27Yeah.
42:27I've got some Maltesers, I'm going to put half of those in. You ready?
42:30Mm-hm.
42:31OK.
42:33Nice.
42:33Do you not cut them or anything? Do you not need to?
42:36Well, you don't need to, because I think it's quite nice and they start to melt inside.
42:40I'm going to get some Rolos in, so that's your little chocolate salted caramel hit.
42:45And then mini marshmallows. If you were going to go to the corner shop, what would you get to put in this?
42:50Mini marshmallows was the easiest choice, because they're so light, and you'd go to a corner shop and we'd have, like, what, 10p or something, 20p?
43:00And you'd give them 20p and then you'd get loads of marshmallows.
43:03But if you wanted, like, a piece of fudge or something, you'd only get one piece, because it's heavy.
43:07So I'd always go for marshmallows and you'd get loads more, and then everyone would be really jealous.
43:13Those sweeties will not only add some lovely flavour, but will also help them make a pretty pattern, too.
43:19But the biggest treat is being able to bake with my daughter and spend time with her.
43:28But you feel so guilty, because I, you know, I was never that baker.
43:32And you look around and you see these amazing sort of Enid Blyton kind of mothers that come from an entirely different culture to me,
43:38where they do that lovely baking thing.
43:39And I, with me, it was, they would cook with me, but they'd cook the food that they were actually going to eat.
43:45Yeah, that's something I would do with my children, but I, in my childhood, it was full of baking.
43:49I remember baking all the time.
43:51Yeah, but not with me.
43:52Baking biscuits and stuff.
43:52I remember, no, we made the coffee cake, if you can call it a cake.
43:56We still made stuff, and I know how to cook savoury things, so I don't really, I wouldn't really care about that, to be honest.
44:01She's being so nice to me.
44:03Being so nice to me.
44:04I'm going to put this in the oven.
44:06180 degrees.
44:07It's for about 20 minutes.
44:08That is the one thing I do know, 180 degrees for cakes.
44:14I may not have had much practice, but I reckon these brownies might have just hit the mark.
44:34That's a really gooey piece.
44:36Is that good?
44:37Yeah.
44:37Go with the batter.
44:38Okay, that's really gooey.
44:41Nice.
44:42Is it really good?
44:45What do you like about it?
44:46That's so nice.
44:47Is it like the one you had when you were small?
44:50Same though, it's got more stuffing, though.
44:52Is it like the ones I used to make you?
44:54No, because it's really sweet and nice.
44:56All this kind of stuffing.
44:59Yours would probably be savoury.
45:01Well, sugar.
45:03I'd have put salt in.
45:04Yeah, you would have.
45:05Yeah.
45:05Well, it may have taken a little longer than I hoped, but it was such a joy finding time
45:13to bake cakes with my daughter.
45:14I'm definitely going to find time to finish these off.
45:17Birdies!
45:26Birdies!
45:28Although these chockity lights are off limits for my new friends with four legs...
45:33You've got to follow me out.
45:34Let me open this.
45:34I'm sure they'll find something equally delicious next time.
45:40Come on, little one.
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