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BBC – Indian Food Made Easy Six episodes in which chef Anjum Anand aims to demystify Indian cuisine and show novice cooks exactly how simple it is to cook delicious, healthy Indian food. Hands up who likes an Indian takeaway? Almost everyone in Britain. Yet not many of us cook this style of food at home – we’re probably put off by the thought of all that fiddling about with cumin, turmeric and cardamom. Anjum Anand, a glamorous young food writer and chef, is having none of that. In this “chop and chat” series she shows friends and relatives how to make simple, healthy Indian food. Some of the dishes are very familiar, while others – such as her savoury vegetable semolina cake – probably don’t appear on many curry-house menus. So that’s one chicken tikka, a couple of samosas and a spicy spinach and mushroom wrap for me please. RT reviewer – Jane Rackham http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/indianfood_index.shtml Episode 1 Indian cuisine is a national favourite but, when it comes to cooking it at home, it can seem rather complicated and easier to pop to the local takeaway. In this new series, food writer and chef Anjum Anand is on a mission to show exactly how simple it is to cook delicious, healthy Indian food. Anjum travels the country, taking her message to a health spa, country fair, fire station and even a small Cornish village to show those who love Indian food, but have never cooked it before, everything they need to know. “This series is about demystifying Indian cuisine and its explosive flavours. It will change people’s perceptions of Indian food so that anyone can contemplate eating or cooking this way at any time of the day and on any occasion,” says Anjum. She starts with the basics of how to tell how hot a fresh chilli is, what the spices of Indian food are and what equipment to use. She also speaks to the experts who reveal the secrets of tandoori cooking, how to make the perfect samosa, bake delicious naan bread and make Indian cheese. Then there’s the cooking, from delicious finger food – chilli chicken and succulent tandoori mushroom wraps – to a traditional lamb curry with a healthy dal, savoury semolina cake and bowls of tasty mango kulfi. At the end of each programme, it’s down to the novices she meets to use their new-found knowledge to cook the food themselves under Anjum’s watchful eye. Anjum shows how Indian food is for everyone and can be easy enough to make every day. “The fact is that home-style Indian food can be healthy, fun and light,” she says. “It can be casual or formal, a meal or snack, comfort food, diet food, traditional or modern. To me, it is one of the world’s greatest cuisines because it caters for all.” Episode 2In the second episode we meet Alex, a friend of Anjum’s, who’s having the boys over to watch the FA Cup Final. His initial thought is an Indian take away, but Anjum persuades him to cook up an Indian feast. Having treated him to a tasty breakfast of mango smoothies, they head to the supermarket to pick up ingredients where Alex learns everything there is to know about chillies. Football fans love their junk food, but Anjum and Alex make a modern, healthier version – spicy lamb burgers made with fresh chillies, ginger, mint and lashings of coriander as well as delicious chilli-chicken – rolled in bread crumbs and oven-baked. Then there’s the ancient art of cheese making – boiling milk with yoghurt to make chunks of paneer. For dessert, Anjum heads to a top Indian restaurant in London, where executive Head Chef Mehernosh shows her the secrets of kulfi – rich Indian ice cream. Episode 3 In Britain, we love Indian food, but there’s still a big fear factor when it comes to cooking it. Foodwriter and chef Anjum Anand is on a mission to show exactly how simple it is to cook delicious, healthy Indian food. In the third episode Anjum heads for a Spa in the beautiful surroundings of The Charlton House Hotel, where chef Elisha Carter cooks healthy food for the customers. She sets out to persuade him that Indian food can also be light and healthy, and to put some of her recipes on his menu. Having invited him up to London for a couple of days, they head to Southall to check out a variety of classic Indian veg, before learning how to make stuffed Dhosas – healthy Indian pancakes. But it’s Anjum’s food that really amazes Elisha, he loves her mouthwatering avial, a tasty southern Indian mixed vegetable dish accompanied by a delicious, slightly sweet Bengal gram lentil curry. Then there’s dessert – shrikand – a delicious yoghurt based dish made with saffron. After they head off to an Ayurvedic expert who shows Elisha how some of the ingredients of Indian food have seriously medicinal properties. Then finally its down to Elisha to master Anjum’s recipes in the kitchen, and see if guests are as fond of Anjum’s food as he is! Episode 4 Anjum heads for a firestation in Essex, where Paul Pemberton would love to cook Indian food for himself and the blue watch, but currently lives on beans on toast, or orders in a takeaway. It’s up to Anjum to show him how to cook a proper curry for the firefighters. Having learnt what sort of pans to use to cook a curry in, and why coriander is so vital to Indian food, Anjum gets to work showing Paul how to make a delicious aubergine in yoghurt dish, the likes of which he has never tasted before. Then it’s off to top Indian restaurant, Benares, where Paul discovers that Indian food doesn’t have to just be about thick curries and rice, it can also have all the characteristic of ‘haute’ cuisine. Back in Anjum’s kitchen together they make a tasty curry of tender lamb with squat green chillies, accompanied by freshly baked home-made naan. Finally its down to Paul to master Anjum’s recipes in the kitchen of the station, and see if the ten members of Bluewatch are as fond of Anjum’s food as he is! Episode 5 Anjum Anand heads off to Cornwall to meet self-taught chefs Nirmal and Louis who run the The Little Cornish Curry Company. Originally from Birmingham, for the last few years they have been serving up curry at the farmers-markets near where they live as well as catering for the odd event. But now they are about to face a new test. Local pub The Galleon Inn is launching a curry night with Louis and Nirmal doing the food. They have decided that the best way to convert the customers to Indian food is to start with a regional favourite – fish. However Louis and Nirmal haven’t used fish in Indian food much, so first up Anjum takes them to famous Looe fish market where the fish is officially the freshest in Britain. Having chosen some fantastic Pollock, Anjum shows them how to make a rich, flavoursome South Indian coconut fish curry with a side order of yellow lemon rice and crab cakes garnished with tangy tamarind mayonnaise. Finally its down to Nirmal and Louis to master Anjum’s recipes in their kitchen before taking the food to The Galleon where they can expect up to 200 covers a night. Will the locals and tourists ditch the fish and chips in favour of Anjum’s curry? Episode 6 Anjum sees how well all the people in the previous episodes have got on with their new found cooking skills by holding a party in her garden. The catch – they all have to make an Indian dish for the others to try. First of all Anjum must prepare her contribution – a glorious spiced roast leg of lamb, commonly known in India as a raan. To get the best meat available she visits a top halal butcher in south London and gets to know her goat from her lamb. Then she re-visits her Indian food novices – good friend Alex is going to cook a classic side dish of paneer with spinach, glamorous Panthea is going to try her hand at a creamy raita, head chef Elisha from the health spa is going to whip up a fabulous mushroom pilaff, and Paul the firefighter is going to try and get to grips with peshwari naan. With the sun finally coming out and cocktail expert Ben Reed getting the partygoers in the mood, it’s time for Anjum and the guests to see how they’ve all got on.