Exploring Indian cuisine in the U.S. | The Dish Full Episode

[Music] I'm Dana Jacobson from CBS Saturday morning welcome to the dish spices and herbs take center stage in today's featured dishes as we explore Indian cuisine in the US we'll take you to a New York restaurant introducing diners to lesser known Indian Street food and grab takeout from an unexpected spot a truck stop along on a Wyoming highway but first Michelle Miller meets a pastry chef turned restaurant tour whose delectable sweets and savory treats Set Apart Her eery in New York City's Seaport District we start at the end ma is Indian Confections dishing about desserts and the finely crafted masterpieces of pastry chef turn restaurant tour serani tastes like peanut butter right M what is chickp flour wow it has like little smoky consistency some of these sweets are made with condensed milk others with lentil or nut flour and a lot of these are have been like part of my childhood and every one of those sweets that we have in our boxes has a story to tell bite-size memories and other Delights featured at tagmo the restaurant s opened during the pandemic all inspired by her Homeland India and the father whose footsteps hope to follow my dad is an artist um and I wanted to be an artist I didn't get into an art school I got into hotel management and my dad was like well you can always be a chef he's like food is an art and then this was the year 1992 it was unheard of when I started working in '95 in hotels in India there were maybe a total of 10 women chefs in the entire Delhi like I was one of the few women uh that were making a Korean in the kitchen not many dads back then pushed their daughters into the male dominated culinary industry but hers was special and so was her timing my first job was at the Sheran Hotel in New Delhi and they were opening an all women's kitchen at that time really yeah what why um I don't know the chef had that idea an idea that became s's dream reimagined when she came here to study food and anthropology at NY are you it makes me feel like as if I'm in India of course because there's so many Indian places around here but also like it's very Global right she settled into Jackson Heights Queens an enclave for South Asian immigrants my gosh I can go get a sorry yes go shopping and began working her way through New York's Indian dining scene including at the Michelin star deie I love the chicken sauces she comes back to Queens regularly to eat look at how there's like a little bite of everything in there and grocery shop at Patel Brothers so if you want essence of India you come to a store like this you definitely should a slice of home that helps Source her restaurant what is this is this chickp flour what is ghee basically clarified butter it doesn't have any sort of additives in some ways it's pure fat but it's actually good for you okay that's what they tell you that's what they say I will take your word for it every nut and every seed you can imagine it's here it's pretty amazing right God Punjabi mix oh that's like a mouth cleanser okay I'm going to get this it's son's bimonthly routine going between her old digs and Lord Manhattan South Street Seaport home to her restaurant named for the bhes word for Tigress zni is a proud queer Chef creating opportunity and space just like her very first experience in that all women's Kitchen in New Deli nearly three decades ago I also wanted to bring that sensibility of eating on the table just kind of have a conversation of who are the Homemakers what's the real recipes how have we been eating as Indians and how is that like evolving through the centuries and where are we today her dishes are a culinary to through the diverse regions of India home to more than 1.3 billion people I grew up in the north and so for me to like make South Indian spices or Bengali spices was certainly new and I practiced and owned my skills in the last few years and I've brought this all to the table here today like K Chada this is sort of my own creation um and it is um mangoes Sam hikma uh chick peas uh that is tossed in a devil's Chutney as well you're not having any I'm going to have some yes yes yes you must eat with me what chat means by the way to lick and like anything that is on the street yes anything that's on the street and you're like licking your fingers is chat and then we have uh what we call as sabudana V which is a Bombay street food and that is of course Sak paneer oh this is my favorite and bread rolls stuffed with paneer green chilies and onions with a tomato chili sauce this was our breakfast so many times this is breakfast mhm we go from breakfast back to that classic Indian dessert okay so tell me which one you think I'm going to like the best point it point it I'm not looking so I'm going to try each one starting with chocolate bery caramel bery and a few others including this one a kaju cutle made with cashew nuts what one was your favorite see you you did I said oh my gosh I love it this is so delicious up next a pit stop along Wyoming's Interstate 80 for some flavorful fair this is the dish laramy Wyoming might not be top of mind when thinking about Indian Cuisine but rest assured the authentic flavors keep people coming back for more here's Jim Axelrod hello what do you suggest behind this hole in the wall at this hole in the wall in laramy [Music] Wyoming is a you won't believe it situation from the world of truck stop Cuisine if you'd bet me I would have bet $100 there'd be no decent food of any kind in here yeah well she would have lost that [Music] bet [Music] just off exit 290 on I80 the Indian food MTU Pander and his staff are cooking up in this small kitchen behind the window guarantees that this smells like we're in mumai not in laramy not in laramy no doubt just a few feet away from the motor oil the military hats the trucker shirts you can smell it that's a very familiar smell for Indian food that's that's what shelves full of turmeric coriander and other spices maybe you haven't heard of this is a leaf it's called casri miti I mean if you start putting this on you will not eat anything without it there's a rice steamer with no off switch and always full pot of chai and the soul of any Indian Kitchen a Clay Oven the Tandoor the Tandoor the flavor goes in the meat not out of the meat like if you put in a grill everything kind of drips down this way the heat is all around it's surrounded by the heat when Pander bought this truck stop in 2014 it came with a griddle for hot dogs and hamburgers that's all you need that's all I need all right thanks man but figuring truckers could get those up and down I80 he went with a menu they wouldn't find anywhere else did they ever come in and say all you got Indian food and I want Meatloaf I want a hamburger I want a a a strip stti so then we tell them hey try this you're going to have that on the next stop anyway just mild spicy not really spicy 999 out of 100 they would call again hey I want something what I ate last time that stuff is delicious I want that meal I don't know what it was name but this guy he gave it to me I think it's number 29 you have all this today or what good yeah from cross country truckers I don't know how to rate it you know 1 to 10 I I mean I would say it's probably you know good nine I mean how's it going to locals like Sheriff's deputy Bill Yates if this is the area I'm patrolling I know where I'm going to stop to eat lunch M's food has been a hit Deputy Yates is partial to both the yellow curry and the broader field division that comes with it it's bringing the world here rather than keeping our world small strictly speaking the restaurant accounts for a small part of M's Revenue but that's not how minu speaks or thinks I would say 5 to 10% at the most 10% so why bother this is not a whole picture of the food the people come and get fuel other stuff so they would come in and spend $5 $600 in fuel because they know they can get their meal they desire from last 800 miles here he's opened another spot in Nebraska and a third in New Mexico turns out there's some money in all these smells and tastes especially with the changing face of trucking since nearly 19% of Long Haul truck drivers in America are now immigrants no surprise for you that you can recreate all that stuff in the middle of a truck stop on I80 well that was the plan so we succeeded all it took was for mintu Pander to trust his gut and those of hungry truckers driving by most Indian food in America is adapted from recipes native to the country's Northwestern corner but at Daka a restaurant on New York City's Lower East Side patrons can sample dishes from regions throughout the diverse Nation Michelle Miller sat down with the restaurant's owner and Chef and got a taste on the Lower East Side of Manhattan the hot ticket in town is a table in this corner of the historic Essex Market not even owner Ronnie mazumdar and Chef chinen padya we have a policy where I can't take a reservation can maneuver a last minute reservation here I can book a month in advance I can put a request in for month in advance and get it like a normal person yeah but I cannot walk in a day before and say that I need a table tomorrow I can't so basically this is my shot yeah Daka has ignited a Mantra unapologetically Indian and no wonder the name itself means explosion the goal is to demystify Indian food I feel that if we don't really put out there who we really are we can't blame people for not loving it in bringing their restaurant to life the duo keep to their roles I'm the business side of it he's a chef he cooks when we want to scare of people that's the only time the guy cooks and you're okay with this description uh yes we both know know our weaknesses and our strengths and what we don't do is we don't step into each other's business we give each other that utmost trust tell me something was the graffiti part of the the aesthetic it wasn't we we tried our best to clean all of these up at some point we stopped because we said you know what this is loride let it be the Lower East Side has long serviced the spectrum of newcomers to this nation the esic Market has been an institution since being established 80 years ago as a grocery hub for Jewish and Italian immigrants it closed before the pandemic and relocated across the street with Daka front and center you know I guess in the end it's not about if the restaurant is big small all the accolades take everything away what you really have is a couple of us immigrants just sharing our cuisine in the way we want to and I think that makes makes us no different than anybody else that's in the market and that's what we're celebrating mazumdar moved to New York from Kolkata when he was 12 Pia from Mumbai in 2013 they opened their first restaurant together in 2017 and own three more all under the banner of unapologetic Foods I was also that kid that was trying to fit in high school or Junior High and felt ashamed for what the food was being cooked at my home so I would tell my mom not to cook that fish curry because my friends are coming home I've been through that as if like there's something I'm doing wrong and I think it's not just me every single immigrant in this country has shares a similar emotion and somewhere there came a point for both of us it was that I think it's time we really share who we are the result what they call provincial dishes inspired by Pia's travels across India where he sampled food from Street carts and homes in small villages that was cooking to impress others and I think the day you stop doing that and start cooking what you love to eat the product changes you're sharing it sharing it this is what I want to eat it's a real dish it's not like I want to sell you this this this no it's something that I love to eat do you want to be part of that experience for this Duo Unapologetic Indian Cuisine looks like this spice meat on the Bone Fish on the bone and you start to see the vessels that they're cooked in on our table we have pressure cooker pulao now when you go to a regular restaurant when you eat a palow it's cooked rice and cooked chicken but this one is actually made from raw rice it only gets cooked when you order it m Kofa a chicken meatball stuffed with an egg and that's a cashew based sauce this is DAL TKA Dal is lentil TKA means tempering so this tempering is done table side in a regular setting this is called chapati chapati yeah this is one of the most common breads that we eat and that's a parata porks salad housemade paneer we only have one kind of a cheese a fresh cheese which is a paneer and whole fried pomr oh my gosh that's perfectly seasoned an Indian menu as diverse as the country and its 1.3 billion residents it is three times the population of America but if you consider the land it is 13 so it's a very dense populated country and the cuisine keeps on changing every few miles or 50 60 miles so when you think of Indian food you're essentially trying most of the stuff from Northwest got it and you're contributing that as all of India what the purpose of this restaurant is is to put a spotlight on those regions that are overlooked we call this this is the other side of India oh you're eating that together with your hands this what we used to do man look at you oh boy you're getting there P has showed me how to make one of his favorite Street Foods we are doing this dish it's called poy chart it's with flour little bit of you know spices everything inside it and it's deep fried and chart is like a generic word for a street food in India crumbled potatoes tamaron Chutney excellent little bit more then we have the sweetened yogurt yogurt sauce crisp and what pandia calls the magic spice the spice blend I like spice that's it perfect not too much so dig it in take all the layers M okay I'm feeling in the hate now I told you and the customers are eating it up too a testament to this team's authenticity as they change the face of Indian Cuisine what people want to feel is first something that's real so all we can do is put what's real what's our truth our with our integrity out there on the table and once people feel that I think it will inspire a whole new generation of people that will start to think that this is okay after the break how one Indian Chef helped feed his home country during the [Music] pandemic vasana has done it all he's opened restaurants internationally hosted TV shows and written dozens of cookbooks but when the world shut down in 2020 he focused on only one thing feeding India from Halfway Around the World Jim Axelrod has more in a makeshift kitchen on the Terrace of a New York City Apartment these are one of the most interesting peppera in the world Chef fasa's attention to detail is on Full display as is his trademark drive to get things right so how many versions of this dish did you go through in development seven in seasonings 11 in terms of plating looking at his pans seared roasted squash with yogurt and beetroot powder it's hard to argue with his approach combining the tastes of his grandmother's Indian Kitchen with classical French training to develop his own distinctive South Asian Cuisine I like to combine Indian flavors and incorporate them in almost in a creative way and open some of the hottest restaurants going in New York in Dubai and soon Beijing and Singapore but that is what the purpose of cooking is now you know you should be cross the borders these days Crossing Borders every woman gets this one bad is all vas thinks about lentils we're looking at 10 KS getting help to as many of the 400 million people in India forced into poverty by coid as he can that is the true meaning why you became the chef that is the reason that you were given all these trainings to be that one to understand hunger so deeper and then to do something about it find a solution there is always a solution Chef M leveraging his Fame back home as a Michelin starred Chef author film director and entrepreneur vas started feed India did you have any idea the size of the undertaking when you got started do you think Jim anyone could Envision the magnitude of this pandem in the beginning he's assembled a coalition of food producers Distributors even bureaucrats so they came on board there was no financial transaction okay what do you want we want 100,000 cges of rice okay sir it's coming here and from half a world away am is right on the border of India and Pakistan mobilized an army I put satellite kitchens together in 6 hours and we had the food on the trucks in 8 hours thank you feed India has provided 50 million meals so far 50 million meals it's an extraordinary number they're served in shelters orphanages and from gas stations on roads where people are walking to work you are 7,000 miles from where you grew up it's 9 and 1/2 hours time difference how can you manage the logistics when you're so far away this is my mission and I am not moving my eyes off anything the lentils were done very creatively for now kanana has put all the other parts of his cooking Empire on hold with the voice of his mother always in his ear everything you ever sold or got your Awards everything belongs to every single person in this country you just took it and you served it to the world so don't give me this excuse that this is not your problem so your mom was reminding you you have an obligation to do this Dy she said this is your duty to feed India that is the word where feed India comes from he is seeking to nourish on a grander scale filling the stomachs of millions in India as well as his own soul here in New York you've written dozens of cookbooks cooked for presidents you've produced a movie where does this effort rank for you in terms of satisfaction number one for more stories like these and live coverage of Breaking News 247 stream us right here on CBS News I'm Dana Jacobson we'll see you next time for another helping of the [Music] dish

Channel: CBS Mornings

Views: 233,814

Keywords: The Dish, full episode, CBS News, video, live news, streaming, CBS Mornings, CBS Saturday Morning, cooking, food, chef, cuisine

Id: rZhK5TbTo6k

Length: 21min 41sec (1301 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 22 2023