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#WFHCafé with Andrew Scrivani Episode 8: Goan Green Curry

Hi and welcome back to creative live TV. I am Cait Desa. And so they were back with another episode of the work from Home Cafe with my friend Andrew Screw Bonnie as a reminder, this is We started the show, I would coded hit. And me and Andrew have been coming to every Monday at 12 o'clock to teach you a new recipe for you to make throughout the week end. Then Andrew teaches looks, houses take beautiful photos of it afterwards. So today I'm excited, uh, interest during the scripts on me and I and teaching Andrew how to make a, uh going curry. That was my grandmother's recipe that was passed down from my family. And I'm gonna today so excited to have you back. The Andrew excited to be the one instructing you today. How's it going? It's great. I'm very excited. I like the learning aspect. I also love the picture. On the other hand, written recipe, this is that this made my day when this came in the mail and actually had to kind of do some interpretation on you know, which happens all the ...

time, right when you're reading handwritten recipes that have been handed down through families. You know, the way my grandmother wrote recipes particularly like the orange anyone remember I share. That was, and that took a little interpreting as well. So this was interesting, because I had Ah, I hadn't heard, um, of two of the things on here and I went to Google, and I looked them up rather than calling you and going, Hey, what's this? But I didn't realize that, um, Holland e was tumeric and that Zira was human. And of course, I was very relieved to know that I had those in my panty, of course, but I also, you know, reading it through. And, um, your dad, uh, abbreviate It's tablespoon as a level, which I get, I don't know if that's like a if that's a family thing or if that's, um, more of, ah, standard in a different language. I don't I I wasn't sure what that meant. I wasn't sure either. I you know my dad. My dad always just called it a tablespoon. So it's it's actually my grandmother's recipe. That's her handwriting. And then me and my dad made the recipe this weekend, and he was he didn't even mention mention level. We were just talking in table sprint and T skins that I did use. Do you sweat level just the same way, which was a tablespoon from. But I should ask my dad what? Where love will actually comes from? Because I'm not sure. Yeah, that's what that was an interesting one. And of course, um, you know, having to do that be some plus with, you know, sort of. It was almost ah, interpretive for me. Eso like you've given me a little bit of a hand, but we're gonna walk through it a little bit here, which will definitely be interesting. And I'm gonna flip you down for one second so you could see what I've already kind of got crept UBC that I got some stuff already done. And then we have some other stuff to school cut and chop. Um, so I think what I want to do before we get anything else done, it's finished. It's me some pot. So I know that some of these things are just measuring, but I also need to cut up this onion. I want to know how you normally I know Chili's chili's going hole of the chilies. Get chopped eso the chiles. You'll, uh, just slice them down the middle so you get the juices kind of coming out in your, uh, in your curry, but you'll be mostly hole, so just slice off the little tip and then slide down the middle. And, um, you know, we typically we keep those as biggest possible just cause they are very spicy. And so you want if you happen to get one in helping of curry that you are well aware if you're taking a big bite of of chili. So that's that's kind of how we cut up the garlic, ginger and the chilies air kind of big hole pieces that are getting the flavor in the curry, but you don't want to eat up an entire big bite of it, so we don't leave them pretty big. So it's obvious, Um, if you're gonna be taking a big bite into a chili or not, definitely. All right, so I'm going to put you down on my cutting board so you could see where on that for. And, um, I have the chilies here. I'm gonna take three of them because that's what it calls for now. He took the steps you take the stems off to. Yeah. Okay, so we take the stems off. I make sure not to touch my eyes after this, because that's usually but I end up doing and then we're gonna cut him right down the middle. There we go. Well, yeah, look at that. That's going to be hot and heavy right there. So I don't think I mentioned So the name of this is Jeremy era. It's a green style curry. It's my mother. My grandmother's recipe from Goa, India. And so we are taking you today. How to, uh, sorry. Just one second. Uh, sorry. Just have one technical issue. That I'm gonna look out really quick. So, um, I'm gonna break off one inch piece of this. It's about what? What your recipe said. And then I'm going to do something for the odd begins that I learned about how to peel, um, ginger and using a spoon. It's actually easier than a vegetable peeler or a knife. And it's a lot safer. And I have been doing it this way for a while. Um, it's really nice to do it without actually you know, cutting your knuckles off with the vegetable peeler or slicing your head with a knife So it comes off really easy. The skins These were refrigerated, which they shouldn't have been. But that's probably why it's a little more moist. Um, okay, So you see how easy that came off with the spoon. That was really nice. Okay. And then we're gonna cut these in disorder like, like coins, right? Yeah, that works perfect. So that we have, like, trunks in that way that if you get a piece in your mouth, you're not miserable. Exactly. You couldn't even take it out. I've already cut up your garlic. We had six garlic cloves, and I cut them in half as per your instructions. So I got those ready. And then I guess that a lasting to cut here before we get to the meat is the onion. And I wasn't sure how How you like the onion cut? Yeah. So you can kind of dice up the onion pretty much normal, as you typically would, Suddenly has a uniform. Really? Yeah. You know, the onions we're gonna be putting in first with the garlic. Um, and we're gonna kind of let the onions grew in some oil and a little prince isn't what you think about, um Curry. It doesn't have to be at his delicate and perform as a lot of other dishes. You're letting everything kind of meld together and you traps a little rough. That's totally we've been making during the pandemic. We made quite a few Thai Curries. Um, su su is Ah, what following along with some YouTube recipes that she found from this tie chef. And we made a few Thai Curries, both red and green. So I'm a little curious how we end up a little different year because I know the seasoning was gonna be not considerably different, but definitely enough Teoh to make a difference. So, yeah. All right. So I think we have all of our me some plastic, don, I'm gonna bring in the rest of these things, and we can go over what we have here. Um God, you can see all that, right? Yeah. So I got the two things I just cut up, which is the chilies and the garland. The ginger, which I cut into coins. Then I got salt, garlic, onion, some cardamom pods. Some Ah, close. This is human or Jura and tumeric or how be? And then black pepper. So, uh, so I have all of our ingredients here will go to the meat in a moment. Um, and you said that the first thing we have to do is start to heat up our, uh, our pot with some oil. Correct? Yes. Okay. Just, you know, put a enough oil to put the bottom. Really? Just the start of lots of other dishes. It's enough oil to be in the pot that rules cover our onions, and we'll get them going and and getting them to such interesting point. And then we'll add in some other some of the other whole ingredients, and that will start to get a little fragrant. And then what we're gonna do is put together all of the spices to make our masala. Um, and then we'll add the masala. And after the onions and the whole spices have kind of had a little time. Teoh get fragrant and transition. So I have about a pound and 1/2 of boneless chicken thighs. This just get any seasoning prior to going in the pot. Yes. So I season this the same one you would typically season things. A little salt, a little pepper. Um and you know, just the typical way you would season your chicken and fish. Okay, so I'm gonna seize him. A little bit of salt. I have some black pepper here. I think I have more than I need for dish in a season that up a little. And then I have a lot left on the cutting board. So, like, why I'm cutting this into about one inch pieces? It should pick up the remainder of the salt in the chaperon. Yeah, very, uh, tabletop. And you know, you're using boneless, skinless thighs. I think that's a great option. We could totally keep our bones in in a curry like this. It would. It would just add more flavor. But honestly, this curry, according to my grandmother's recipe, is good with beef, pork, shrimp, chicken. You know, you can kind of mix up whatever whatever strikes you in terms of the protein. And this, this recipe really goes well with pretty much everything. They I saw that in the recipe, and I like that because I like it when It's versatile because in terms of protein, you know, everybody has different, um, you know, requirements. I have friends that don't eat pork. I have friends that don't eat chicken. And having the option to do this with either seafood or me is really a nice option. And you could see how the flavors, you know, based on what, uh, what we've done so far, you know, Could could work that way. But I do agree that bone bone include a lot of times is a lot more flavorful, but chicken thighs in and of themselves have a lot of flavor. Yeah, that's that. I think second guys are the exception to the rule most of the time. Yeah, If you were going to do to get breast, I would always, you know, try to get a hold to swing. But guys, guys are kind of the meteor piece of the chicken and absorb flavor much better than a chicken breast or one of the leaner cuts of chicken. So I think that was a big Austria. I think it's Ah, I think it's Ah, chest cam. Time s. I'm gonna get myself harnessed in here and bring the camera over to my chest. What did I do wrong? You only have You only have one armament. Okay? Yeah. I'll remind everyone today that we are. This is the work from Home Cafe again. You're you're watching creative live TV as this is Andrew in school. Bonnie and I show that comes back to every Monday at 12 o'clock to teach you a new recipe to go into your week with. This week, Andrew and I are having some Bunin. I'm actually teaching Andrew how to make one of my grandmother's recipes. It is called Mira. Mira. It is a going bling curry recipes again. So today, Andrew has gathered up all of the ingredients, and I'm walking him through how to learn a little bit more about Indian cooking and how toe create this Indian curry. So I'm excited to be good teacher to that. Well, and I'm excited to be the students, so I'm lining the bottom of my pan hot pan with some oil. Should heat up that she beat up pretty quickly. Um, so I was exposed to India food a little bit, um, as a young man, because my uncle, who is sort of my creative mentor, Um, he's a writer and a translator. Um lived in southern India for about six or seven years, and he was a vegetarian and he learned how to cook Indian food. And then whenever he would visit New York, of course we would have to go eat Indian food because he wanted to show us all the things that he had learned or he would cook for us. So I have a little bit of, ah, a little bit of experience to the flavors, but not as much with the cooking. So it's Ah, it's something that is really nice for me to sort of God dive into a little bit because I always admired my uncle. He was always one of he's still one of my favorite family members, and we spend a lot of time together, and he still has ah ah, pension for Indian food. So now maybe I can teach. I can make something after in next time. So, yeah, I bet you this dish Not that you know, in my grandmother's recipe doesn't say it could be vegetarian, but I think you could probably mixing some cauliflower, chickpeas, and you could probably turn this into a really good vegetarian dish, too. Yeah, I think Chickpeas. Eggplant. I mean, I think all of those kind of favorites would go really well here. All right, so we're gonna go onion first. Correct? Yeah. So we're gonna throw it in the, uh, the onions. Here we go. And where we want it on a you know, medium low. Don't look too fast. Want it to be, you know, taking some time to get translucent. But also, we're gonna throw in the tournament at the same time, uh, s gonna throwing your whole close whole cloves. And when And they were putting in three cloves according to rest. That's unlike a lucky number in a lot of cultures, huh? Because, yeah, like, I know we do a lot of that in attacking culture with the there's like, uh, uh, superstition about when you drink Sambuca. In certain places, they put three coffee beans in the in the, uh, in the bottom of the glass. It was supposed to be present. Local. I know why. In Christian cultures, the trinity is a thing, but in other cultures, I'm not sure why three city magical number I'm not sure either. And so just to give a little context, my my family, who is from Goa so go is actually one of the small percentages of Christian people in India. My family was raised Catholic. It's the 1% of India that, um, you know, if you might be tied so well, there it is way just found. We just found the link you So go is a smallest, this smallest state. That's correct. It's the smallest take up. I don't know that it's a little. It's a Bt town. It is. It's right on the post. I've didn't they with my family? It's a beautiful feel, beautiful place. That's where both my grandmother and grandfather grew up. Um, you know, my dad spent my gag and his family spent a little time there, but big my grandparents, who moved to Delhi, um when my dad was a child. So most of his childhood is in Delhi. But my family origins are from Goa, and I think what we were just speaking about, um, you know that that magic three numbers probably tied closer to Christianity than some other cultural, um, ties in India because my family have to be part of the small percentage of Christian cancel It'll cut live in in India. So that's a lot of that percentage is based in in Goa. Wow, that's the scene. We learned something new today. That's amazing. Um uh, when he was on garlic, Go in here. We're about to throw it in right now, as long as as soon as those air getting a little trans solution. Liu said that we can start growing in the garlic. Great standing, garlic, stirring there. Great. And now it starts to smell amazing. Yeah. Sorry, Creativelive. There's no smell o vision yet. Way gotta work on that. I'll be working on next television because now I put just a one cinnamon stick. Is that correct? Yep, that's good. Okay, so we got. And this is that. That nice low heat. It's just sizzling. It's not like aggressive and nothing is browning. And she's sort of softening and getting really nice. And that's what we were looking for. So as that's kind of softening and getting nice and fragrant now we can start making our masala, so Okay, I believe that on low heat, if you feel like it's starting to get a little brown. Then we can turn it off while we're making the masala and turn it back on. But you think you could feel the heat and let it get decent, fragrant, and we durable star making masala. Yeah, I have an extra low setting on my stove where it actually turns the heat off and on. So it just keeps everything sort of out of this low warm. It's nice when you're making sauces and things because you can kind of cook things for a long time that way. Okay, So what will I need? Well, I mean, I set a separate bowl to make their masala a little separate bowl because we're gonna add a few things together, and then we're actually gonna add some water to it. Oh, so a little bigger bowl. Okay. All right. So what goes first? So, really, you know, we're mixing all of these the spices together. Doesn't really matter which one goes on the bowl first, but we're gonna do a table spirit of the hall beat. I think I have been here. I think of the Jiro here, but I'll do this one for all right. So that I'll go. I'll do it in order. So here, stop here. Is the holding right? Alright. And just brother one. Holy is Ah, too much. So I just be over that Andrew, We're talking via text and e think, you know, in lots of cultures you call different things different things. And he was very pleasantly surprised that these work, you know, spices that he had never heard of. Eso holiday is tumeric, and we're gonna put in a nice little table zone that this is our Ghira or human. Okay, we already used that. What about our, uh what we got next to Cardamom? Yes. So sorry. That was my fault. The cardamom you can throw in with the onions, and it's just start to let it get a little fragrant with the rest. Uh oh. Okay. How many going there? You can throw in a couple pods of cock. Cardamom would be great. All right. I like three cardamom pods and just put in there with the cinnamon, the garlic and onions, and it's looking good. Really good. Okay. Coming back here. Um, salt. How much salt we gonna go? It says I'm taste. Yeah. So you know we already salted the chicken, so I think we can just put a little pinch of salt in there. We're and then we're Neil. People taste throughout, uh, whipping process and added if it needs and I know we have a teaspoon of black pepper Yes, which is pretty much all I have left in this, uh, one that I made. Really? OK. Eso I still have what I have left here. I still have, um my ginger and Mike Sicily's the Sakhalin here. Um, word when you were gonna throw the ginger and the chilies in to in with the Let's see is that Ah, is it ground ground ginger you have there? No. The ginger of the whole ginger, the ones we cut into the coins. OK, we're gonna throw that in with the onions. I think this is all gonna be just spices, so you can throw the chilies and the ginger with onions and get that. Got it, OK? Oh, yeah. But masala is is just a masala is just going to be a mix of spices on. Typically, what Will dio is? You are gonna add a little bit of water to that. Okay, And then what about what about our, um I still have ah, vinegar as well. Yep. So my my dad has gone back and forth there some recipes that he adds, um, the vinegar. Sometimes he doesn't. And actually, this time when I was practicing that this with this distrust be with him this weekend. He said, Let's hold off on the Ah vinegar and we're gonna use water and then we'll taste it and see if we want to add the vinegar. And afterwards vinegar is it is in going cooking. It's a very common ingredient, and it's it's, uh, differentiator and have been a lot of other Indian recipes. Eso Typically, we like to use apple cider vinegar, which is what I think you have there. You could you could use white vinegar. You could use a variety of vinegars, but I really like the apple cider vinegar. And that's really what I associate. Um, a lot of going cookie cooking with that has that little kind of pungent. Uh, please refer to it at a little deeper depth, uh, to the to the ingredients and so But this time around, I think we're gonna so we're gonna do? Ah, about a tablespoon of water and into the masala. Okay. There. Picture of water here on I got a nice fat tablespoon. Good. And then I should just start this all together. Yeah. Start. Start yet we might have a little more water. I'm gonna get a look at it here in the sea. Yeah, actually, let's throw in because we want it toe have maybe throwing two more tablespoons. A lot of this is just watching my dad and my grandma cooking in the past. So we wanna actually a lot of just look and feel and seeing the consistency is right. So it should be loose or pasty. Let's make it a little looser than that. Okay, so I think I've already put in about two tablespoons. This would be about assert. Okay. Yeah, that is definitely more saucy. Now there. Yeah, that's starting to look a little bit better, I think. Actually, let's throw in one more table strewn. Okay, Well, you Now it's watery air. We go. That was just about right. So for anyone following along, that's floors able students who are two tablespoons of tumor, one tablespoon of tumeric, and once of human, and then a little pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. So now what we're gonna dio is we are going to fry the masala. So this all happens before we put the meat in. And so you're what you're gonna do is we're gonna pour that in Teoh our onion and garlic And what we're gonna do this, they're gonna let it just simmer. And how you know it when it's ready, is when it stopped sticking to the bottom of the pan and all of the oil that is gonna kind of start bubbling to the top. And that's when we know that the masala the color starts to get a little bit deeper. That's when we know that the masala is kind of to the point where it's ready, brush to drop in, and then we'll start mixing every yeah, and then you just kind of said it and just check in on it. It's really, really simply power. Flavorful. It it Yeah, this looks amazing. I mean, it's really nice. Okay, so I haven't on a low flame. That's gonna tiny bit. Yeah, and we're gonna kind of just keep an eye on it. and you'll see the colors will start to change. You can mix it in a little bit. Yeah, like that. And you'll see. You know, right now it's probably sticking a little bit. It will get to a point where it won't will stop sticking to the bottom and everything will kind of move up to the top. And the color will kind of get a little deeper. And that's an indication for us that it's ready for us. All right, we're on our way, right? So tell me a little bit more about your Teicher. Easy. Been making. So what? What are some of the biggest differentiators in the process? And, um, in the ingredients that were using that You, you know, our you saw from Thai Curry versus Indian Curry? Yeah, I think there's, Ah, two things in in general. I think it's the coconut milk, and, you know, I think there's also, I mean, obviously in Indian cooking. I think there's coconut milk at times as well, but in this one, the Thai curry definitely had, um, a coca heavy coconut milk base, and also it was a little bit more vegetable driven. The protein was sort of a secondary, a secondary ingredient to the to the vegetables. So we may. We've made it with a couple of different vegetables. Eggplants, my favorite in the curry on and we made. We've made that a couple of times. Well, I could see what's happening in their Check that out. Yeah, so you can see yet like it. It's all starting this oil separating and you can see the color changing a little bit. And that's so that's one of the main things that I learned in Indian cooking is the importance of frying the masala before, um, you incorporate it with the meat and that kind of, uh, what's the word I'm looking for? That kind of starts the fragrance going In a way, Colclough there's like, I actually there's a word, but im it's escaping me. But, you know, getting all because I because I Yeah, I think e a. I'm sorry. We were sort of jumping on each other a little bit. That's what happens when you find a T. That's what happens. The teacher doesn't add it. Shut his mouth, huh? Blooming blooming. That is the word I was looking for. Yeah, so that's something that I didn't necessarily know. And, um, in a lot of other uh, cooking, I wouldn't have known to necessarily fry the spices the way that I have learned in Indian cooking. And that really helps make the spices and bloom in a way that really injects into the meat in a more fragrant way. Um, and most it didn't necessarily feel intuitive. Most other cooking that I do you know, your, uh, marinating the meat and you're you're putting a lot of spices on the meat, and it's just in Indian cooking, frying masala and making sure that those spices had their chance to breathe on their own and really open up is really what makes the food taste of flavorful. Yeah, that sounds yeah. I mean, I think it's very similar culturally in terms of like European cooking, in a way where you start with the, um, the celery. What do they say? The Holy Trinity those the onion, onion, onion, the celery and carrot and then also in Italian, working with you Lee with you know, when I start my tomato sauce, I do onions, garlic. It seems very familiar to me, technique wise and the way you described. It makes a lot of sense, right? Is that you bring all the flavor first and then incorporate Maura and just continue to layer on top of flavor on top of flavor on top of flavor. And that's how you end up with such a rich dish. Yeah, this this smells amazing in here, and it's interesting the garlic is taking on the, uh, the yellowish tint of the tumeric. Uh, so it's it's turning. Should I stir that at all? Which is leading a still that a little bit, But I see just by looking at it like it's getting a deeper color, and it looks it looks like look, but how my dad cooks it, it's, you know, it's that the everything separating the oils kind of changing in color, and the garlic is taking on that yellowy tumeric color. I think it's almost there. I think we're almost ready to add our tickets. Okay. All right. So I'm just gonna dump the chicken right into Aaron. Just start starring and cooking it through. Yep. Exactly. Okay, Cool. All right. I'm gonna get it in there. Okay for me washed the chicken off my hands because it's salmonella is not in the plan for today. Okay? And and here we go. So at some point this their water that gets incorporated in focus, So it depends. Um, I think this is the point where we could add put out a little water, but a lot of the time you're gonna just have the juices of the meat, kind of just like they get released. Once you start cooking and it's gonna come, it's it's not a soupy curry. This one, this is more of a you know, it covers it covers and that they'll be some a bit of liquid. But it's not gonna be a really, um, like a lot of gravy. But this is where we could kind of get everything mixed in there. And if it feels like we're missing a little liquid, we could add the vinegar. Or we can add a little bit more water. We're looking for it. Toe, um, have more liquid. So right now, I think you know, we can kind of leave it. See what? What kind of liquids are released from the chicken often. You know, when you're cooking with beef and pork, you get a lot of juicy, you know, meat from those juices, Uh, mute juices from those meats. Excuse me? That are released. So right now, this is looking really good. I think if we want to go ahead, let's let's toss in that. Okay. So about a about a tablespoons worth Yeah. Okay. Great. I got a little bit more than that here. So I'm gonna just bring it over and take a tablespoon out and get that in there and work that through, scrape up that good stuff on the bottom. Yeah, I didn't realize that this was more sort of less of Ah, Stewie. Kind of, Ah, soupy a curry, which is actually cool because you obviously could eat this with rice. But, you know, without, you know, normally with the soupy stuff, you want a lot of rights with soak up all reduces, But without it, if you're not into eating too much rice, this could work really well with a zey as a paleo meal. Yeah, totally. All right. That's looking good. And then, um this is about what you said about 20 minutes. Do you cover it or you leave it open. You can. You could cover it on and we'll let it hang out for a little bit. But yeah, I often go in and check in on it. Make sure, uh, nothing's getting overcooked, but I usually would cover it for a little bit, but cook on its own, simmer for a little bit, and then we'll check back on it in in a few minutes and see how it's going. Great. I'm gonna put you back apartment trying, Todd, so we could talk on and almost there. This is high production value here way, don't we? Don't mess around and you're looking at the wall and I'm back, okay? So from a process perspective, I mean, I feel like, you know, it seems it felt really similar, you know, in that you know, culturally, I think any of the great food cultures sort of understand, like the concepts of building flavor from their base ingredients and the things that are familiar. You know where in Italian cooking there's obviously the onion and the garlic, but instead of the ah and I would use red, red crushed pepper instead of the chilies. So there's your heat. There's your heat, obviously salt and pepper and are the same. And then I would do something like anchovy. Write the intro. We could add a little bit more mommy, and then and that's a base for a lot of stuff that I make. I make a beef stew like that and make a chicken soup that's very similar with the ingredients. Starks. So I mean, I think, um, understanding the differences in ingredients and how to marry that into technique. I mean, I think that the one really different technique e kind of thing that is a little bit the way you described it anyway is the way it separates and the oil rises and everything changes color. I mean, it's very similar to when I make a tomato sauce and Italian tomato sauce, and I put the, um, one of the last things I put in is tomato paste, and then I make that mixture of the bottom and then the tomato paste gets darker and oil starts to separate. And that's when I know it's time to throw in the tomatoes. So it z really interesting. But here you describe it. That way was very good, because you realize that every every culture has their own kind of way of describing techniques dot are solid in many different culinary traditions. So, yeah, and I think that's what you learn when you start the cook. Lots of different cultures foods is that, you know, ultimately, we're all doing very similar things were just using the ingredient that's native to where we are and ultimately like that. I think that's to go back to the conversation we were having last week. It's that's what really makes food a vehicle to bring people closer together is because it takes a lot of the pretenses of our differences and really shows that ultimately we cook the same way. We just are using our own ingredients, whatever is native to around us to really influence something that we all do, and it brings us closer in a way that I think is really is really a great way to better understand cultures is through cooking. Absolutely. I think that I didn't recognize the cultural parallels in technique until you describe them to me because I've made for photo shoots and and I've been in a kitchen where we've done Indian food before, but no one ever so explained to me technique Yeah, I think that when you start to understand just how similar the techniques are, especially with things like stews and Curries and and and slow cooked foods, you realize that the things that separate us are millimeters, not yards, not yards or miles, you know? Yeah. Absolutely. And, uh, I can't explain to you because I know you know this, but the smell in here right now, it's just a main. It's amazing. It's just every the whole room is just filled, and it's very humid. So, you know, like when you ready? And and it's actually like that nice humidity, where it's kind of the air is heavy with food. It's it's feels like a real kitchen, you know, like when you're in a restaurant or something, where it's like it's heavy with aroma. So I'm going to dip in here and give it a stir. All right. Sounds good. Uh, I'm not. You could see me on the on a wide Oh, yeah. Look at that. We got, like, some liquids going on in here now. Yeah. Okay. Good. Good. Oh, yeah. That's I was hoping that it was gonna release some of those liquids. I'm gonna lower that heat just a little. No, but it's really nice. I mean, it's it's kind of this beautiful, yellowish color the chicken is cooking through. You could tell it's still got a little ways to go with. It's definitely getting there. And it's looking, really. It's looking really good on the Phillies getting Teoh that sad is expected with Indian cooking, cooking and at some point throughout your cooking process, you're gonna inhale the wrong way, and it's gonna catch you. Yeah, they kept sales in Bomb has gone off in the kitchen. So uh oh, so let's ah, while that's cooking, let's talk a little bit About what? In a situation like today where we're probably not going to have a fully completed dish Ah, in order to take pictures cause they're gonna want to let that cook through and I mean, we may be able to see it before we go, but I do want to talk about something I also do in photography when it comes to, um, preparing a package right for a publisher or for your editorial, or maybe your block post or whatever it might be. And a lot of times I incorporate And if you see the David Tanis column that I shoot or the Yotam Ottolenghi column that I shoot, I incorporate a lot of either technique. You're still life to kind of give a sense in the flavor of what is actually happening in the kitchen when, um, when food is being prepared and often. And I've said this on creativelive going my food class that, um, I talk about food being presented to camera in a continual where food doesn't just magically appear perfectly plated on a beautiful surface with, you know, really hip silverware by itself, right? There's something that happens between the time you go to the grocery store and the time that beautiful picture arrives on in your in your food and wine magazine. Um, excuse me. I'm fighting through the fighting through the fog of being tear gassed by the by the curry. Um, but the thing about that continuum it is that's what what wear the reality off, where food comes from, how it's prepared, and Negri instead of part of it. And I think that in order to celebrate, especially the differences in food, when we talk about different food from different cultures, It's really about highlighting ingredients right and understanding that differences and and celebrating where those ingredients come from. So I think that today, rather than showing a finished dish, which obviously would be beautiful. But I want to show a different part of the process that I usually go through. Now. You've seen the process pictures because I was wearing a camera on my chest so you can imagine what that might look like if I was taking it with my camera, this beautiful, bubbly kind of pot stewing on the on the stovetop. But I think the thing that makes this this dish and obviously this regional dish special is the ingredients that go into it. So I want maybe start and set up a, um ah process prep shot, meaning I want put little bulls together. How I did the meat, some plus, which was. I basically segmented out all of my ingredients, and I put them together on my plate so that when I'm ready to go into the bowl ah, into the pot to cook it, it's there for me. So I want to do something similar and said of the shot that looks like that And that would be very typical of how I might shoot something that has so many different ingredients that it has so many spices and so many different kind of beautifully colorful elements to it. Um, and I'm gonna have some of them already kind of here. And I think I can maybe recreate a little bit of what I did before. I'm gonna take you over to the table. Now I'm gonna let that continue to cook. I'll jump back over here to Ah, I'm gonna jump back over there to do a little bit of ah, starring in a moment. Um, I can also Yeah. I'm gonna put you over here. Go ahead, Kate. I'll explain in a second. I was just going to remind everyone. So right now we're cooking. It's a going curry. It's called your Amirault. We're making it lips and chicken side. Um, but right now we're cooking it and we'll get to a point where we have the chicken cooked all the way through. But if people don't know this already e o you better the next day. So Ah, lot of Indian food. You know my dad growing up when we would make a hurry. He would often make it on Saturday, so But we will probably wouldn't get it till Sunday. Um, you know, if I'm craving it, it's still delicious, but it's going to get better every day. You, but that meat sitting that the spices and eggs orbit it. Indian food is kind of, um, you know, especially curry is a very comforting food. So it's something that typically we make a really big pot of. You have it for days after every day you let it kind of sit in its juices. It's actually getting that much better. And I think there's a lot of that kind of feel that way. But Indian food, genuinely. I think it's better each day. You let it, um, passed it in its juice, and I highly recommend yet tasted today. But save it grew dinner for tomorrow. Oh, yeah, that is the plan. So what I'm doing is I'm using this little stool I have, and I'm gonna set up a little bit of sort of a spice shot with some of the things that we've used. I have to refill a few of them cause we used it all. Um and I'm gonna add a few other things to for color because we could conceivably have some of these other things in there could have read to really be part of this. Oh, yeah, absolutely. So I think you saw it. Said Kashmiris. Chilies, which are a deep red and often you get as a dried chili. And very often, um, we might grow a whole one in a recipe, but my dad would often lead often. Just get those whole Kashmiri chilies and then grind them up in a Cauchy grender spice grinder. But I think red chili you can add to lots of different Indian dishes, and we have so right here on the table top what? Some of the tumeric, um, of the cardamom pods. I have some of the keep and cumin. Some clothes. There's our garlic. Break that apart. I have some fresh tumeric, which is bit of a stretch for this picture. But, you know, well, we're gonna take some creative license on it is still on ingredient that this part of the recipe, um I have to get another onion because we we were just used all of the onion and maybe a little bit of the vinegar because we still have. And now police. Kind of little different cups and plates. Yeah, already. And then it gets out. We can play around with this one a little bit. You guys can see me. Okay. Alright. Yeah, that All right. So let's see what these settings look like. Oh, uh, not bad for a first shot. Yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah, that looks so good. They're just all so colorful. It's like and it looks like So in terms of you picking out the ceramic ins, it looks like you kind of have a mix of white. There's some would and some metal in there is that you know, when you're composing a shot like this that shows all the ingredients Are you trying to, you know, have variants of color in both the dishes and ingredients you're using? I think so. I think it's really nice to be able to sort of, um I have a very in some things I want Often I would have and I do. Back in my studio, I have some prompting that, um that is more traditional looking, so things that might feel like they belong in an Indian kitchen or something like that? Um, I have a few things like that. So here's what I'm doing here. I'm cheating a little bit, and I'm trying to put some black on the floor so that if I go off the edge of the table a little bit, it feels like it doesn't feel really jarring. That's not working. I would have to get something which I actually yeah, I actually have a black. Um, I actually have a black curtain, but it's in my car, so that's not gonna happen right now. Um, but, actually, let's see. Let's see if I back out. It doesn't look weird. Um, it actually just looks like Yeah, honestly bought. Looks like it's all sitting on a big plate. Yeah, that's cool. All right, so if I get a little higher, um, I can China come right down over the top of that? Yeah. I think if I wanted to take that into photo shop, I could I'm up, obviously. You know, clean up those edges and take out that bottom part where the stool leg is, and that would just be floating. Um, that would just be floating there, so I can actually play around with that a little bit. And then, you know, getting in tight to is really a nicer Yeah. I mean, it's just cause there's so much color going on that Yeah, that tight shot, just like it's so vibrant. And so I noticed. You know, typically, you're not shooting on this stool. Did you pick the stool because it had that the dark backdrop or what would make you? Well, I like that. It's round, and we haven't really done anything that has been, like in around, uh, set up yet. And I I also I also like the fact that, um, it was handy, you know, like, and that's the parents or two. But I'm going to tell you the real reason. The real reason is that I love to shoot against black, especially things that have a lot of color. So, um, I know that that has comes in and out of kind of ah, in and out of, ah, fashion in terms off. Ah, stylistically, when it comes to food photography and that we go in and out of this sort of, uh, the desire to have, like, sort of these dark moody shots, but I have a tendency to love shooting that way. So any opportunity I get to shoot against Black, I'm gonna take it. Yeah, it looks beautiful. So this could make a really nice sort of package shot. You know, I think it also getting in, not distributing that overhead shot. Giving a little bit more mood also kind of gives you that sense of light which I really like to play with today. That against the black, the difference from light to dark really is dramatic on makes a much more dramatic a look. Plus, of course, since I'm marrying a I'm wearing a black Oh, yeah, You're using your using that as your bounce are exactly right. So, you know, I can kind of play around. I cant even sort of go off the table a little bit or focus in tight on, like, one element and left, the less the rest fall out of focus. You know, this is just it makes the environment feel so much bigger. Hold on. I love when I do that, don't you? Let's just keep going. Too many buttons on these counts. Yeah, Torrio, the area that looks great. Yeah. So, you know, I think that the contrast and color, which camera should I talk to? Talk to this one area. Oh, okay. The contrast of color against black is definitely like a stylistic choice that I made pretty often and understanding that if, um, you have things that really bright in nature and have nice shape and color that's standing out against black could be a very dramatic choice on I like that. I like that for these ingredients because also, you know, we're playing with shape here, too. We have this beautiful round stool and we have all these little round cups. Everything is sort of similar in shape, and it just gives us a nice sort of exercise in playing with shaping color, which is no part in parcel to what we do as artists. Right is understanding light, light, shape and color, and that should be no different and food photography, and that there are times when we have an opportunity to do something creative and artistic that is less about making it look delicious and more about making it look interesting. And sometimes, you know, raw ingredients aren't necessarily always delicious looking. It's not something like you're looking at the picture going, Oh, my God, I need to chew on those chilies right now But it's about appreciating the beauty of the of the ingredient is about appreciating the differences in the ingredients and things that we don't always familiarize ourselves with. And when you show things in a positive light, um, it makes people more open to the idea that it's something they might want to try. So, like by showing I I had a very interesting experience from for several years. E um, I shot traditional Jewish foods for Hanukkah and Passover. Ah, for The New York Times, and I was the only photographer at that time that was shooting those things, and we would get letters in all the time talking about how they how people felt so happy that their food was being portrayed in such a beautiful way. You know, and I because I think that sometimes you know foods get misunderstood or foods are not necessarily something like, especially if it's not traditionally beautiful, like something that's right. If you don't really understand the food and it's not celebrated in a particular way, sometimes people like ah you know, I don't really know. And Curry has that reputation to somebody's going to say is that Curry is kind of this either grip like me. And you started eating curry when you're three years old and you love it or it's like it feels very intimidating. And it also often, yeah, Korea, something that feels like would be hard to make beautiful through a photo. And so showing the ingredients like this in their holes. Uh, kind of because inquiry, everything is so melded together and you can't see what's what it This is a really good way to really highlight how how beautiful the ingredients are in everything that really goes into it in a way that, yeah, I feel like Curry Photographer first. That's right. That's right. All right. I'm gonna take you over to take a look at the curry. All right, so I think that's really looking good. I mean, you were absolutely, absolutely right that didn't really need anymore water. It was all of the water that released from that chicken and that tiny bit of, ah, um vinegar that we put in there. You have it on a break, having a brain meltdown But you can see you could see that all of this sort of it's just really, really cooking through. Nice. I mean, this is probably about maybe five or 10 minutes away from being done, but but But I think it's very true that foods like this have that quality to them that the next day, after all that seasoning, so just permeates every aspect of the dish that it just turns into stumping. Sublime. So, um, I am absolutely looking forward to eating that, but I will do prudent thing and wait until tomorrow. I'm glad to hear you taste it, but Well, actually texted, I should taste it now. Yeah, let's taste it and see how what you feel. Yeah, and I am not afraid of spicy food. So I know that you said that your dad usually makes this a little spicier than we made it, so I'm gonna I'm gonna see how we're doing that. Hold on. It sounds good. And one tip that my dad told me is, you know, if things are too spicy for you, that sugar is the thing. Just a little tea. Spoon of sugar will Really? Hello? Who's out? Not That's Ah, Trish that a lot of people don't know. Um, you know, most people go for, like, milk or yogurt, always a good option to to cool you down. Make the dish in general a little cooler. You could add something like coconut milk. But if you just Sprinkle a little bit of sugar in there, it will. It will tone things out a little bit for you. So I would say, for my heat index in terms of what I'm comfortable eating, this is sort of at, like, a four or five I can eat, you know, like I think it's just enough heat to get you aware, but not hot enough to ruin the flavors. Okay. The other thing that I noticed the other thing I noticed when tasting it is it could probably use a tiny bit more acid. Okay, they could cook the peas on it. Yeah, let's go for a little bit more of the of the apple cider vinegar. I'm gonna put just like half a tablespoon in which, which is I think what happens is with the water being released. It's sort of waters it out a little bit, and I think that a little bit more acid. I mean, a little squeeze of lime juice would do the same thing. I don't know if that sort of appropriate for the dish, but I think that would be something that could nice. That sort of something. I learned from the Thai Curry se that melding our cultures together there. You're building your wife and my Indian culture together. I think. I'm sure it would be delicious. I haven't necessarily thrown in, uh, squeeze of line, but I think there's a lot of similarities that in Thai in the Indian cooking that that would make it taste really good, too. Yep. Yeah, that's what did it. Yep, just little this That tiny little bit more acid Not really helped and did a nice thing with it. So, um so how are we doing on time? I don't look at my watch when we're geo. Just one o'clock. So there it iss We're gonna wrap it up today. This was really fun. I I enjoyed teaching a little bit and, uh, talking through yeah, how we can incorporate different cultures through food. I think this is a really fun Ah, fun way for us. to learn from each other, Which is nice. Absolutely. I think that anything about this is I feel like I could recreate this from memory. Yeah, it's really simple. And so my dad also, you know, if we want to do another Indian dish. I grew up loving my dad's shrimp curry. Um, and my parents always left because I my dad, used to make very spicy curry. And yeah, at age three, I was gobbling it up and and loved it from, You know, the time I can eat it. So I have. I have a couple of the reticence of through one adventure into another Indian recipe, but they're all you know. I think Indian food and curry A lot of Asian foods, people think, are a lot more complicated than they are. It's just more of the layering of flavors. It's really not as complex is. It feels like when you're eating. It's just the technique that goes behind it. That makes it. You know, it feels like this nuanced flavor, but really the ingredients are fairly simple. I agree, and I think that it opened my eyes a little bit, too. How similar technique wise, it is to the way I cook. And that means that no knowing the balances of the flavors and knowing how to use the seasoning in place of the things that I would season it for, let's say, Italian food or Spanish food that I If I'm swapping this for that, it's basically the same amounts. It's just different. It's just a different seasoning. And then my and then my flavor profiles, obviously salt, acid, fat and heat. You know you want to be able to just taste and and know what the ad back into it. And I think that, you know, once you familiarize yourself with enough styles of cooking, you absolutely have the ability to like a mix and match and use seasoning in a way that, um, feels appropriate, not just for the different you're cooking, but also your palate. So I think you know, I I like it may be a little hotter. It might another till the next time, you know, So I think it's great, but I really appreciate you taking the time and sharing the the family's recipe. I know I guard my family recipes pretty closely sometimes, but it was ah, it was a real pleasure to learn it. And I feel honored. Toc your grandmother's handwriting on the rest feet. So thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah, I'll send you a couple other ones. I trust that you will take good care of them and we'll be giving them away to everyone. But I'll, I'll send you a couple other ones from car to. And maybe we could make another one again here soon. Absolutely. I think that would be great. So I have a couple of recipes I want to share with the team here on our viewers. I have some other things that have some good stories attached to them. Ah, that that kind of bridge cultures and other things. So I think that we have some fun things you could do in the future, so but this was really fun, and I appreciate it, and I'm glad we got to do this today.