Embark on an exceptional culinary voyage in this week's episode of The Great Indian Pizza Adventure with Jasper as we transport your taste buds to the enchanting land of Kerala! Jasper's journey begins at MahaBelly restaurant, savoring the essence of quintessential dishes. He meets the talented home chef Lakshmi and gains an exclusive peek into food expert Prima Kurien's flavor-filled kitchen, immersing in Kerala's traditions and spices. Together with Chef Ruchira Hoon, they unlock the secrets of Malayali delicacies and craft mouthwatering pizzas inspired by Kerala cuisine! ️ Stay tuned as Chef Regi Mathew delivers the final verdict on these uniquely crafted pizzas.
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TVTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 I'm Jasper, half Irish, half English, and I own pizzeria.
00:19 In India.
00:20 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:28 I'm crazy about India, and I'm crazy about pizza.
00:32 And we're arranging their marriage.
00:34 Welcome to the Great Indian Pizza Adventure.
00:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:40 I'm drifting along the backwaters,
00:50 past coconut groves and spice gardens,
00:54 truly a land of plenty.
00:56 Where am I?
00:57 Kerala.
00:58 God's country.
00:59 But can you make a Kerala pizza?
01:01 We're going to find out.
01:03 Welcome to the Great Indian Pizza Adventure.
01:06 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:10 Like most regional cuisines in India,
01:20 Keralan food has also spread its wings.
01:23 Across the country, beyond the shores, from home kitchens,
01:27 to small eateries, to big restaurants.
01:30 And Mahabali is a classic example
01:33 of this Keralan culinary expansion,
01:36 located in the heart of the national capital,
01:39 and my first step towards learning
01:41 how to make my Keralan pizza.
01:43 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:45 Zak, Thomas, welcome to the Great Indian Pizza Adventure.
01:48 I'm delighted to be in this fantastic restaurant.
01:50 Thank you for having me.
01:51 Thanks for being here.
01:52 Thanks for having us.
01:52 Thank you.
01:53 In this episode, we're trying to create
01:56 some kind of Keralan pizza masterpiece.
01:59 How do you guys navigate Keralan food?
02:03 The Kerala cuisine is so diverse,
02:05 not just in terms of the ingredients
02:07 or the way it is prepared.
02:09 But even if you look at geographically
02:11 from north to south, it varies from each and every region.
02:14 So the easiest way, like what most people--
02:17 is like, you know, usually it's on food preferences
02:20 that come from either religion or rituals and culture, right?
02:24 So that's the easy way to do it.
02:25 Now, on that front, there's no distribution
02:28 in terms of how it goes.
02:29 A better way to look at it would probably be access to--
02:32 so Trivandrum, Cochin, Korikod--
02:34 these places happen to be on coastlines, which
02:36 means that there's a lot of seafood and the consumption
02:39 of it that influences the local cuisine of that area.
02:42 Most central areas, like Kottayam, has a bit off the coast.
02:45 It's got the backwaters, which gives them a very--
02:47 And the rivers.
02:47 And the rivers.
02:48 And like, you know, so diversity,
02:50 it's right across the board.
02:52 Let's get a bit specific, Zak and Thomas.
02:54 So maybe we use the pizza itself as a kind of metaphor.
02:58 So bread state or not a bread state?
03:02 We are a bread state, for sure.
03:05 But not in a traditional understanding of a bread state
03:08 that it's not just reconstituted grain that goes into an oven.
03:13 We consume breads as something to soak up gravies with.
03:16 We just brought in a couple of things--
03:18 Look at these.
03:20 --which we thought might be a little representative.
03:25 So these are clams.
03:27 They're stir-fried clams.
03:29 So we thought we'd do a little bit of poultry,
03:31 a little bit of meat, a little bit of seafood.
03:33 Looks beautiful, by the way.
03:34 I hope so.
03:35 It looks beautiful.
03:36 You're going to get a lot of color and a lot of spices.
03:37 So it's definitely going to be a very hot pizza
03:39 that you are going to be looking at.
03:41 That's a chicken 65.
03:43 Fun fact, chicken 65, nobody knows the origins of the 65,
03:46 why it is 65, how long it has been around.
03:49 Some people say it's probably attributed
03:51 to the year when it was discovered
03:52 or the first ingredients.
03:53 Could be year, could be number of ingredients,
03:55 could be the age of the person who made this, who knows.
03:57 And that is a stir-fried mutton.
04:01 All of these behave pretty well as toppings.
04:04 So, Zak, just talking about proteins,
04:07 and we'll come back to seafood and shellfish
04:10 and the rest of it.
04:11 My god, there's more.
04:12 OK, let's just start setting this bit.
04:16 So what's going on here?
04:18 This is an avial.
04:19 It's a mix mash of a lot of vegetables and coconut.
04:23 This is something which you have with the thali or the sadhya,
04:28 which is like a vegetarian meal served on a plantain leaf.
04:31 OK, but just-- I mean, everybody asks us
04:33 about every state in India.
04:34 Can you put a number on the percentage of veg
04:37 versus non-veg in the state?
04:39 Easy, 50-50.
04:40 I don't even think it swings preferentially that way.
04:45 The share is not so significant to the point
04:47 that it doesn't mean anything.
04:49 A lot of people eat vegetarian food in the sense
04:51 that with all of this, there is some vegetarian--
04:54 the base is rice.
04:55 I see.
04:55 There's a lot of pour-overs that happen,
04:57 which are usually not non-vegetarian.
04:58 There'll be a sambar or a rasam.
05:00 We can't wait any longer.
05:02 Prawn curry guy going on here.
05:03 So this is a prawn mango curry.
05:05 So we don't have any conversations
05:06 without a prawn mango curry on the table, so that's--
05:09 So it is also geographically-- it
05:10 is from the Malabar region, which is in the north.
05:12 So again, I'm interested in the idea of a souring device
05:17 to kick back.
05:19 OK.
05:20 Here we go.
05:20 Look at this.
05:21 So on the table, this is called a Malabar parota.
05:26 You ask any Malayali on things--
05:30 and this is also difficult to make at home.
05:32 So you only--
05:32 Can I try a bit?
05:33 Please, please.
05:33 So fried.
05:35 It's like--
05:36 It's a batter going--
05:37 On a hot plate.
05:39 So this to me, to answer your first question,
05:42 if I thought about a pizza on its three elements, which
05:45 is the base, the sauce, and the meat, this, I would say,
05:48 competes for--
05:49 vies for a position.
05:51 Well, maybe what I should do is--
05:52 I mean, I'll trade you.
05:53 How's your pizza making?
05:55 Well, I would say on a scale of 1 to 10, 0.
05:59 1 to 10, 0.
06:01 I'll trade you, or I'll trade one of your guys.
06:04 I'll teach him how to cook pizzas and make the dough
06:07 in return for learning that.
06:08 For sure, yeah, yeah.
06:09 Maybe that's a straight--
06:11 I mean, it's a journey, right?
06:13 But I mean, kind of mission--
06:16 I mean, my purpose, certainly, mission accomplished.
06:18 As a representation of a food from some distance away,
06:25 mission accomplished.
06:26 I mean, it's God's country, God's food, right?
06:29 That's right.
06:30 It's pretty good.
06:31 Thank you, gentlemen.
06:31 No, thanks for having us.
06:32 Thanks for taking your rest.
06:33 Thanks, guys.
06:33 For sure.
06:34 Thank you.
06:34 Thank you so much.
06:35 Appreciate it.
06:35 Thanks.
06:37 What a great place to start that was.
06:40 And now Lakshmi, a home cook, an entrepreneur in her own right,
06:45 is my next go-to person for some Keralan culinary intel.
06:50 So what's cooking?
06:52 What are we having today?
06:54 Today I'm making Neyindra Palam fritters.
06:57 OK.
06:58 It's Kerala's delicious and traditional--
07:03 some variety of fried things.
07:05 Fried banana fritters.
07:06 So this is the Neyindra.
07:10 Neyindra is the bread of the fruit.
07:12 OK.
07:13 Banana.
07:14 OK.
07:15 And palam means fruit.
07:16 Palam is fruit.
07:17 OK, perfect.
07:19 Perfect.
07:19 I'm very excited.
07:20 I'm very excited.
07:21 OK, and so green--
07:24 Yeah.
07:26 This is just start to ripe.
07:28 Yes.
07:29 And this is medium ripe.
07:30 Medium ripe.
07:31 This is ready for--
07:32 Maximum ripe.
07:33 --fry.
07:33 OK.
07:34 OK.
07:36 OK.
07:37 So--
07:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:41 Look at that.
07:48 Oh, nothing wrong with that.
07:50 Perfect, Lakshmi.
07:52 Lakshmi, thank you.
07:55 This looks delicious.
07:56 What is this one?
07:57 This is a sweet dish.
07:58 OK.
08:00 Let me see.
08:01 Rice paste.
08:02 Yes.
08:04 Rice, coconut, and stuffed with sweet jaggery--
08:10 With some jaggery.
08:11 --and coconut.
08:12 OK.
08:13 Again.
08:13 And this is honey?
08:15 Yes.
08:16 It's wild honey.
08:17 Wild honey.
08:18 Natural honey.
08:19 Very healthy.
08:20 Yes.
08:20 Very good for you.
08:21 OK.
08:22 Straight from forest.
08:23 Straight from the forest.
08:24 Yeah.
08:24 Wow, that's interesting.
08:25 Do I put some on here or not?
08:26 Yeah.
08:27 So--
08:28 With your fingers.
08:28 Let me do some like this.
08:29 Yes.
08:30 OK.
08:30 Yes.
08:31 And then I put a little bit of honey.
08:33 Yeah.
08:33 It's delicious.
08:44 Bahot delicious.
08:45 OK.
08:47 It's really, really, really good, Lakshmi.
08:49 And--
08:50 Yeah.
08:50 --and actually very healthy.
08:52 Yes.
08:52 Yes.
08:53 Yes.
08:54 And Lakshmi, you know a lot about Ayurvedic.
09:00 I know nothing.
09:01 I know nothing.
09:02 But tell me, is Ayurvedic techniques and traditions--
09:08 is this part of Kerala food?
09:11 Yes.
09:13 Naturally, Kerala is known for Ayurveda medicine
09:18 and thick, dense forest.
09:22 So full of Ayurveda plants.
09:25 I see.
09:25 And--
09:25 Yeah.
09:26 And tell me a little bit more about food and Ayurveda.
09:31 According to our body nature, which is called dosha,
09:34 people follow their body nature, like vata, pitta, kapha.
09:42 And most of the Kerala people, they follow their body nature
09:49 and cook their food according to their dosha.
09:53 Which one am I?
09:54 Am I vata or pizza or--
09:56 how do I know?
09:57 Ayurveda doctor will tell you.
09:59 OK, next time.
10:00 OK, so let's talk more about Kerala.
10:04 Is it more vegetarian or more non-vegetarian?
10:08 Both.
10:10 Along the coastal line of Kerala,
10:12 you can find most varieties of seafood and non-vegetarian food.
10:18 As you go down to the south, people
10:21 find more vegetarian delicacies.
10:26 Lakshmi, what are the key ingredients of Keralan food?
10:33 It's coconut.
10:34 Coconut, OK.
10:35 Yes.
10:35 Yes.
10:36 So in all dishes, like morning breakfast till dinner,
10:43 they use coconut.
10:45 Yes.
10:46 OK, so the coconut is very, very important.
10:50 Yeah.
10:51 I think I need some coconut in my pizza somehow.
10:54 Yeah.
10:55 Somehow I made a great salmova.
10:57 Yeah, coconut pizza.
10:59 Lakshmi, thank you so much.
11:01 You've given me so much knowledge.
11:03 I really appreciate it.
11:05 Thank you, Lakshmi.
11:06 Thank you.
11:07 It's my pleasure.
11:08 Thank you.
11:09 OK, so I've done the Keralan semifinals
11:11 with Thomas and Zak on one side and Lakshmi on the other.
11:15 And now we're in the final with home chef extraordinaire
11:18 Prema Kurian.
11:19 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:23 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:27 Prema Kurian, daughter of Kerala and legendary Mali
11:35 Alley home chef, welcome to the Great Indian Pizza Adventure.
11:39 Thank you.
11:40 Let's get down to business.
11:41 I've got to work out, Prema.
11:44 I've got to get my head around Keralan cuisine.
11:47 It was an agricultural state to begin with.
11:49 My forefathers were all farmers or whatever.
11:54 Whether they were growing fanny or rubber,
11:58 cocoa, or whatever, pepper or whatever.
12:01 So a lot of it is really pleasant food.
12:07 It's a place of plenty, right?
12:08 I mean, it's a place of plenty.
12:10 It's a place of plenty.
12:12 And the beauty about Keralan food,
12:16 which I think is very fascinating--
12:17 I don't know if people have thought about it--
12:19 but it's nothing like poor man's food and rich man's food.
12:22 You know what I mean?
12:23 I see.
12:23 It's a sort of democracy of food.
12:26 There is a food democracy in Kerala.
12:28 But I guess that is something about the cuisine.
12:30 It's, as they say, God's country, right?
12:35 So God's country, God's food.
12:37 So everything you have there is a blessing.
12:40 And then you're blessed with all the spices.
12:42 We use our spices, but our spices is--
12:46 again, it's used so subtly.
12:49 It's used for the flavor of the spices.
12:51 OK, right.
12:52 Should we get into tasting a few bits and bobs?
12:55 Yeah, sure.
12:58 Prema, we're back for round one.
13:02 Seconds out.
13:03 Yeah.
13:04 First of all, it's a beautiful terracotta dish.
13:05 Yeah, we got it custom made.
13:07 Or rather, I got it custom made.
13:09 It's gorgeous.
13:11 So jackfruit.
13:13 Jackfruit seeds.
13:15 Yes.
13:16 Our brined mango, brined baby mangoes.
13:19 Yeah.
13:19 It's in ground coconut, garlic, shallots,
13:22 little bit of cumin.
13:24 Yeah.
13:25 And you have bitter gourd crisps.
13:27 And you have fried nattoli, or the Kerala style anchovy.
13:31 The anchovy.
13:32 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:35 This has a lot of beautiful things going in it.
13:42 First of all, I love this plump rice.
13:44 Yeah.
13:44 It's called the matta rice.
13:46 The matta rice.
13:47 Yeah.
13:48 It's really good.
13:49 These crispy anchovies.
13:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:56 I'm going to taste for the beach, right?
13:58 And let me tell you, this anchovy is a popular club snack,
14:03 or a bar snack.
14:04 You go to these study shops in Kerala,
14:06 you're most likely to find this.
14:09 What's next?
14:09 I can't-- I have to moderate myself.
14:11 Hard as it is, I have to control myself.
14:13 So what's next up?
14:15 I'm going to feed you the most iconic fish curry, one
14:19 of the most iconic.
14:21 The moili?
14:21 The moini.
14:22 The moili.
14:23 Yeah, with apams.
14:25 The moili with apams.
14:27 Yeah.
14:27 And I'm going to give you the Kerala style pork minderlo.
14:31 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:35 OK, should we move on to the moili?
14:37 Yeah.
14:38 So that's a fish moili.
14:39 Yeah.
14:40 That's a pork minderlo.
14:42 Yeah.
14:43 And apams.
14:44 Tell me about-- while I eat this,
14:45 just tell me what's going on with this fellow, Prima.
14:48 The moini?
14:49 Yeah.
14:49 According to me.
14:51 I think the moini is the most elegant cooking
14:55 of all the seafood in the Kerala repertoire.
15:01 So one of the ideas I was telling--
15:04 talking about for pizza--
15:05 I think so, huh?
15:06 I'm really expert.
15:07 I was thinking if you could use this kind of a sauce
15:10 to cook prawns and the anchovies you had.
15:16 Yeah.
15:17 Just--
15:18 As a topping.
15:18 As a topping, you know?
15:20 So Prima, I can hardly bear to bring this to an end.
15:26 Because we could go on and on.
15:28 You are an epic cook.
15:31 Thank you.
15:31 You're an epic cook.
15:32 Ma'am--
15:33 Thank you.
15:33 Thank you so much.
15:35 We love you.
15:36 We love your food.
15:37 Thank you.
15:37 And just wow.
15:40 Can we end, of course, with--
15:42 Yeah.
15:43 With a little--
15:43 Can I-- may I also--
15:45 Oh, yeah.
15:48 I think that was probably the conversation I
15:50 needed to round things off.
15:52 Traditional Keralan food and cooking techniques from Prima,
15:56 home-style preparation from Lakshmi,
15:59 and how to bring it all together on the table
16:01 from my Mahabali friends.
16:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]
16:08 (thunder rumbling)