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The actress and food writer speaks with us about misconceptions of Indian cuisine, dining trends, and her new cookery show
Photo by Jonathan Ford
What pushed you into the culinary world? Were you always cooking from a young age?
Madhur Jaffrey: I did not cook at all when I lived in India. Our family had cooks so we never needed to. The need arose when I left for London to study Drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. I missed good Indian food and there was no way to get it without making it myself. So I wrote home to my mother for recipes. That is how it started. Then I went to America where acting roles came infrequently. I started writing on the arts for magazines and newspapers. I wrote one piece on food and that kicked me
What are the biggest misconceptions of Indian cuisine?
MJ: Well, for one that we divide it into categories, going from the very hot to the very mild. Also, that it is all "curries". Most people know only North Indian food. Less are aware of the great regional cuisines which we did try to show on my new programme, Curry Nation.
What are the current dining trends to pay attention to for Indian cuisine?
MJ: There is the modern trend. Restaurants like Cinnamon Club [in London] serve a mild, "nouvelle" version of Indian food which borrows heavily from the West, both in cooking techniques and in plating. There is also a greater interest by a few in regional cuisines. Kenyan Indians have opened restaurants that serve their own traditional dishes, some quite influenced by Africa and others so old-fashioned Indian that even Indians may have forgotten them.
You live in New York, but you’ve spent much of your life working and living in the UK. Give us your honest opinion about the British version of curry. What do you love and hate about it?
MJ: The best first: I had some excellent food, cooked by East African Indian families who left India about 100 years ago, settled in East Africa until they were thrown out, then came to Britain and eventually opened restaurants. There were also great meats to be had in some very traditional Pakistani restaurants in the City of London. Some of the worst were the pubs who just loaded their Vindaloos with chilli powder, offering intense heat, a raw chilli powder taste and no flavour whatsoever.
What are must have ingredients in your curry? What's your favourite curry dish?
MJ: There are no must-have ingredients. That is why real Indian food is so varied. Each dish requires it own, special seasonings. One aubergine dish from Bengal is made with just Nigella seeds and salt. I do not have a favourite curry dish. I think of them all as my children and love them all. I love the fish curries of Goa, Kerala and Bengal and I love Muslim meat curries and biryanis.
What are some traditional dishes you grew up with?
MJ: They would be nothing that you might be familiar with as home food varies from home to home, region to region. I grew up with Muslim-style meats and rice dishes and Delhi, Hindu-style vegetables, a very strange mix. Among the meats there might be Meat with Potatoes that had plenty of cardamom, cinnamon and cloves in it. Amongst the vegetables, I remember my mother stir-frying whole peas with cumin seeds, then sprinkling sour green mango powder and chilli powder over them. We just put a whole pod between our teeth and pulled, so all the peas and the flesh on the pods just fell into our mouths. Delicious.
Madhur Jaffrey’s Curry Nation is currently airing on BBC Lifestyle every Thursday at 8pm.
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