Exploring the Cuisine of India

Exotic and mesmerizing, India is a land of complexity and contrast, a vivid tapestry of peoples, languages and cultures. Among the oldest civilizations on earth, Indian culture has evolved over centuries, absorbing ideas from the Greeks, Persians, Arabs, Moghuls, Portuguese, Dutch, French and, of course, the British. From the Moghuls, northern Indians learned to make rice pilaf and biriyani, an elaborate layered dish of rice and meat. The Moghuls' refined cooking became the palace cooking and the dominant influence in the north. In the tropical south, the food is hotter and seafood dominates the coastal diet. The treasured fruit of the coconut palm yields coconut milk for curries and coconut water for toddy, a fermented beverage. From north to south, India offers an endlessly varied feast, befitting its varied geography and multicultural heritage.

Join us as we tour the spice coast of tropical Kerala, where home gardens are a tangle of pepper vines and cardamom bushes and mountain plantations yield coconut, cashew nuts, nutmeg and coffee. We'll cruise the backwaters of Kerala, past rice paddies, shrimp farms and mango trees. With local cooking teacher Nimmy Paul, we'll have a private lesson in Kerala home cooking, and we'll watch the great Kathakali dancers perform in their dazzling makeup.

	Interviews with Indian Food Experts: India is an enormous country, encompassing numerous religions and languages and every possible landscape, from the snow-covered Himalayas to the tropical palm-lined coasts of the south. Likewise, Indian cooking is far from monolithic. To begin to understand it, we must divide India into regions. Suvir Saran, chef-owner of New York City's Devi restaurant, helps us out. [45.23 MB, 9:38 minutes]
	Recipe: Indian Chicken Pulao: Watch Bangalore Chef Abhijit Saha prepare this traditional Indian rice dish. [19.4 MB, 3:51 minutes]
	Recipe: Indian Raisin and Date Chutney In India, fruit chutneys go far beyond the mango version known to most Americans. Watch chef Abhijit Saha prepare one of his favorite chutneys, made with dates, raisins, spices and pomegranate juice. [12.07 MB, 2:55 minutes]
	Recipe: Kerala Shrimp Curry: Kerala is known for its seafood, which the local cooks often simmer in coconut milk with locally grown herbs and spices. Here, chef Abhijit Saha, prepares a quick Kerala specialty: shrimp cooked in coconut milk with curry leaves. [41.1 MB, 8:28 minutes]