Anjum attempted to show her friend Panthea, who can't cook, how easy it is to prepare a flavourful feast based on grilled kebabs and wraps. Once Panthea had mastered the art of the samosa, Anjum persuaded her to help out on a stall at the quintessentially English Sherborne Country Fair. Here they hoped their wraps made with chicken tikka, tandoori lamb, and the vegetarian option, paneer, mushroom and spinach would be more than a match for burgers.
Anjum persuaded her old university friend, Alex, to prepare an Indian feast rather than buy a takeaway for his boys’ night in. The guests were treated to a chilli-themed selection with Spiced lamb burgers made with a wonderful combination of green chillies, garlic, ginger and coriander, and mouth-watering pieces of Oven-fried chilli chicken steeped in a chilli and ginger marinade served with Smashed-fried potatoes spiced up with a little red chilli powder. The dishes were great for the lads to tuck into while they watched the FA Cup Final.
Anjum set out to prove that Indian food can be light and healthy and worthy of a slot on the menu at a spa. She headed to the spa in the beautiful surroundings of the Charlton House hotel in Somerset where she persuaded the chef, Elisha Carter, to put some of her recipes on his menu. He loved her mouth-watering Avial (a southern Indian mixed vegetable dish with coconut) accompanied by a slightly sweet Bengal gram lentil curry, followed by the yoghurt-based dessert made with saffron, Shrikand.
This week Anjum visited a fire station in Essex. The daily diet of beans on toast or a takeaway was replaced with a curry when Anjum showed firefighter Paul Pemberton how to cook a proper curry for the 'blue watch'. Anjum explained to Paul what type of pans to use to cook a curry and why coriander is such a vital ingredient in Indian food, then showed him how to make an aubergine dish cooked with yoghurt. They also made a lamb curry with green chillies accompanied by naan bread.
Anjum headed to Cornwall to help self-taught chefs, Nirmal and Louis, who run the Little Cornish Curry Company, to face a new challenge. The pair were about to start cooking for a curry night at a local pub and had decided to attempt to convert customers from traditional fish and chips to Indian food by serving a different kind of fish dish. Anjum showed them how to make a coconut fish curry with yellow lemon rice and a side order of crab cakes garnished with tangy tamarind mayonnaise.
Anjum threw a party in her garden and checked on the progress of the people she taught how to cook Indian dishes during the series. Her friend Alex cooked the classic side dish of Paneer with spinach; Elisha, the chef at the Charlton House hotel, made a Wild mushroom pilaff; while firefighter Paul tried his hand at Peshwari naan. Anjum made them a summer feast with Raan, a spiced roast leg of lamb, as her centrepiece.
Food writer and chef Anjum Anand presents simple recipes for delicious, healthy Indian food. Following on from the success of Indian Food Made Easy, this second series takes Anjum Anand on a journey to show how regional flavours of the Indian subcontinent can be found up and down the country. First stop is Liverpool, where we meet Lyn, a cook at the local hospital. Lyn often makes traditional English fare for charity events, and she's hoping to raise some money by selling hot food at Liverpool's biggest farmers' market. Only this time she's going to be cooking Indian. Anjum puts together a menu of classic South Indian dishes, but can Lyn rise to the occasion?
In this episode we head to Leicester to meet Michael Scott, known as 'Scottie' to his friends. Scottie is captain of one of Leicester's oldest rugby clubs - Stoneygate. Every month they have a team curry night at the club but usually rely on takeaways, so Anjum convinces Scottie to make his own meal for the players. She takes him on a gastronomic journey to find out more about the cuisine that is enjoyed by Leicester's 20,000 strong Gujarati community. Having tasted some local delicacies, she teaches him how to make a fabulous Gujarati classic - Undihyo, a one-pot vegetarian dish. Then its off to meet Daxa, a Gujarati housewife, who reveals how to make delicious onion bhajis, and the secrets of a Gujarati thali. For Scottie's main course it's a hearty lamb curry with fenugreek dumplings, and chips with cashew nuts. Finally, can Scottie cook up a feast for his 15 curry-loving team mates?
In this episode we head to London to meet James Moody, who loves having dinner parties and is a bit of a foodie, but would never cook Indian food as he finds it far too complicated. With Brick Lane on his doorstep, it's an opportunity for Anjum to show him how to cook up a Bengali feast. First they visit the restaurant of top Bengali chef Udit Sarkhel, and the chance for a hands-on experience making keema stuffed mashed potatoes. Then in Anjum's kitchen he starts off learning how to make a fabulous butternut squash dish with chickpeas. A quick trip to Brick Lane and some fantastic fish dishes gets him into groove of fish curry, which the Bengalis love. Back in the kitchen, it's time for James to learn how to make his own fish curry, as well as a fabulous dish of prawns, coconut and mustard. With his friends waiting for their meal in the garden, James struggles to make good that which he has learnt, but what will his friends think?
In this episode we head to Edinburgh to meet Wendy Barrie. Wendy is a champion of Scottish food and a bit of a local celebrity, her cookery demonstrations being extremely popular. She has never cooked Indian food before, but has decided to go on a voyage of culinary discovery in order to demonstrate three Indian dishes to her many fans at one of Scotland's biggest gardening festivals. Glasgow and Edinburgh are home to a large Punjabi community, so Anjum takes Wendy to get a real flavour of the local cuisine. First they meet Tony Singh, one of Scotland's best chefs to find out all about the secrets of how to make rotis or Indian breads. Then it's off to meet Tasnim, a maths teacher at her local school, but a wonderful home cook who shows Wendy how to make pecoras. Back in her kitchen, Anjum shows Wendy how to make a fabulous tarka dal, luscious chicken in spinach and a twist on a Scottish dessert, Punjabi cranachan. Finally it's the day of the festival, and almost 100 people turn up to watch Wendy's demonstration. She's got just an hour to cook the three dishes. With Anjum watching nervously in the audience, will she pull it off?
In this episode we head to London to meet Jonathon Readman, who two years ago married his Goan wife, Lorraine. Jonathon never cooks but every Sunday takes full advantage of his Indian connection by enjoying a Goan feast at mother-in-law Clara's house. Now it's payback time, and Jonathon is going to attempt to cook for her and his family himself. First it's a trip to top Goan restaurant Ma Goa to discover the secrets of dry-roasting spices, before he's in the kitchen learning his first dish, easy fried spicy aubergines. Then it's a hilarious insight into the extraordinary methods of making prized Goan sausages, before Jonathon gets thrown into the deep end, learning how to make a delicious, authentic Vindaloo - very different to the sort found in British restaurants. Finally Jonathon gets cracking on the ultimate test - cooking for the mother-in-law, and she's not easily impressed.
Anjum heads to Bradford to meet Jessica, a volunteer chef on board a classic steam train that winds its way through the stunning Yorkshire dales. She and her team have never given the 50 or so fee-paying guests who dine on the train an Indian menu, but now she wants to give it a go. Bradford is home to a large community of Kashmiris, and Anjum puts together a menu of fabulous Kashmiri dishes. First up is a traditional Rogan Josh, rich, hearty and full of flavour. Jessica plans to serve it on the train with a pilaf, so she and Anjum visit the restaurant kitchens of Mohammed Aslam, a local Kashmiri chef, to find out how to make the perfect rice dish. Then back in the kitchen Jessica discovers how to make delicious peppers, stuffed with spicy paneer an Indian cheese. For dessert there is angel vermicelli, topped with orange cream. Finally with a packed train eagerly waiting their first Indian feast as it chugs through the countryside, Jessica has a battle in front of her to get it all cooked on time in her tiny kitchen.
