NARRATOR: Major funding for "Dook Chase: A Chef's Journey" was provided by the Melvin S. Cohen Foundation Incorporated.

Additional support by Zatarain's, bringing the flavors of New Orleans home for over 125 years.

Zatarain's, born and raised in New Orleans.

From the spice of jambalaya to the flavors of a classic crab boil, it's a taste of New Orleans made at home.

And by Camellia Beans, rooted in New Orleans since 1923.

A family business with a devotion to beans spanning four generations.

Camellia Beans, a taste of home.

DOOK: This time on "A Chef's Journey," we're on Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans for a stop at a nationally recognized Indian restaurant.

Saffron NOLA, established by the Vilkhu family in 2017, marries New Orleans traditions and ingredients with the flavors of their Indian heritage to create unique menu staples.

So, let's step inside to talk to Chef Arvinder about the family's local spin on the food of their homeland.

♪ (theme song playing) ♪ DOOK: We are in the kitchen at Saffron with Chef Arvinder.

And look, I must say, a lot of this looks familiar, but some of these spices, not so much.

Tell me what we got going on.

ARVINDER: I came to New Orleans in 1984, and we often talked about beautiful New Orleans cuisine, and I talked to my wife, "If we ever have a restaurant, we'll have a curried gumbo."

We just were trying cooking at home with the children, and evolving with our culture here in New Orleans, with our Indian culture, and out came this gumbo, and we were so pleased.

When we were trying to establish Saffron NOLA, it was decided that it's going to be the highlight of the menu, that we need to honor New Orleans cooking on our menu.

And we have ensured that the authenticity of the gumbo was never compromised, but we spiced it with our spices.

Basically, we like to broil our spices, in fat or without fat, and we cook them before we stew them.

DOOK: Okay.

ARVINDER: So, the flavors of the spices are released in the medium before we go any further.

A lot of people ask me, "Do you have curry in this food?"

I say, "What do you mean by curry?"

Curry is not a particular spice.

You see all the ingredients are... DOOK: Right.

ARVINDER: ...listed individually here.

So, curry is something with a gravy.

Curry is something with a sauce.

And that's what we talk about.

This particular herb is called kari, K-A-R-I, leaf.

And then we add ginger and garlic.

Ginger is a main ingredient in our cooking.

And then we add our onions.

DOOK: So, what I love about this is, you talk about adding in those flavors, waking them up with that heat.

Then, of course, you're going in, which we call the trinity down here.

ARVINDER: Exactly.

DOOK: You have your onions... ARVINDER: Yeah.

DOOK: ...you have your celery.

Now you're going in with your bell pepper.

ARVINDER: And then we're adding thyme.

DOOK: Dried thyme we use so often.

ARVINDER: Here, it is the turmeric, a great spice discovered now in the West.

Anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibiotic, all three in one.

So, very holistic approach to our cooking.

We like these spices in our food every day.

DOOK: And we have the okra here, as you talk about gumbo and the travel, and the many different influences.

I see you got some crab stock brewing back here.

ARVINDER: Yeah.

Crab and shrimp, and we're going to deglaze this pan with the stock and then start adding our seafood and roux, and finish it off, yeah.

I just pureed some fresh tomatoes.

In a regular curry sauce, tomatoes are a very major ingredient.

We thought it was important that we have tomatoes in this gumbo as well.

DOOK: So, now you're getting ready to add in the stock?

ARVINDER: Yeah.

DOOK: And so many techniques in gumbo, right?

As we... ARVINDER: Yeah.

DOOK: ...talk about deglazing and adding stock, right?

That spices that have created a bed at the bottom of that pot is being picked up with this crab and shrimp stock.

You think gumbo, you're thinking Louisiana.

ARVINDER: Absolutely.

DOOK: And certainly, you have all the bases in there.

ARVINDER: We are incorporating the method in New Orleans-style cooking, but the ingredients are our culture.

We want to honor our city we live in, but this is New Orleans cooking in a different fashion.

We add the vegetables in two stages so that when you are served the soup at the table, you'll see the chunkiness of the vegetables also, along with the seafood.

A bell pepper, celery, got a little onion.

DOOK: So, certainly, when you're thinking of New Orleans gumbo, shrimp, crab, all that seafood going in here.

And this is when you know you're getting a treat, because Chef not only has lump crab meat, he has claw crab meat.

He has crab claws.

He has a crab and a shrimp stock.

But Chef... ARVINDER: Right.

DOOK: ...I don't know if I can stand here much longer without... ARVINDER: Well.

DOOK: ...having a taste here.

ARVINDER: Can't wait to treat you with this one.

DOOK: I'm going to find my seat in the dining room and can't wait to dive in.

It's been an honor to be in your kitchen.

ARVINDER: My pleasure.

DOOK: Tell me a little bit about what really inspired you to get in the kitchen.

ARVINDER: I grew up in a family of engineers.

DOOK: Mm-hmm.

ARVINDER: And I was the last one, the baby of the family, standing in the kitchen, watching my grandmother and my mother cook.

So I was naturally passionate about cooking from the very beginning.

We came to New Orleans in 1984, and there was very little influence of multicultural cuisines here, and there was a nice-sized of Indian community.

My wife is a psychologist, and I was, at that time, managing a private club here.

And we started catering for friends on the side, and it just mushroomed.

My son, Ashwin, who was attending his master's in school and said, "Dad, we need to take this to the next level."

And he wrote papers in college about Saffron NOLA's business plan, and that was the beginning of our next phase of life.

We became full-time foodies and started cooking, and this is the result of that story.

DOOK: Mm, this is a great gumbo.

I love it.

It pays homage to that tradition, but it's your take on it.

And you talk about the next generation that's in the business, right?

Not only helping sustain all the great things you and your wife are doing, growing the business, helping the family continue that legacy, that's what New Orleans is about.

Showcasing culture, keeping tradition.

As we say, you know, we build community one cup of gumbo at a time, and this gumbo certainly is building a great community here in New Orleans.

Welcome to my kitchen, where inspiration and creation come together in a celebration of culture.

Today, we're talking a balance of spices.

We're speaking Indian cuisine.

I'll show you how we get started on a tandoori chicken.

First, we'll start by marinating our chicken.

I have a little salt, and then we have just a little bit of lemon juice here, and we'll save a little bit to make our second marinade.

While that's marinating, we're going to start on our spice blend.

We have a little bit of cinnamon, and when you're thinking Indian cuisine, these spices, you just smell them.

A little bit of turmeric we're going in with here.

We have a little coriander, a little cumin, a little masala, and a little paprika.

We'll give these guys just a little mix here.

These are mixed well together.

Now let's start on our second marinade.

For the second marinade, we're going to use the food processor.

We have a little oil going in.

I have a little ginger.

We're going to add some garlic, and then we're going to add in our onions.

To that, we're going to add the remainder of the lemon juice.

Knock those off the blade.

A pinch of salt, and we'll let this work.

(blender whirring).

And let's see what this looks like.

And that's where we want it to be.

And we're coming right out.

And you can see the texture on here.

It's not quite pasty.

I still want you to have a little texture from those onions, from that garlic.

Now we'll start to add our spices to this mix, and just folding that in.

We add in our yogurt.

This is the balance of flavor.

When you think about those powerhouse spices, right, you're thinking about cumin and turmeric and cinnamon.

And just for a little more color, I want to add more paprika.

Now our chicken is ready to go in its second marinade process.

I'm using boneless chicken thighs here.

We're cooking at a high heat.

We're cooking fast.

Breast will tend to dry out.

And we'll put this in here.

You want to let this sit in the marinade for at least five minutes, up to 15 minutes.

While this is sitting, I'll clean this up, and I'll show you how to get ready to put it in the oven.

So these have been marinating for 15 minutes, and we're just going to put them right on our pan.

We'll just spread that around, and we're going right in this oven.

We take these to a 425-degree oven for 15 minutes.

After those 15 minutes, you're going to kick up your oven to broil for the last five minutes.

I have some at the bottom that's working, and they're ready to go.

Oh, wow, look at that color.

And this is what you're looking for as they come out, right?

That char, that marinade that's still there.

We'll let these sit and rest for a little bit.

While these are resting, we're going to work our finishing sauce.

We'll add a little bit of yogurt, a little bit of paprika we have for some color, and we finish that off with some fresh chopped cilantro.

And I'll give one little squeeze of lime.

And this is gonna balance that flavor.

And let's get ready to plate.

Coming on in here, look at the char that you get.

Now I'll put this right on top here.

And then just sauce right on top.

Add a little extra for you if you want to dip in on the side.

We're gonna have a little more of our fresh cilantro going here.

And if you're one of those folks like I am that love a little extra lime, the spices are speaking to me.

This is Indian cuisine.

For the next dish, we're making a vegetable curry, aloo gobi.

We'll start by getting our pan hot with some oil.

And as that oil heats up, we want to flavor our oil.

So I'll take the snip of this pepper here, let that go in, and then I'm just coming right down the side.

And I'll bring that in.

I don't want to open it up because the seeds are where the heat is.

So you can see we're just moving it around.

That little pepper's starting to do a dance over there.

Our oil is hot.

We'll start to add in our onions to this.

(sizzling).

And you're sweating the onions, moving them around.

And to that, we're going to add just a dash of water.

(sizzling).

And to that dash of water is where we start to bring in our seasonings.

So we'll add in a little bit of cumin, we'll add in a little bit of ground coriander, a little masala.

And as you're adding this, you can certainly smell those spices going in.

Turmeric's going in here, and a little bit of paprika.

Now you want to work that in.

The consistency that we're looking for, and you'll see, is just a light paste.

And right when you get that going, we'll add in our tomato paste.

This is about a teaspoon.

This is also going to help that body.

And now we'll start to bring in our diced tomatoes.

That'll release some liquid.

This is the stage where you can start to incorporate your cauliflower.

So we'll begin by adding these in.

Just a little, incorporate that with those spices.

I'll add in a few more.

And you can see that tint that's happening on them already, right?

That's those spices that they're picking up, that paste, that light paste, if you will, that we created at the bottom.

Now we'll bring in our potatoes.

I have my potatoes soaking in water, right, that's to keep it from browning on me.

And you want a 50/50 balance, potato to cauliflower.

That looks like we're there there.

And then you want to start to mix that around and incorporate those in.

Now we're ready for our liquid.

To that, we're going to add the remainder of our water, just enough to cook those potatoes and that cauliflower to tender.

It's about three-fourths way up.

And before I put the lid on, I want to give it a taste just to make sure we're there.

I have to add a dash of salt.

I'll mix that in.

Oh, this is why I love Indian food.

You taste the spices, the cumin, the turmeric, the coriander.

Taste a little bit of that heat coming from that pepper.

Now you can see on the side of this pot, we're coming to that simmer.

We're going to cover this and let it go for 15 minutes.

All right, let's give our potatoes and cauliflower a check.

Oh, as soon as you take the lid off, that smell just comes to you, those spices.

They're nice and soft, but still a little al dente.

That's what you're looking for.

They have a little bite.

The potatoes are soft.

This is just that comfort food.

You know, in New Orleans, as we talk of comfort food, this is that Indian comfort food, that, just vegetables roasted with those spices, a little tomato here.

Oh man, I can just sit on top of this stove all day because the spices just hit you.

We'll finish this off with the little greens, fresh cilantro.

And here's our potato and cauliflower aloo gobi, Indian comfort food.

This is what you want to serve the family at the table.

For our last dish, we're going to do a beef curry.

We're going to start by getting our oil hot.

We're on medium heat here.

And just with any beef stew, this beef curry, you have to brown and sear that meat.

What we have here is some chuck that's been cut into an inch-cubed.

And you want to cut it into that cube because it's going to allow it to cook faster, right.

And you're looking to get a good sear on it.

So I'm not going to overcrowd this pot.

I think I can fit maybe one or two right in there.

We're going to hit it with a little salt.

I'm not adding any pepper at this moment.

And we're just moving around, trying to get a good sear.

This is going to take you five to seven minutes.

You're going to flip those cubes over.

You want to get a good browning on this chuck.

And we're almost there with the browning.

I just want to make sure.

See, this is what we're looking for.

Now we have some of that color on some of the sides that we're looking for, and we'll just let this beef rest.

Now, this beef is not cooked all the way.

It has to cook for a longer process to tender up, to cook all the way through.

When you're using this cut of beef, this is a slow-cooking process, right.

You speed it up by cutting it into those inch cubes.

Now, to this, we're just going to add a bit of oil.

I have some green chilies that has the seeds in it.

Anytime you're cooking with the seeds, that's where that true heat comes from.

So we're not going to use them all, but we're just going to let them toast right in here.

This is going to bring that heat element to this dish.

While those are going, I have some coriander seeds, and you'll start to hear just some pops.

We'll move that around.

We're flavoring that oil, and you want to let this go just for a minute.

And to this, we're going to add just a dash bit of water.

(sizzling).

And now we'll bring in our spices.

Of course, we have a little paprika, a little cumin, and just a tad bit of masala, and some turmeric.

And I love turmeric.

You know turmeric not only when you see it, but certainly when you smell it.

We're going to mix those in.

The reason why you add those seasonings, they react with the heat, right.

It just wakes them up.

It blossoms them.

So and, and when you're doing this, you're going to smell it come right to your nostrils, right to your nose.

Then I'll bring in our onions.

We'll start to slow that process down.

And look at the color that you're going to get on these onions.

And this is just mopping up that bottom of that pan.

I have some garlic that we pureed.

I have some ginger that we mashed.

And that ginger, another one, wakes up.

Soon as you hit that heat, you smell it coming through.

And then we'll add a little tomato paste just to give it some body before we add that stock.

Now we're going to fold in our diced tomatoes.

We'll let this go for two minutes.

All right, now we're ready to add some beef stock on in.

Mix that in perfect, and we have to bring our beef back to the fold.

As this simmers and reduces on your stove, be mindful that you do want to have some type of gravy as you create, as this reduces.

So you have to allow this to cook slowly for 35 minutes.

But as that reduces, check your liquid.

If you need to add a little more, certainly add more.

But I want to show you the consistency is where we're going right here.

As that reduces, that's the consistency that you're looking for.

So we'll let this reduce for 30, 35 minutes until that beef is tender.

You don't cover this.

This goes right on your stove.

You'll keep your eye on it.

If you need to add liquid, certainly add a little liquid to it.

So this has been simmering for 35 minutes, and I want to show you how it reduced.

Just look at that.

This is what we're looking for.

Now this is ready to taste and plate up.

Oh, man.

Those spices.

You get that beef broth coming through, a little bit of that tomato, and then a hint of that pepper that's shining through right at the back end.

Well-balanced.

We got to plate this up.

♪ ♪ Add a little green.

This dish speaks to Indian comfort food, much like the comfort food we enjoy with your family.

So don't be afraid to try just a few extra spices in your pantry.

Thank you for joining us as we explore the traditions of New Orleans cuisine and the reason why we cook what we cook.

I'll see you on the next chapter of "A Chef's Journey."

NARRATOR: In his new cookbook, Chef Dook Chase explores the legendary dishes and unique food traditions of New Orleans.

This companion to "A Chef's Journey," with all the recipes from the series and more than 125 color photos, is available for $32.99 plus shipping.

To order, call 1-800-815-3153 or purchase online at wyes.org.

CLEO: Stuff the pork chop, stuff the turkey.

And we're going to stuff you till you get nice and full.

DOOK: I told you, they stuff everything.

I get everything.

I love the toast, I love that avocado, that little char that's coming through, those seeds.

CHEF: Mm-hmm.

DOOK: Uh-oh.

That's when you know you're enjoying it.

CHEF: Yep.

There we go.

That's when you got it all over your mouth.

And that's when you know you got a good friend, when they just let you stay, you know?

Some person would've let me stay my whole time on the camera.

CHEF: No, no.

Not me.

Not us.

Never.

DOOK: Ha.

PRODUCER: Nice.

Intense.

DOOK: I was trying to figure out what I want to say, so let's figure out what I want to say.

So, I'm telling you what the next dish is, and you better listen to it.

ZOE: All right.

While our pie is cooking in the oven, we're going to clean up.

Perfecto.

I don't say anything.

ALVA: Sounds good.

DOOK: Good?

ALVA: You a natural.

You're ready to go to Hollywood.

DOOK: Yeah, I don't know about that.

NARRATOR: For more information about "Dook Chase: A Chef's Journey," visit wyes.org.

Major funding for "Dook Chase: A Chef's Journey" was provided by the Melvin S. Cohen Foundation Incorporated.

Additional support by Zatarain's, bringing the flavors of New Orleans home.

Rooted in the city's rich culinary traditions, Zatarain's is born and raised in New Orleans.

From rice mixes to frozen meals, it's an authentic taste of New Orleans.

And by Camellia Beans.

You shouldn't rush a red bean.

Let it cook, then you can gather around with family and share in its distinct culture.

Camellia Beans, a taste of home.

♪ ♪