Recipes That Made Me: Punjab

Original version

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One

BBC One West

Recipes That Made Me

Documentaries

Factual: Food & Drink

Restaurateur Nisha Katona travels the UK hunting down recipes from the Indian subcontinent

Restaurateur Nisha Katona travels the UK hunting down recipes from the Indian subcontinent.

Series 1

BBC Two England

England

BBC Two Scotland

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

BBC One London

London

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

Simulcast of BBC One Northern Ireland in high definition. From 24/10/2012

BBC One Northern Ireland HD

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

Simulcast of BBC One Scotland in high definition. From 14/01/2013

BBC One Scotland HD

BBC One Cambridgeshire

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One Oxfordshire

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South

BBC One West Midlands

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

BBC One North West

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

BBC One Yorkshire

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

Simulcast of BBC One Wales in high definition. From 29/01/2013

BBC One Wales HD

BBC One Wales

Wales

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

Nisha Katona

Sally Wingate

Narinder Minhas

Ed St Giles

Catherine Donohoe

Laura Kennedy

Anoop Singh Kung

Pav Gill

Ben Parsons

Nicole Fairfield

Steve Brown

Dan Preston-Bear

Graeme Hayes

Adam Wood

Sugar Films Limited

Recipes That Made Me: Series 1: Episode 1: Punjab

Punjab

Episode 1

Episode 1: Punjab

BBC Two - Recipes That Made Me, Series 1, Punjab

Nisha travels to the West Midlands to learn about Punjabi food from the north of India.

Nisha Katona discovers family recipes passed down through generations from across the Indian subcontinent. Nisha travels to the West Midlands to learn about Punjabi food.

In this series, restaurateur Nisha Katona travels around the UK meeting passionate home cooks to discover family recipes passed down through generations from across the Indian subcontinent.

In this episode, Nisha travels to the West Midlands, which has the largest population of Punjabis living in the UK, to discover all she can about Punjabi food from the north of India. Punjabi cuisine is famous for its rich dishes and she wants to understand more about the ingredients, cooking techniques and culture that has given this cuisine its unique characteristics.

Nisha starts her exploration at a Sikh temple in Birmingham, where food plays an integral role in everyday temple life. Each day in Sikh temples there is a custom known as langar where they serve vegetarian meals that anyone can come and eat. Here she meets a group of women skilled at making perfect chapatis - the main staple of Punjabi cuisine which is known as the bread basket of India.

Next, Nisha visits a Punjabi martial arts class known as Shastar Vidiya. Here she discovers the connection between the ancient warrior culture of Punjab and their high calorie food. She meets Rav there, a keen Punjabi cook who shows her how to make a deliciously rich goat curry. This is food to make you 'tharkara,' a Punjabi word that refers to physical might and strength. Most Punjabi immigrants came to the UK from rural Punjab in the 1940s and 50s to work in the foundries of Wolverhampton and Birmingham. Food helped the transition from rural Punjab to the industrial heartland of Britain and Nisha wants to understand more about the role it played. She meets Sathnam Sanghera, author of a book about his childhood, growing up in a traditional Sikh family in Wolverhampton. He tells Nisha about his mum's dedication to Punjabi food which she cooked daily for all the family and the integral role it played in his upbringing. He takes her to the home he grew up in and shows her the back garden where his mother grew many of the produce farmed in Punjab. Growing up, there were no fences and many of the Punjabi immigrant families created mini allotments at the back of their homes to ensure they could get the fresh ingredients needed to make their delicious food.

Spinach is a central part of Punjabi cuisine and spinach paneer is one of Punjab's best-loved dishes. It is easy to make and much more exciting than the way we traditionally serve spinach in the UK. Baksho Ark is a mother and grandmother, who shares her recipe for spinach paneer with Nisha. It is a dish much loved by all her family and is really quick to prepare. To end her time in the West Midlands, Nisha visits a popular Punjabi restaurant in Wolverhampton where they are preparing for a first birthday party. First birthdays are a big celebration in Punjabi culture and food is always at the heart of them. Nisha is back stage in the kitchen helping with the preparations and seeing how they make classic tandoori chicken tikka the authentic Punjabi way. The chicken is grilled in a tandoor oven - synonymous with Punjab where villagers would traditionally take their bread and meats to cook them in communal clay tandoor ovens. Nisha finishes her time with the community on a high - joining in the first birthday party celebrations in style, tucking in to some delicious tandoori chicken tikka and marvelling at the generosity associated with Punjabi food and culture.

Recipes That Made Me: Series 1

BBC Two

Knowledge, drama, comedy and the arts for a broad adult audience.

BBC Two is a lively channel of depth and substance, carrying a range of knowledge-building programming complemented by great drama, comedy and arts.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Recipes That Made Me

Series 1

Episode 1: Punjab

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC One West

About BBC One