Wine Me Dine Me: Learn to cook Indian food from Chef Keith Sarasin

Playing a video game with a childhood friend was the catalyst for chef Keith Sarasin’s appreciation of Indian cuisine. Now, two decades later, he’s helping Americans understand just what he loves about Indian home cooking through a new YouTube channel and a series of virtual cooking classes. The first hour-long class is Oct. 4.

“I had a friend growing up in Nashua, Supreet, and his family owned an Indian restaurant. We would play video games at his house all the time. Walking into his house and just like a wave of scents. They always had spices and food everywhere and they would always try to get us to eat Indian food all the time,” Sarasin said.

“I was 13 or 14, and I was a really picky eater, so I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ One day we were playing a video game and he said, ‘If I beat you in this next round, you have to try Indian food.’”

Sarasin was up for the challenge and, luckily for home cooks everywhere, the founder of New Hampshire’s The Farmer’s Dinner series and cookbook author lost that game.

“He beat me. I had my first experience with Indian food at India Palace in Nashua and I tried chicken vindaloo. It blew my mind. I thought, ‘how are they doing this?’ It was like sorcery to me.”

The next day Supreet invited Sarasin to go with him to a local Indian market, and the chef was once again blown away by what he saw, smelled and tasted. Six years ago, his friend asked him to meet at that market, Food and Fashion of India, once again.

“I walked back in and at the back of the stores was a short little lady wearing a sari, just smiling. Supreet ordered some spices and they talked in Hindi for a minute while I looked around the place flabbergasted,” Sarasin said.

“I had been in kitchens for a bit, but I had no idea what a lot of it was. The lady asked me if I wanted to try something to eat, and she went into the back and put this stuff into a styrofoam container and handed it to me. She said, ‘I call this ‘Indian breakfast.’ There was a vegetable with semolina, and I took one bite. I was blown away.”

Sarasin says his experience enjoying a dish that really didn’t look like much but which was so full of flavor — sweet, sour, spicy and still balanced — resulted in a mentorship with Indira Shelat, that little lady who first cooked him an Indian breakfast and who created set lunches each weekday, improvised from what was on hand.

“I begged her to teach me to cook these dishes,” said Sarasin. “But she said, 'No, no, no. I’ll do it.’ I went into her store every day for about six months asking her to teach me something. I started learning the names of the spices in Hindi, because it was important for me to connect with her on that level, and I felt like if I could learn the spice names, she'd be more inclined to teach me.”

Finally, Shelat agreed to teach the chef one dish if he would help her with her website. That dish was masoor dal, a spicy red lentil dish.

“Her food was home-style, not refined,” said Sarasin. “It didn't need to be. I've been lucky to dine at some of the best restaurants in the world at this point, but I keep coming back to the food that she would make and serve in a styrofoam container and thinking that’s the stuff that I miss.”

It was through Shelat that the chef also learned the connection between mood and food.

“I would chop some onions and she'd tell me I’m chopping it wrong, you’re not dicing it. She’d ask, ‘how are you feeling right now.’ I said, ’Anxious.’ and she would tell me ‘you’re putting that into your food, you need to clear your head.’”

Over the course of months, and then years, Sarasin said he’d learn more about the spiritual aspects of Shelat’s homecooking.

“I’d walk in in the morning and it just smelled like incense, and I’d hear Indian prayers playing on a loop — her father was a Hindu priest.”

Sarasin eventually helped Shelat with catering, including making dishes she was not allowed to touch due to her religious traditions. At one wedding, the bride and groom praised the chicken vindaloo and were surprised when Shelat let them know that “the white guy did it.”

Shelat has since retired and while she offered Sarasin the chance to purchase the market, the chef was running Greenleaf Restaurant in Milford. He’s since left Greenleaf and can now concentrate on continuing The Farmer’s Dinner series where guests will often enjoy a dish from Sarasin’s Indian cuisine repertoire as well as his new YouTube channel, which covers Indian cuisine and history and live Indian cooking classes. He’s also recently announced a partnership with Chunky’s Cinema Pub which includes a series of themed dinner and movie collaborations. Upcoming films include “100-Foot Journey,” which features both Indian and French cuisines.

While a planned trip to India is out for the time being, Sarasin is learning Hindi and hopes that by sharing his enthusiasm for Indian cuisine through these classes and videos, more Americans will embrace the dishes and culture he loves.

Find out more

The first Live cooking class is on Oct. 4 from 5 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Chef Keith Sarasin will walk you through an Indian recipe you can cook at home and explain his journey of discovering, loving and cooking Indian food. In this class you will learn the basics of Indian food and cook along with Keith. Ingredient list and video link will be emailed to you in advance of the class. Please have the correct email address you would like the link mailed to when purchasing a ticket.

On Nov. 8 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., Sarasin is joined by Chef Hari Pulapaka for another live cooking class featuring Indian dishes. Born and raised in Mumbai, Pulapaka is an award-winning chef, co-owner of Cress Restaurant and cookbook author.

Each class costs $29.99, and tickets can be purchased at www.thefarmersdinner.com/events .

Find the chef’s channel on YouTube under his name, “Keith Sarasin.”

Sarasin will also be providing the food at upcoming collaborative themed events with Chunky’s Cinema Pub including a screening of “Nightmare Before Christmas” in October,” “The 100-Foot Journey” in November and “Elf” in December. www.chunkys.com

Look for upcoming The Farmer’s Dinner events in 2021 at www.thefarmersdinner.com.

Chef Keith Sarasin is the author of “The Farmer’s Dinner Cookbook” and “The Perfect Turkey Cookbook.”

Rachel Forrest is a former restaurant owner, reviewer and Seacoast resident, who now lives in Austin, Texas and Belize. She can be reached at Rachel.forrest@localmediagroupinc.com.