(cinematic music) - Few things bring me more pleasure than cooking.

Gosh, that's great.

Isn't it?

And DT, that's a Warhol, right?

But there are certain dishes that I just can't get enough of.

I'm going to show you some of my simplest, mouth watering recipes that are warming and comforting.

(foreign language) And after braving the elements, you can do better.

Come on, come on.

What could be better to come back to that looks just like a hugging.

This is the food that makes you feel that everything will be all right.

What could be better than food that reminds us of home, whether it's what your mum used to make or your favorite coach comfort.

My heart always turns to those dishes that make us feel safe and sound.

And there are so many people from around the country who feel just like I do.

One of those is chef Joe Young.

Who's taking the comfort food he grew up with in Hong Kong and turned it into his living with the help of his daughter Shanta.

- Good Morning.

- Hi - This duo specializes in four different kinds of dumplings, chicken, pork, prawn, and jackfruit.

You call yourself chubby Dumfries.

None of you look chubby.

- When I was a kid, my dad used to make the best dumplings and I would just gobble them all up, straight away.

And he nicknamed me, chubby dumpling because I ate them all.

- Oh, how lovely.

And what made you start up a truck?

- My dad used to have his own restaurant for 31 years and then retired a couple of years ago.

I convinced him to come out of retirement to work hard and make dumplings.

And now we have a food van together.

- [Narrator] Joe's prized recipe is a family one handed down through the generations.

- You would like to come and Give me a hand.

- Have a gap.

- Dumpling dough is simply flour, water, and salt.

The skill is in the running.

If you want a correctly shaped results.

- There's a dough in your Palm, but a little bit a fitting in there in the middle.

- It's a fiddly job.

First I need to get the right amount of Shiitake mushroom and chicken mix.

- Put that bottom to the top.

- I can't take that.

- yeah - I give it a pinch now.

- Well, it starts and you just say, move your fingers to the top and get it smooth.

Do it one more time.

Lovely.

- It's a bit ham-fisted.

I don't think you're gonna give me a job.

- Well I couldn't afford to you.

- How many dumplings can you make unknown?

- Roughly about 180 to 200.

- Goodness gracious.

I would be sat on my first day.

Joe is not only speedy, but very resourceful when it comes to cooking.

And you've been steaming there on the top of an ordinary earn - very useful - then a quick fry to crisp them up.

I love the way that you love your own home cooking, but you'll bring it out here so everybody can enjoy it.

- Yeah, it's good.

And there's so many people come to the van who haven't had dumplings before and they wouldn't necessarily go to a Chinese restaurant and order this food have been on the streets.

There's a good way to try new things.

So these are ready.

- They smell so good.

Just the finishing touches - spring onions, Some fresh chilies, gonna pop on the top.

- Not too much.

- So Asian pickles.

So there you go.

There's your lunch?

- Lovely.

- Thank you.

- So good.

- There's nothing like your family's best recipes.

But for me, there's one that has stood the test of time and I hope it will still be cooked by my grandchildren one day, I think roast chicken must be the most favorite family roast.

I'm going to put a lovely flavors and butter underneath the skin.

And so that was melting onions and got some butter and it's nice and soft in with the flavor Crushed garlic, grated, fresh ginger, and the zest of half a lemon.

Some Terra gon as you chop it, you get that wonderful aroma.

The Terra gon gets mushed into the butter.

Then carefully pushed under the skin.

It's well-worth doing this.

It really infuses the meat with the flavor.

If you put it just on top, it drips down into the meat.

So that's ready to roast.

I'm going to put that in the 10, add two, roughly chopped onions, which will cook alongside and slowly caramelize and drizzle generously with olive oil.

I'm going to put a little bit of salt that just gives a lovely, crunchy topings.

into the oven for about an hour at 185.

When did stand, the juices should run clear and the skin golden and crisp.

I think that so tempting that glorious Chestnut color and the onions look brilliant too.

I'm just going to leave it to rest and plate up those gorgeous caramelized onions that will be served alongside Now to the gravy.

I've got all the fat in the pan from the chicken little bit of oil from those onions.

So I know it's a good flavor.

My simple gravy is just how mum used to make it two tablespoons of flour.

We'll start it off.

So I'm working the fly into all those drippings in with 150 mil of white wine and 500 mils of chicken stock And some gravy Browning to give it a rich color.

You can make it as dark or as light as you want.

My family always say, if the greatest, a good brown color, oh, does not look good.

Now finally, a little red currant jelly and a dash of was to sauce.

That's the consistency served with as potatoes and a green vegetable.

What could be better?

All of us are doing now is round up a family quickly.

My next test of home is a little slice of Sicily.

I'm in Camden at an Italian deli.

That's been here for nearly 40 years.

- Welcome, Maddie.

- That certainly wasn't welcomed.

This treasure trove of Italian food is a family business run by brothers, Antonio.

And Stephano.

- Can I let you try a nice bit of pecorino with some lovely truffled me?

- Oh, that's something different.

Thank you.

Originally from Sicily, the brothers moved to Britain when they were young and weren't ready to let go of their home.

Comforts.

- Food has always been our passion and my mum infused that into us and she helped us the first five, six years and Tony and myself, and she just let us get on with it, but she's always had her eye on us keeping an eye on making sure that it's done properly.

- It's brother Antonio.

Who's the dome of the delis.

Puddings.

- This is the most common desserts in system.

- What are the shells made of?

- Shells are made with wheat with wheat a little bit of red wine, and then the fried.

You just pipe it.

Mary you're the expert Piper here.

I'm sure you've done this a few times yourself.

We use CATIA cream, which is made for a sheep Smeal.

- And Tonio is dipping the canola into crushed pistachio, but they also use candied fruits and dark chocolate.

- I would like to have a go.

- Please.

- Oh, wait a minute.

I think I need to roll my sleeves up.

It doesn't matter where your home cooking comes from.

It's always handy to know how to pipe.

- Excellent, excellent she's piping better than a Sicilian.

There we are so far.

- Then you'd give it a little dip in that.

- Okay.

- I think I've been a bit more generous.

- I've been a bit tight with the pistachios.

I mean, yeah.

Lovely Perfect.

Perfect.

- I'm going straight into it.

Is this the sort of thing that your mum used to make when you were young?

- I remember being young and helping my mum make the shells.

These are traditional foods from us from Sicily, which have been going for years, you know?

So definitely grown up with this sort of food.

Yes.

- Dan, mum's done a great job.

Those canola are delicious.

Before I go.

I just want to pick up something for my next recipe.

Do you have any burrata.

- Of course Beautiful burrata Mary from Pulia fresh in yesterday morning.

This is absolutely beautiful.

- Thank you.

I will take them such a passion for their taste of home Bye boys.

It's inspired me to make one of my family's favorites.

This is a twist on spaghetti bolonaise my bowling is bake served with heritage tomato and burrata salad.

The pasta sauce is simple fry off onions, celery, and the crushed clove of garlic.

Yeah, just, just the softness of it.

Once the vegetables have done that throw in 675 grams of good minced beef, and he wants a really high heat because I want to Brian to that then add tomato puree, Rick current jelly, and two tins of chopped tomatoes.

Ken tomorrow.

There's a quite acidic.

And if you add just a little bit of red currant jelly, it just brings up the flavor.

A good shake of was the source and 500 mil of rich beef stock.

I'm going to turn that right down.

So it's cooking very slowly and it will be tender in 30 minutes while the source bubbles away fry 250 grams of mushrooms in butter.

I find that a very quick fry.

You've got a much better place.

If I just tip them in with a bottle, they just get a bit soggy.

After half an hour, the sauce will be ready.

Some chopped fresh time and the buttery mushrooms or bring it all together.

That smells simply wonderful.

Now to turn the bolonaise into a heartwarming bake, just add 225 grams of cooked penny and give it a good mix That looks perfect.

Now engage, tip it into the dish.

Finish with a mixture of cheddar and Parmesan for a cheesy topping, Just bake for about twenty-five minutes at 180 fan To show off that wonderful burrata cheese.

I've surrounded it with lots of colorful heritage tomatoes, And I'm going to make a simple dressing.

Bloody Mary four tablespoons of olive oil, a shake of celery salt dash of Tabasco, 75 mil of tomato juice, a teaspoon of Worcester sauce, and two teaspoons of both CENIC vinegar, depending on what sort of gathering it is.

You could always add a little bit of vodka to this.

I can think of a few parties as it would go well, Just drizzle over the salad and finish with some fresh bachelor leaves.

Now it's all about the bake.

I tell you, it looks amazing.

It's crispy brown on top and underneath.

It'll be soft with the source.

Let's have a look.

I think that looks wonderful.

I can't think of anything.

I'll enjoy more with family on a weekday.

Then this wonderful pastor bake.

We all love the food.

Our families cooked when we were younger, as it's Diwali the festival of light, I've been invited to see how chef Didna will celebrate later with some very special family recipes.

- Hello?

Adio, - Hi Didna - Happy Diwali - Happy diwali to you as well.

Now, very I called these Indian pretzels, crispy hot Jalebies the best dessert ever.

- These sweet treats are made from a fermented batter.

That's fried and coated in sugar syrup.

you can eat them all year round, but specifically on times of diwali and Indian festivals.

- So what we generally do is just twist the wrist.

I generally like to count to 8.

1, 2, 3, 4, - It's a bit like using her piping bag.

So hopefully I've got this Have you ever seen such a mess?

The trick is I gather to make perfect circles quickly.

I think they've got character.

It's quite a skill as a deal makes around 1300 of these a day.

- This is a hot sugar syrup, which has stepped in and the sugar wouldn't latch straight away onto the actual jalebi.

- The proof of the pudding is always in the eating.

- The joy of eating jalebies on a cold day with the syrup trickling down your face.

Oops is something else.

Absolutely love it.

The best sweet in town.

- I'm not going to issue dripping with the syrup.

- I'm taking a Gillette before the road.

- Very happy to Diwali to You.

Enjoy the rest of the day.

- Thank you.

She's addicted.

You know, - Yeah, she is.

I Won't tell you how often she's out.

- Inspired by all this wonderful food.

I want to show you my version of this Pontiac Curry.

It might not be very authentic, but I promise you it's absolutely scrumptious.

The base will be bros, color and sweet potato, just pilot into an oven dish and drizzle generously with olive oil, I'm addicted to roast.

You've got a frog.

Why did we never roast it in the past the vent into the oven at 200 fan for about 15 minutes now for the paneer, I have a 226 gram block of this versatile cheese.

It's either a sheep's cheese or a goat's cheese, and you love it when it's cooked, because it's taken on the flavor of all the wonderful spices that do have an Indian cooking.

Cut the paneer into cubes and fry in some flour, or Once it's golden brown and crispy set the paneer to one side for the source fry, two onions and grated ginger.

What we're really make this dish seeing other spices, medium Curry powder, garam masala, and grand cloves.

Oh, smell this lovely smells.

The Friday night takeaway INGOs two tablespoons of flour.

Give it all a turn and then add 600 mil of vegetable stock slowly to start with an allow it to thicken.

That's it?

Yeah.

Aroma is lovely To bring it all together at a couple of tablespoons of mango chutney and some double cream, a lovely rich sauce.

That's just the right amount of thickness.

And that's a good color now just in time, as the roast veg are done, these are perfect vegetables to use in a Curry because they hold their shape.

As long as you don't over cook them.

- Spinach and paneer are a marriage made in heaven.

This is baby spinach, and there's a wilt down in no time, A squeeze of lemon juice.

And finally back in the pan goes to the paneer.

That's bubbling away, the pioneers getting hot.

And I think it's time for me to take, I think I've got a bit of everything here and gosh, it looks tempting.

Do you think I'll get it in one go, I know I will.

While I've managed it, it was sheer half - [Narrator] my paneer and roast vegetable Curry.

So delicious with some more non mango chutney And Didna's house diwali preparations are in full swing.

Everyone will be here in a few hours and it's all hands on deck.

One of the family's most loved recipes is vegetable Samosas.

- The secret to making great simosas is you don't want to make a dough, which is like a Patty nice and soft.

We want a nice hard dozer there.

So they're easy to fill - and what's that there.

- So that's potato and peas infused with coriander seeds and cumin.

And I finished it with coriander, garam masala, and also kasturi methi, which is dried fenugreek leaves.

- So it will have a hint of Curry and not too strong.

- Yeah Correct.

So we've spiced it just right.

- Who actually taught you to cook?

- So my dad and my mom, so I have the best of both worlds.

So my dad has been a chef for many years.

He opened the first restaurant in south door in 1975, but my grandfather opened the first brilliant nightclub hotel and restaurant in Kenya Nairobi in the fifties.

So all the recipes have been passed on.

That's a legacy.

Yeah.

- Add water to the pastry edge and shape it into a pouch.

- I'm not overloading this, but I just press it down with my fingers.

Dad, can you just come and help please?

Can you please do these ones?

You just go - and I just pinch it across the top like that.

- that's it.

So you're just sealing the whole thing.

- I hope it's up to the family standards.

How about that?

That's very good.

- I've just got a little bit of the Curry on the outside, but it all adds to its okay.

- Perfect.

- While the rest of the family are working on decorations for Diwali, gurus making his favorite semolina pudding called Sooji Halwa.

It starts with semolina and butter.

- So I'm just sort of roasting it.

We've got to keep on, keep on stirring.

- Yes.

You can tell when that is ready because the buttery smell starts to release.

As we know, the semolina is perfect This is like one of my favourite - Nothing again, everything you like has got your.

- Sweet yet.

When you go to the temple, the Sikh temple, what they give you when you pray afterwards, they give you per prasad, which is a holy offering.

So that's traditionally served in the Indian temples and you take it in your hand.

I asked for obviously double when I go.

- The next stage is to add hot sugar syrup.

It smells really buttery and keep staring.

- So it's not sticking to the edges.

So that means the Sooji halwa is almost ready.

- So how many years have you been making this dish?

- Just about 45 years.

- To finish gurus, adding ground pistachios and almonds.

Both.

- At the cook.

And I'm happy with that.

- Does it look good?

So good.

And.

- The way I would make it.

- Is it good?

Almost like mine.

I'm going to have a taste and see that.

I think I would go for that.

That pudding is extraordinary.

It makes me think what my favorite dessert is when I want the comfort of home.

The one that always Springs to mind is my Blackberry mousse with rich buttery racial.

I still remember when I was very little going out black brang.

It was a ritual that in the autumn and then we'd come home and you'd make jam and a moose.

Isn't all sorts of things.

And it was food for free.

I've got 600 grams of blackberries and these are real.

What holds them into a pan and gently cook was the juice of half a lemon and 75 grams of cost to sugar.

Let the natural juices come out while they cooked down.

Soak five leaves of gelatin in cold water.

While that goes soft and then strain the blackberries.

Let's push that to not that you don't want to waste it, give that a stir and there you can see the beautiful PRA I'm putting that back on the hub, squeeze out the water from the Geraldton and add to the puree when it's dissolved transfer to a bowl to cool.

I'm very careful not to splash myself cause it's such a vibrant color and it wouldn't look too good on this pink jumper.

What makes this moose light and fluffy is plenty of air.

So what together?

Two egg whites and a hundred grounds of cost of sugar.

It looks a little bit like cloud.

Now I have three bowls to mix the Blackberry puree lightly with cream and the egg whites cream, and first Then fold in the egg.

Whites.

I'm just being as gentle as possible because you don't want to knock it out at the type of Reddit critique, Pour into a serving dish and the moose should take about six hours to set in the fridge or ideally overnight Beautifully set, just a little decoration needed.

What is in the center.

I'm going to then put that brace on top.

Keep it in informal.

If you pick them with children, let them decorate it.

There you have it.

Wild rambled, mousse the light and yet so comforting served with some buttery short red.

That's it couldn't be more simple.

A perfect good for any occasion, Backup deepness.

How's it all.

Hands to the pump.

All this needed now is the finishing touches for the Diwali celebrations.

Before the party begins, a platter of food is offered to Lakshmi the goddess of good (prayers) Thanksgiving.

Now all that's left to do is enjoy, - Happy Diwali Oh, - Say hi everyone - we certainly won't go hungry with this magnificent spread.

This is the savory chickpeas potatoes, Tamarind yogurt.

It looks so beautiful, but I'm starting with some of those samosa's and brighter.

Oh, that is good.

On offer There's also a paneer Curry and the spice color from potato dish, aloo Ghobi, And now for Didna's favorite course - who is ready for dessert?

- Wow.

The jalebi top cheesecake is going down a treat.

What a wonderful evening.

It's so heartwarming to see families celebrating together around the food that they love.

- 1,2,3 Happ Diwali.!!

( all cheering) - Next time I'm breathing the elements in Yorkshire, This is certainly pushing it, cooking up, warming dishes, Do you need something that's perfect.

And what tickles the sky has come alive.

(cinematic music)