Signature Dish
Watch KARIZMA MODERN INDIAN Blend 37 Ingredients into Visually Stunning Indian Dish
Clip: Season 3 Episode 8 | 4m 16sVideo has Closed Captions
Seth stops by Karizma Modern Indian in D.C.'s Chinatown neighborhood for the complex Nirvana 37.
Seth Tillman heads to Karizma Modern Indian restaurant in Washington, DC, where Chef Ajay Kumar presents Nirvana 37, a vibrant, towering dish composed of 37 different ingredients, including noodles, greens, mango prepared several ways, and sweet-spicy chilies. The dish is a fusion of ingredients from different Indian cuisines, which offers new flavors in every bite.
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Signature Dish is a local public television program presented by WETA
Signature Dish
Watch KARIZMA MODERN INDIAN Blend 37 Ingredients into Visually Stunning Indian Dish
Clip: Season 3 Episode 8 | 4m 16sVideo has Closed Captions
Seth Tillman heads to Karizma Modern Indian restaurant in Washington, DC, where Chef Ajay Kumar presents Nirvana 37, a vibrant, towering dish composed of 37 different ingredients, including noodles, greens, mango prepared several ways, and sweet-spicy chilies. The dish is a fusion of ingredients from different Indian cuisines, which offers new flavors in every bite.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipSETH: What are you making today?
AJAY: We are making today Nirvana 37... SETH: Nirvana 37.
Are we talking about 37 ingredients?
AJAY: Yeah.
SETH: All right, 37 ingredients to reach... to reach Nirvana.
Well, I understand that you're also an artist.
This is your palette right here?
AJAY: Right.
SETH: So Chef, how do you begin to put this dish together?
SETH: So we got mangoes at least three ways so far.
AJAY: Yeah.... SETH: I can already tell there's going to be a lot of crunch on this dish.
Would you like the salad as well, Chef?
AJAY: Yeah... SETH: So I'll be getting my veggies in this dish.
AJAY: Yeah... SETH: So we're kind of layering here as we go.
SETH: There you go.
And what kind of noodles are these, Chef?
SETH: After adding the noodles, Chef Ajay alternates more layers of greens and noodles and then adds the finishing touches.
SETH: There is plenty of green on this dish.
SETH: Are these going to be really spicy chilies?
SETH: Sweet spicy, okay.
AJAY: And the real magic will happen when we'll mix it in front of the customer on the table.
SETH: I got to tell you, Chef, I've seen a lot of dishes on the show and none of them look anything like this.
I can't wait to try it.
AJAY: You are going to love it.
SETH: All right, Ajay, Sachin, I've never done this on the show before, but this is a classic "phone eats first" kind of situation here.
SACHIN: Absolutely.
SETH: Got to get this photo.
Bloop.
All right, that is too beautiful.
Do we just reach in and start eating?
SACHIN: Let me assemble it for you.
SETH: Assemble.
SACHIN: We actually bring the Nirvana 37 on the table.
It's got 37 ingredients.
They have to be mixed in together.
SETH: Such a shame to see that tower taken apart, but I understand.
SACHIN: And the idea here is that every bite is going to give you a different taste and a different flavor, so that's why mixing is as important as assembling it.
SETH: As you're stirring it, I can hear the crunchiness.
SACHIN: And I think you'll enjoy this.
SETH: Oh, I have no doubt.
SACHIN: So one dish, kind of a culinary journey through the Indian subcontinent.
SETH: Here we go.
AJAY: Hope you like the sourness and sweet and fluffiness of the noodles.
SETH: That is a flavor explosion.
There's a little kind of sharp, peppery bite to it as well.
SACHIN: And that comes from the mustard oil.
SETH: It's amazing to think that you could have one dish that's kind of on a covert operation to share all the flavors of India together.
SACHIN: Somehow, this kind of evolved into a dish on its own, which wasn't planned or intended, and just many different ideas that were flowing through the brain kind of conceptualized this.
And then very hard to pick a name because you can't call it one or the other and there is no reference point for the dish.
So we thought, it kind of gives you the Nirvana feeling with the dish, so why not call it Nirvana?
SETH: That's absolutely true about there being no reference because it looks a little bit like a salad, it's got all the greens, but it's not.
Really great, savory flavor to it.
AJAY: And it is vegan and gluten-free also.
SETH: Vegan and gluten-free.
I mean, that's going to draw some people in.
I know that.
SACHIN: It already is.
AJAY: In every bite, you will feel a different taste.
SETH: That's absolutely true because the first bite, I think I got a lot of fennel.
It was really kind of sharp and peppery.
But in that last bite, I got some of that mango chutney so there's a little bit of sweetness, but still getting all those good, savory spices.
Preview: S3 Ep8 | 30s | Seth Tillman embarks on a savory tour of D.C.’s Indian cuisine. (30s)
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Clip: S3 Ep8 | 5m 27s | Seth samples the rum chicken keema at Indigo, a NoMa neighborhood favorite in Washington, D.C. (5m 27s)
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Signature Dish is a local public television program presented by WETA