Parisian Mumbai Salad Recipe + 6 Comfort Foods Inspired by The Hundred-Foot Journey

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Confession. I’ve always wanted to take a professional cooking class. This is coming from the girl who used to despise the kitchen!  My passion for wholesome, homemade meals inspired me to begin cooking regularly and what I found was that the challenge of making something creative and delicious was exciting. And admittedly, I really love when my kids try a new food in a dish I’ve created and actually enjoy it.

Food, culture, and family converge in a beautiful cinematic depiction of Richard C. Morais’s novel The Hundred-Foot Journey. When the Kadam family is forced to leave their home in India, they settle in the south of France with aspirations of opening an Indian restaurant. Upon surveying the area, they quickly learn that across the street sits the famous Michelin-starred French restaurant owned by Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren). Threatened by their presence, Madame Mallory creates a series of obstacles in opposition to the opening of Maison Mumbai. Inevitably, Madame Mallory (and the French) cannot ignore young Hassan Kadam’s culinary expertise. Apprenticing under the famed chef, Hassan uses his talents as a chef to weave the flavors of their two cultures together. 

DreamWorks The Hundred-Foot Journey is slated to open in theaters August 8th, 2014, and as part of our delicious delve into the film, we had an opportunity to take part in a private cooking demonstration from the chefs at Le Cordon Bleu in Los Angeles.  Esteemed as a network of educational institutions offering the highest level of culinary instruction, Le Cordon Bleu is where many of the most famous chefs in the world studied.

Before our hands-on demo, we toured the facility and gleaned a bit of the institution’s history and academic expectations.  One of the things that I found to be particularly interesting is the integration of culture into the curriculum.  Culinary students must understand where food comes from and during our tour, I noted several shelves of books use to study and research culture and cuisine in other countries. Also noteworthy is their final cooking project, which includes the development of a business plan. Because Le Cordon Bleu is renowned for guarding authentic, traditional French culinary techniques, I thought that this was the perfect setting to learn how to make a fusion dish inspired by The Hundred-Foot Journey.

After touring the kitchens, we sampled a few French-Indian fusion appetizers before creating our very own Parisian Mumbai Salad under the direction of Chef Carlos Mulia.

This is a delightfully refreshing summer salad that fuses the flavors of both cultures perfectly.

Print

Parisian Mumbai Salad

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tsp . freshly grated ginger
• 1 tsp . minced garlic
• 1 tsp . ground cardamom
• 1 Tbs . curry powder
• 2 6- ounce boneless cut into 1/3 inch strips, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tsp . salt
• 2 tsp . pepper to taste
• Salad:
• 4 ounces mixed greens
• 1 mango julienned
• 1 apple leave skin on, julienned
• Vinaigrette:
• 2 Tbs . salad oil
• 1 tsp . red wine vinegar
• 1/3 tsp . Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste
• Naan Bread:
• 1 piece Naan bread cut into cubes
• 1/2 ounce salad oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• Curried Walnuts:
• 1 ounce grape seed oil
• 2 tsp . granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 2 ounces walnuts

Instructions

1. In a plastic bag, combine the yogurt, ginger, garlic, cardamom, curry powder, salt, and pepper.
2. Add the sliced chicken and marinade for 45 minutes. Set aside.
3. Julienne mango and apple and set aside.
4. To make the vinaigrette, mix Dijon mustard and red wine vinegar together.
5. Add salt and pepper.
6. Slowly incorporate the salad oil while whisking continuously and set aside.
7. Cut Naan bread into 1/3 inch cubes and drizzle with salad oil.
8. Season with salt and pepper.
9. Bake at 375 degrees F for 8-10 minutes (turn bread halfway through cooking).
10. Toss walnuts into grape seed oil with sugar and curry powder and set aside.
11. Grill chicken utnil meat is white and no longer translucent.
12. Grill at 10:00, 2:00 to create crisscross grill marks.
13. Assemble salad and serve immediately.

My grandmother owned a restaurant and my father cooked throughout my childhood into adulthood, so my passion for food has deep-seated roots.  I remember so many of the dishes he made for our family, but perhaps my favorite is his Rice Pilaf recipe, which he always made on Thanksgiving Day. Food has a way of evoking memories, and in honor of The Hundred-Foot Journey, Food Network star and Chef Bar Arneson created 6 film-inspired recipes.  

See The Hundred-Foot Journey in theaters August 8th, 2014.

Images: DreamWorks/Rockin’ Mama

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Caryn Bailey

Caryn is a NICU nurse by day, blogger by night and mom 24/7. She savors the warm Southern California sun and loves to travel, shopping, baking, reading and frequenting her local tea room. Caryn created the column Lavishly Green for Peekaboo Picks Magazine to share her best tips for going green in style, she is the Former editor for Family Review Network, former OC Family Magazine online contributor, former Orange County Moms Blog contributor, former Evenflo Savvy Parent contributor, former member of the Totsy Advisory Board and former freelance writer for CBS Los Angeles.

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