Kamala Harris & Mindy Kaling Cook Masala Dosa

I don't want to suffer the consequences of our future president not liking my Indian food. I can tell you something? Yes. I have never made

dosa

s. (soft drum beat) (laughter) Hello. Hello. I love that you are already entering through the kitchen, as if you lived here. Of course I stop by the kitchen, that's what we do. This is so nice. Are you stressed because we're making Indian food? OMG, you have the taster's choice. My goodness, you have no idea, that's how my mother kept all of her things. "This is so funny," I told my dad, she was going to bring these things from the store.

He says, obviously, I put them on Taster's Choice... But that's literally how my mom saved all this stuff. That's so fun. What's that? Did they tell each other? I don't know. (soft drum music) Taster's Choice. Hi guys, I'm Mindy, I'm here in my kitchen and today we are

cook

ing but we have a very special, very special guest. Senator Kamala Harris. Hi guys. Wait, this is what I want to know. Well. Is it respectful to call him? I should call you Senator Harris, right? No you shouldn't, that's not on my birth certificate. Are you okay, Kamala? Call me, yes, please.

Good, because the Indian in me, I feel like my parents, my dad, will see this. Just don't call me auntie. Well. (laughing) I won't call you aunt. They'll say, how could you call her by her name? She has worked very hard. Okay, so what are we going to

cook

today? Well. It is an Indian recipe. Yes. Because you are Indian. Yes Yes Yes. It's okay and I don't know if everyone knows that. But I find that everywhere I go and I see Indians in the supermarket, on the street, everyone says, "You know Kamala Harris is Indian, right?" It's our thing, we're really excited that you're running for president.

Yes. So we are both Indians. Yes. But actually we are both from South India. Yes, you look like a whole half of my family. OK thanks. You do. You do. I've already been telling people that we're related, so this is perfect. It's basically true. (laughs) And so you were raised eating South Indian food? South Indian food, lots of rice and yogurt, curried potatoes, dal, lots of dal, idli. Yes, idli. That's a deep cut. Okay, so what we're going to cook today are two things. One of the staple foods of South India is

dosa

, which is something like a sourdough crepe.

And then we will make a potato curry, which is the traditional accompaniment. So I printed it out, so... Where did you get this recipe? We're doing it the old fashioned way, meaning I printed out a recipe from the internet. Okay, I'm ready. Okay, so when I told my dad that he was going to cook South Indian food for you... Yes. He was extremely excited. He said I will get some spices. But he took them all, all the Indian spices and put them in... In the Taster's Choice jars. And this is exactly what my mother would do.

So when I walked in and saw this, I literally didn't know it was actually a thing among our people. I guess it's an Indian thing. Apparently it's a thing. Okay, great, these are all the spices we'll be using, courtesy of my dad. Well. And then dosas take a long time to prepare the batter. Yes. So what we have is this big company, this Indian company actually, that makes ready-to-manufacture products. You can get it in the Indian store. Well. So we're busy, it's dripping. Yeah. Which is... Oh, yeah, it's leaking. Well. (drum roll music) So South India is vegetarian.

It's all vegetarian. So when we were little, we went to India and my grandfather was a little naughty. So my grandmother, of course, was strictly no, nothing, if she had a mother, they didn't eat her. And if my grandmother went out of town, my grandfather would get very mischievous and say, "Okay, let's have French toast." (laughing) Because, of course, that has balls. Because he has it in his balls. So when I went to visit my family, obviously, no meat. Even the dog... No, no, no, no. Okay, rice and yogurt. Rice and yogurt, yes. Oh yeah. The dog would eat rice...

Oh, yes. The dog would like rice and yogurt. But. Very good Indian vegetarians. But then I had cool older cousins ​​who would take me on their motorcycles and we would go searching and we would all share a lamb burger because it was fast food. True, it was like a joke, true, true. No meat or anything, obviously, but we would have lamb burger. And then we couldn't tell any of our grandparents. Well. It's a good cut. Good. Well, Senator Harris, I say this with respect, it's kind of a brag. (laughs) It's like, meanwhile, it's taking me 20 minutes to make that much ginger.

Well, what can't she do? You have my vote. So your mom worked and my mom worked, but my mom also... I know, your mom was a doctor. Well, the interesting thing about Indian women of a certain generation is that you had to do both. Yes, oh yes. Good. Like my mom woke up at five in the morning before going to the hospital to see patients and cooked food for the whole week. Oh yeah, mommy did that too. And then some food was cooked, dinner food was cooked at 6:00 a.m. m. And then she was gone and then she cooked all our food.

And we, of course, didn't understand, we thought, we want to go to McDonald's, but there's a four-course Indian meal for us even if she wasn't there to eat it with us. And it was that kind of thing that was completely normal when you are the children of professional immigrants. Listen, that's how it was, because we often got home from school before our mom got home from work. And there were always fresh baked cookies. No. Always, always, always. Oh Lord. So all of that, everything was from scratch. And that's why maybe, hopefully, I haven't become a food snob... someone who can chop onions like this, like we're on a cooking show.

But I take it very seriously. Yes. Listen, this is controversial, I put peas and cashews in mine. Yes or no? I realize that. That, you know, I mean... Okay, okay. Alright. You could do it... Your silence was very damning. Yes (laughs). I knew what you wanted to do. No, but you know what, I want to try. Go Go. No, because I don't want to suffer the consequences of our future president not liking my Indian food. So why don't we play it safe? Well, put a couple. Just put a couple. I can tell you something? Yes. I have never made dosas.

Okay, but you're very good at criticizing them. Excellent. (laughs) This is going to be great for me. Alright, let's get to the cooking part. I always use too much oil. I am often surprised when I make things from scratch. Good. That's why he needed a United States senator to witness him doing it. (laughing) You're doing a good job. (onions sizzling) How old were your parents when they came? I think my parents were in their late twenties, like 28, 29, 30. Really? Yes. Yes. Look, my mother came when she was 19 years old. Oh. By herself. No way, wow. My grandfather was very progressive and he wanted to study science.

My mother's father was the same. And you know, this is what's really interesting because people have these stereotypes and actually misconceptions about who Indians are. I mean, at least I can speak from my own experience and you have a similar experience, it seems like, you know, my grandfather was very progressive. His daughter wanted to go and do that and he said, go ahead. I think this is already done. I also believe it. And I think we could move on to dosa. Well. Here is my pre-made dosa mix that thousands of Indian women around the world are amazed because I am using.

I'm going to put a little oil in the pan. Well. Now, would your family do that thing where you take the paper towel and spread it out? Or did they just leave it like that? Oh yes yes. I just want you to know that I'm really stressed about doing this since you're... (laughs) Well, can I just tell you that I'm amazed that this is happening in a real kitchen in front of you? me. Look how pretty it is, you're doing a great job. So I think the key to dosa is very simple, which is a lot of oil.

So what I do is put a little bit of oil in the holes to make it crispy. Oh, that's clever. My dad always did this. Hello (laughs). Hello (laughs). Is this your father? This is my dad, Avu. Hello uncle, hello. Dad, I'm Senator Harris. It is an honor to meet you, Madam Senator. How are you? I'm glad for you. Nice to meet you. Thanks for coming. My grandparents lived in Besant Nagar. Yes. UH Huh. In fact, my family lives there. Yes, I went for a walk in the morning... To the beach, yes. On the beach with my grandfather.

Yes. Dad, did you know that his family keeps spices in Taster's Choice bottles? We would keep the same at Taster's Choice. But why do they keep this stuff in Taster's Choice? I never asked, but my mom drank Taster's Choice coffee every morning, so I guess we recycled everything, of course. (laughter) Wait, Senator Harris, what do you think of this dosa? Do you think it's already done? That's really good. I think it's going to be pretty good, here we go. (gasps) Wow, I'm really impressed. Ok, now all the components are ready. And we'll just take the potato and put it in the dosas.

MMM. And now we fold them. That was the best way to do it. (laughing) Yeah, wait. Look how beautiful that is. I'm going to do the same with mine. So,

masala

dosa. Thanks for eating this. I'd give this a hard B-. The dosas weren't, I didn't think they were... But the taste is very nice. Thanks, I was nervous cooking in front of you. But you shouldn't be, you're such a good cook. OK thanks. This is really good. Maybe when you're at the White House, I can come over and make you a meal. Thank you very much for cooking at my house with me.

I am very happy to be with you. I am very honored and excited to vote for you. Oh, you are the best. (laughing) (soft drum beat)