Go

Joey Fatone meets homegrown cooks.
Sundays at 8:30p/7:30c

Related Photos

Roopi Atwal -- a microbiologist -- lives at home with her parents, Prabi and Kirpal, brother Bobby and sister Rampi. Her grandparents also live there, but they were away on vacation when Joey came to visit. The family has strong values. They practice their religion based in the Sikh faith and are steeped in strong cultural traditions. Food is a large part of their culture, which is why they believe it is important to cook together and grow their own vegetables in their backyard garden.

Prabi teaches Joey how to make pakora -- a fried vegetarian dish that is served with homemade mint chutney.

While Prabi cooks the pakora, Joey sustains an injury! He rubbed his eyes after cutting the chili peppers, which resulted in an intense burn. But Roopi came to the rescue with a milk wash that cooled his eye in no time. Roopi warns that you should always wash your hands after handling peppers.

Roopi and Rampi make Joey their favorite summertime drink, a mango lassi. This cool smoothie drink is made with fresh mango and mango pulp, homemade Indian yogurt, milk and honey.

Roopi also makes traditional Indian rice pudding called Kheer. Kheer is a blend of rice and milk with a few special spices, which is slow cooked for hours over the stove or in a crock pot.

The Atwal family showed us how much family and food are a part of their lives. The family plans their meals together, cooks together, eats together and prays together, all elements of a strong Indian culture.

Most Popular

Video

Photos