- Get off. Oh no.
So I put six teaspoons, not tablespoons.
No! (laughs)
- [Ismat] Oh, Zeta. Oh no.
- Who needs a mortar and pestle
when you've got a rolling pin?
(jazz music)
- Hi, I'm Ismat and I'm a chef.
- Hi I'm Zeta, and I'm a bit chaotic in the kitchen.
And today we're gonna be swapping nostalgic recipes.
So Ismat, you're a chef, tell me about it.
- My long love affair with food began
when I was really little, always hungry, and bored.
And I just wanted to turn that into a profession.
So I went to culinary school
before kind of molding my own path
into becoming a food creative and recipe developer.
But the crux of it all is that I'm hungry.
And I always like to eat really.
- I mean, I'm hungry and I like to eat.
So does that make me a chef?
- Girl, we're gonna make you a chef today, okay?
- What recipe have you got for me today,
to really challenge my cooking ability?
- It actually goes by a few different names.
So, Seviyan, is what we call it in my family,
but you can also call it Sheer Khurma.
It's a family classic for us and I absolutely adore it.
- And my recipe for you
is a recipe that's been passed down from my Nana.
It's an apple tea cake,
but it's 100% a choose your own adventure.
The recipe which I've sent to you
is literally just a list of ingredients.
Like there aren't even any measurements for some things.
- You can tell this recipe is used many of times
because perhaps there's remnants of said cake on the page.
I'm keen to see how this goes.
- Okay and you sent me your recipe.
- I sat down with my mom and I was like,
"Mom, I know you do this by hand,
but let's write this down."
- We love detail because you know me,
you've seen me in the kitchen. - Yes! (laughs)
- It is a dumpster fire so I need step by step instructions.
Let not wait any longer.
Let's cook these recipes.
- Let's go. Let's have some cake.
- So I have Ismat's mom's recipe here.
Like I think I can probably do it.
First of all, I'm not good at fractions,
I'm not good at math, so this is already gonna go wrong.
So one liter of milk.
Oh shit.
That's about a liter.
So eight cardamom pods cracked, open slightly,
and crushed with a pestle and mortar.
I can't find a messelm, messelm and porter?
Mortar and pestle. (laughs)
Who needs a mortar and pestle,
when you've got a rolling pin?
Now six tablespoons of caster sugar.
Three, six.
So this could take up to 30 minutes.
So basically what we have to do
is just wait for this bad boy to boil.
Reduce, simmer?
I don't know, look different.
- I am really excited to get started
on Zeta's Nana's recipe.
First point of call is two large, Granny Smith apples.
So I'm just going to dice one of the apples and those little
chunks will go through out of the cake.
And then I'm thinking about mandolining,
so thin slicing the other apple,
and then putting that on top of the cake.
So you have two different types
of apple textures throughout the cake.
Just dicing these centimeter by centimeter little chunks.
And we're going to start on the structure of the cake.
So as per the recipe, everything seems to just go in a bowl
and I'm going to take one cup of raw sugar,
the two eggs in as well,
and then I'm just going to whisk this up.
Now, what I want is for the sugar and eggs
to get really nice and fluffy,
and this is going to build up a nice crump for the cake.
- So this has been on,
I reckon for like what, 15 minutes?
It's fully like doubling in size.
It almost feels like a science experiment.
And there are orange bits in there.
What are the orange bits?
(phone ringing)
I thought I'd just call you quickly.
You said it has to go down to a quarter.
And I think we're almost there.
- I mean, it does look like it's reduced a lot but...
(both laughing) But, that's fine!
Let's see how the rest of it comes together, yeah?
- Amazing okay, step two here we go.
(both laughing) - Okay. Let me know.
- Okay, bye.
- One teaspoon... oh no!
So I put six teaspoons of sugar in, not tablespoons.
Guess we're just not having as much sugar as you should.
Okay blah, blah, blah, step one.
Get that out of here, cross that bad boy off.
Now we've got to get a fry pan on low heat,
melt the butter, roast the noodles.
She said, "Don't burn them, LOL." (laughs)
One teaspoon of unsalted butter.
I know, it's actually a teaspoon this time.
Oh hell yeah, baby, look at that sizzle.
I was under strict instructions
that you had to get the roasted vermicelli.
So now we got to like cook these or something.
Whoopsies.
- [Tom] That's the craziest pour I've ever seen.
(blender whirring)
- I'm going to add my flour then fold that up
because you've built such beautiful air in the eggs
and I don't want to lose that.
Roughly 60 grams of melted butter.
And I'm reserving just a little bit as well
to drizzle on top of my apple slices.
And I can already see here,
this is going to be a nicely structured cake.
A nice dollop consistency.
Now I'm going to put in one teaspoon of nutmeg
and one teaspoon of cinnamon.
Ooh, this is smelling real nice.
And I'm going to put in my apple slices
and then my sultanas, also one cup.
You're going to get a lot of fruit
and a lot of spice in each bite.
One cup of walnuts but they're quite big.
So I want to crush them up a bit.
I'm going to put that in here.
That is "thiccc", like thick with three Cs.
I'm going to put that in a cake tin
and I'm just going to put everything in.
- So it says fry until they're lightly golden,
but like they're already lightly golden.
So how do I know when they're lightly golden enough?
- I just want to slice this apple.
Watch your fingers, guys.
Do not do this, do this.
So just going to slice it.
- It's really smoky. I think that means it is done.
Chaos, absolute chaos.
- I'm going to brush it with a little bit of melted butter
and that will also help them cook down a little bit.
Beautiful, okay so, now the recipe says
to pop it in the oven at 350F,
which is roughly 175C for 50 minutes.
- Okay so now we got to put our milk back on the thing
and we've got to add the cream
and one tin of condensed milk.
It's a squeezy tube. (laughs)
I couldn't find the tins.
Can you Google how many mils a condensed milk can is?
Are grams and mils the same thing, yeah?
- (grunts) It's actually way more satisfying, squeezing it.
250 mils of thickened cream.
Yeah, that seems good.
And now the star of the show,
the golden noodles that I might've slightly burnt.
Chuck those puppies in.
It should coat the back of the spoon well
without running off too quickly.
Like the noodles go all like, "lom"... whatever.
I reckon we're done,
she's coating the back of the spoon, it's thick.
- Okay, so the cake has been in the oven
for about 50 minutes and we're gonna take it out now.
Oh my gosh, that looks amazing.
- So my surveyor... (fake scream)
has cooled to room temperature, it's super thick.
So I gotta put it in this bowl, yum, glug, glug, glug.
I actually thought it was going to be way runnier.
Kinda makes me think I've done something wrong.
She says two tablespoons of slivered almonds.
So I'm just going to sprinkle some of these on.
I reckon that's like two tablespoons.
And then we gotta do four tablespoons of crushed pistachios.
Dumb-head me got whole ones.
So the rolling pin is going to come back out.
That seems like a good amount.
So let's sprinkle these on the top.
"Is she a food stylist or...?"
No, no, she is not.
Now we have to top it with this edible silver,
which you have to use tweezers.
What about tongs,
do you reckon tongs and tweezers are the same thing?
- [Tom] I think one's like a big version of the other one.
- Exactly, so let's use tongs.
It doesn't seem real.
- [Tom] Do you only get two of them in that whole packet?
- It's silver bro, this is like expensive.
Oh my God, it's sticking to me.
Get off! No, I'm not good at being fancy.
Let's chuck this in the fridge for two hours
and then it will be a delicious dessert.
We are back after that intense cooking challenge,
swapping recipes, chef and me. (both laugh)
Ismat, how was it, how did you go?
- I loved it, I had a good time.
I put a bit of a chefy spin on it.
How was the Seviyan, how did that treat you?
- How did it treat me?
I think more how I treated it.
Did I make your mama proud? - Okay, wow.
I love the fact that you went ham on the pistachios
and the almonds, but you're serving me
like a seven out of 10.
- (gasps) A seven out of 10?
- Now did I do your Nana proud?
- Get out! This looks like it's from a magazine.
My Nana would be very proud.
She would say that it looks very mod and very fancy.
That is like an 11 out of 10, like beautiful.
Okay, let's try the cake.
I want you to tell me what you think.
- Oh! Mmm.
Like the walnuts? Mmm.
The apples? Mmm.
That is delicious.
I'm so glad that I finally got to be in a video
with Ismat and we got to recreate these recipes.
Let us know if you would like the chef
and the novice to once again swap recipes, cook something,
do something and maybe share, I don't know,
one of your favorite recipes from your family.
Peace. (both laughing)
I never know what to do at the end, I'm like, bye.
(jazz music)