The Hundred-Foot Journey and Curry Poppers

Last week Patak’s sent us to the movies and we did it in style by watching The Hundred-Foot Journey at the Cineplex VIP sipping on root beer floats and noshing on Jalapeño Poppers. The hubs and I try to sneak out to the movies at least once a  month and ever since the VIP section opened at our theatre there’s been no going back for us. I refuse to watch movies in any other style! For a change we took my mom and my brother along for a treat whilst my dad watched the kids.

Disclosure: I am part of the Patak’s Canada Ambassador program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog, as always, are totally mine!

The Hundred-Foot Journey has no food porn. There I said it. I expected to be craving Indian dishes after the movie, similar to the desire I had to bake a pie after Labor Day or the dire need to consume bruschetta by the bowl full after watching Julie and Julia. But No. I had none of these cravings because the film touches more on the soul and passion behind the food rather than the actual dishes. The story follows the Kadams as they make their journey to a quaint village in the South of France, leaving behind their fire destroyed lives in India. They open an Indian restaurant across from a Michelin starred French restaurant and what ensues is a comedy of love and labour.

The movie touches on the topic of new adventures, racism and the fear for the unknown but eventually it works out to be a charming love story between four characters. It’s a simple, yet touching tale and so I won’t shed too much light on it (no spoiler alerts here) but what struck a chord with me was how the Indian spices the family brought with them helped Hassan, the main lead, connect with his deceased mother and how he blended his love for Indian flavours with the classic techniques of French cuisine. I’m a huge fan of fusion food and so of course this is what I loved most about the movie.

Since I was expecting food porn, despite having just eaten a very fatty dinner ( pork belly, bacon, ribs and halloumi), I figured I needed a Root Beer Float and some Jalapeño poppers to get me through the movie. As I curled in my seat I was surprised when I noticed a bit of curry flavour in our poppers! Yes… talk about a perfect snack! The movie may not have made me crave any dishes but I definitely wanted to try my hand at Curry Poppers! Patak’s Spicy Butter Chicken Cooking Sauce was the perfect addition to a classic recipe. I like my dishes spicy so I didn’t steam the peppers but you may want to do so if you’d like to take down the spice level a notch.

Ingredients :

15 Jalapenos slit length wise and de-seeded

459 g of cream cheese

5 tablespoons of Patak’s Butter Chicken Sauce

2 Cups of milk

2 cups of bread crumbs

Garlic Salt – optional

Oil for Frying

p.s – I love the front row seats at the Dundas Cineplex VIP since you can fully recline (think First class travel) where as you can’t do so when you’re at the back of the theatre. I guess this is their way of compensating people who get stuck on the front row.