Aziz Ansari talks cooking and writing over dinner at Hoppers

Stand-up, actor and director Aziz Ansari  is interviewed by his friend Karan Gokani, the restaurateur behind Hoppers. They tuck into a South Indian banquet at the brand new Hoppers Shoreditch to talk careers, inspiration and Indian cooking

The Meal:

• Prawn Paniyaram
• Devilled Paneer
• Kochi Chilli Chicken Chop
• Short Rib Beef Biryani 
• Lamb Benne Dosa
• Crab Kari Omelette
• Kerala Sizzling Fish Kari

Karan Gokani:  Do you remember how we met?

Aziz Ansari:  Yeah, of course – I started coming to your restaurants around eight years ago. I was seeing my now wife, then girlfriend, and I kept making up fake work trips so I could come to London and spend time with her. One of the first places we went was Hoppers in Soho, so every time I visited, I would land in the morning, check into my hotel, and we would go to Hoppers for lunch. It became our little tradition.

Back then, there wasn’t a lot of Indian food at restaurants that tasted like the South Indian food I had at home so it was exciting for me. Over time we visited the other restaurants at Marylebone and King’s Cross and eventually I met you and we became friends. I try to do as much of my editing as possible in London and the studio is just down the street from Hoppers so sometimes I’ll be in three or four times a week. When we had our premiere, we invited all you guys!

KG:  Exactly, and you gave me a shout-out at the premiere! I was there with a friend and he thought I was bullshitting when I said I knew you because you eat in the restaurant all the time. Then from the stage you said: “And thanks to everyone from Hoppers!” It was amazing!

We try not to make a big deal when famous people come in because most people just want to enjoy their dinner but I was a big fan of yours so eventually I came over and said hello and we hit it off. You’ve had your whole family in the restaurant for a biryani banquet, which was epic. 

I know you grew up in an Tamil Indian household in South Carolina. What was comfort food for you?

AA:  When I think about comfort food I think of my mom’s cooking, especially her chicken korma, which was the South Indian korma rather than the sweet British korma. When I haven’t been home in a while that’s usually the dish she makes first.

KG:  Can you cook it yourself?

AA:  You know, I used to be intimidated cooking Indian food. The first dish I felt comfortable making was a fish molee and then during lockdown, I spent a lot of time cooking. That’s what kept me going during that period: I made my day about cooking for myself and my wife. I wanted to learn a lot of my mom’s recipes, and I started with the korma because it’s a dish I really love. Sometimes I hit you up for advice!

KG:  I get troubleshooting messages from all across the world. People will say: “That Hoppers sambar – what do you add to it?” Stuff like that. I remember once we were talking about food and you were telling me about a recipe I hadn’t heard of before so you opened Youtube and your search history was just the most random videos of Indian food!

AA:  Yeah, besides my family, I learned the most about cooking Indian food from Youtube. There’s a lot of real Indian aunties on there cooking proper Indian dishes. I think non-Indian people are intimidated by the idea of cooking it, but once you make it a few times, you realise you can’t really mess it up. It’s not that delicate, it’s not like you’re baking. And you realise, “Oh, every dish, you’re stir-frying onions and then adding ginger and garlic, and then spices, and then the meat…” Youtube helps to demystify it. Are there any recipe secrets that you wouldn’t share?

KG:  I’ve already written two books so I’ve given most of them away already. There’s not much left. We have seven new dishes on the menu at Hoppers but it’s only a matter of time until I share those as well. Indian food seems like it’s having a real moment, especially in America. Have you noticed that? 

AA:  I think that’s across the board, not just Indian food: everybody’s palates are becoming more adventurous and people want to taste new things. Anyway, a change of direction: did you always want to go into the restaurant business?

KG:  No, I studied law. I did three law degrees, one in India, one at Cambridge and one in London.

AA:  Nobody can say you didn’t give it a go!

KG:  Ha! I actually worked as a lawyer not far from here. I won’t name the firm because I used to ditch our big deals at weekends so I could work at Indian restaurants. I’d spend the last hour of the day searching for recipes!

I could have gone down the easy road and copy-pasted the existing restaurants into a new neighbourhood. No one would have cared. But I wanted to really question everything.

AA:  I went to business school but even then I knew I’d end up doing stand-up. I started doing it when I was in college, and by the time I graduated, I was able to find enough work. Even with the acting and directing, I still love going back to stand-up. I’m doing the Royal Albert Hall in July. I did it on my last tour and it’s one of the best venues I’ve ever performed. When a date opened up I was like “book it now!” I saw Bob Dylan there once.

Theatres are such beautiful venues for comedy – I’ve done arenas and different size venues but theatres are perfect. That and the intimacy of comedy clubs – those are the best experiences for me as a performer. Speaking of venues, this is a beautiful restaurant.

KG:  Thanks – we purposely challenged ourselves with it. I could have gone down the easy road and copy-pasted the existing restaurants into a new neighbourhood. No one would have cared. But I wanted to really question everything. We evolved the concept, we grew up a little bit. There’s more influence from South India this time. A lot of the art is hand-painted and shipped over from India – some of it is currently stuck in customs. It’s a project that just goes on and on, you’re constantly perfecting it and tweaking it. It’s not like writing a book where once it’s done you can forget it and move on.

AA:  Yeah, stand-up is immediate, I can write a joke in the afternoon and perform it that night. But getting anything made for film or TV takes so long, there are so many things that can stop it from happening. You have to have that tenacity and enthusiasm otherwise it just won’t happen. You can’t get something made by mistake, you know? Sometimes by the time a script has been picked up, you’ve already moved on and you have to mentally get back to that place when you were excited by it.

KG:  For me it’s about always having something on the horizon. We’ve just had the big opening here, which was full on but we also have a big refurb at the Soho restaurant and we’ve got a new head office coming, which might have a small studio in there… We have some exciting things on the radar. As long as I’ve got that I’ll be fine because I do tend to get bored otherwise. Is there any advice you’d give to people who want to do what you do?

Aziz Ansari: ‘Write everything down’

AA:  Write everything down. Journaling is so important. There are things happening all the time that could be movies or shows. They’re all relatable experiences that everybody has. I remember reading something that Charlie Kaufman, an incredible writer, had said. He had a series of questions he would ask himself when he was trying to write. One of them was: “What am I drowning in?” I think that’s such an interesting question to ask yourself. What’s on your mind? What are you thinking about all the time? Because if you’re thinking about it, other people probably are too…

KG:  Do you think a lot of art comes from insecurity?

AA:  I don’t know if I’d say a lot, but it gives you some motivation to get creative. The fear of not being relevant anymore or not working, or not having a job…

KG:  I feel that – it’s a balance, you can’t let it consume you but you can use it to motivate you.

• Hoppers Shoreditch is open now in the Tea Building – book here. To book tickets to see Aziz at the Royal Albert Hall in July go to the website here