I'm Frances Lamb and this is The Splendid Table from APM American Public Media, the show for curious cooks and eaters.

Hey, it's Francis. You know, every once in a while, we turn over our entire show to a single interview.

Hopefully to someone who's interesting or someone who's just iconic, but this one, we've got them both.

Because no one is more interesting or more iconic than Madre Jafri.

I had the chance to interview her in her home for an episode a couple of years ago, and in some experience I will never forget.

Hope you enjoy it.

For over 45 years,

Mudder Jaffrey has been one of the great ambassadors of Indian cuisine.

She's written 30 cookbooks and is an icon in the food world.

But that's not enough.

Because Mudder Joffrey is also an award-winning actor.

Always has been.

And so it wasn't really news when she starred in a video by the rapper Mr. Cardam.

And there she was, at age 85, blinged out and fingers up.

She is a super sharp observer of the world around her.

She's a student of history and a quick wit.

And when I posted on Instagram that I got to interview her, my comments were flooded by other writers who wanted to know what she was like.

And one, I swear, asked, oh my God, what does she smell like?

So we met with Mother in her home in New York, an apartment she's had for 50 years where

she used to throw the dinner parties that became the basis for her first book, an invitation

to Indian cooking.

It's a lovely unassuming home in a neighborhood where she used to walk over to James Beard's

...