
Every other Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com, and include your name, your location, which episode, and why.
We cook up a Diwali feast with a Trinidadian mother and daughter and discuss straddling cultures with the Indian-American DJ who introduced a blend of hip hop and Punjabi folk music to the club scene.
This episode originally aired on November 1, 2015, and was produced by Dan Pashman and Anne Saini, with help from Tim Rujerry. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Publishing by Shantel Holder and transcription by Emily Nguyen.
Interstitial music in this episode by Black Label Music and DJ Rehka:
- “Soul Good” by Lance Conrad
Photo courtesy of Dan Pashman, Anne Noyes Saini, Evan Sayles, and Nisha Sondhe.
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View Transcript
Dan Pashman: Hi, it’s Dan, with another Reheat for you. This one is in honor of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. Honestly, the hot sauce that I ate at Dolly's house in this episode, I mean, it has just stayed with me. It really deepened my love of scotch bonnet peppers, to the point that's my favorite hot pepper now.
Dan Pashman: Also, this episode features League of Kitchens, an awesome organization around New York. They do cooking classes in immigrants’ homes, taught by people who may not be professional chefs but incredible homecooks with great stories. It's a great gift also, you can give the gift of a League of Kitchens class this holiday season, and/or get their cookbook. They got a new cookbook out chock-full of cooking tips, methods, and family recipes from around the world. Pre-order the book now, it's called the League of Kitchens Cookbook.
Dan Pashman: Finally, don't forget that we want to hear from you. What shows do you want us to pull out of the deep freezer and reheat for your listening pleasure? Drop me a line. Let me know. Send me an email or voice memo to hello@sporkful.com, include your first name, location, what episode you want to hear and why — and maybe you'll hear it very soon! Thanks and enjoy!
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Dan Pashman: This is The Sporkful, it’s not for foodies, it’s for eaters. I’m Dan Pashman. Next week Hindus, Sikhs and Jains around the world will celebrate Diwali. We’ll hear a lot in this show about how different people do that and what Diwali’s about, but for now, well, you don’t need this white guy to explain it. Instead, let’s hear from another white guy — Dwight, from The Office:
[CLIP FROM THE OFFICE]
CLIP (DWIGHT SCHRUTE): Diwali is a celebration of the coronation of the god king Rama after his epic battle with Ravana, the demon king of Lanka. It symbolizes the battle between ...
CLIP (MICHAEL SCOTT): All right, all right, all right, all right! This isn't Lord of the Ring ...
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Dan Pashman: I wanted to talk to a real Diwali expert, so I went to see Dolly Sirju, who lives in Queens. Dolly grew up in Trinidad but she’s been living in the U.S. for more than 20 years. And Trinidad has a unique food history. The British brought a bunch of indentured servants there from India, and those people transported Indian food and Hinduism with them. So now Trini food is this delicious blend of Indian, African, Caribbean, and Chinese cuisines, and everyone there gets into Diwali.
Dan Pashman: I joined Dolly and daughter, Mandy, as they made some of their classic dishes for the holiday.
[KITCHEN SOUNDS]
Dan Pashman: How is Diwali celebrated in Trinidad? It's a national holiday, right?
Dolly Sirju: It is. It is a national holiday. And oh my god, it's a huge, huge celebration. For us, it's like, we're celebrating Christmas. And it's ... You know, it's that time you have all this happiness and this joy of, you know, of life and everything. And on that day, husband would give their wife gifts. If it's not clothing, it will be jewelry and money. They would share money to watch, you know, the kids. For us, we believe that that is like our New Year. So we want our home to be clean. And we'll be cleaning and we want also our mind and our body to be clean.
Dan Pashman: Mandy, talk to me about Diwali in particular, what do you love most about Diwali?
Mandy: It's more of just spending time with each other. It's just like, okay, we're doing this. We're gonna sit down for prayers, we're like — they say, like, when you pray together, when you eat together, it just makes the family stronger. And you're just there and you're like, oh my god, I love you guys — you might get on my nerves sometimes, but I love guys.
[KITCHEN SOUNDS]
Dan Pashman: So what do we got here Dolly?
Dolly Sirju: We're making pholourie. And that we're gonna use in the curry, and we're gonna have separate, and on this side here, we're making the sweet rice. We make a lot of sweets on Diwali.
Dan Pashman: But now, in Trinidad, there's people with all different kinds of backgrounds, so how do those people come together on Diwali in Trinidad?
Dolly Sirju: In my village, we would celebrate Christmas with the Christians. With the Muslims, we will celebrate Eid. And they would do the same if we're having a function. We would invite them over, they would come. That's the thing, is it's like in Trinidad, we live with our neighbors as though as they are our families. And it's the same thing here in New York that where I live, all my neighbors, they come to my house and they look forward. You know, like, I — one of my neighbors told me one year I didn't make any sweets and I just made paro salad. I made sweet rice, and I, you know, give it to them. And she's like, "Oh my god, but I was looking so forward — looking for your sweets every year!," [DAN PASHMAN LAUGHS], "That's what I look for!"
Dan Pashman: So what now? We're taking the little pholourie balls and you’re sprinkling a little bit of sauce on top.
Dolly Sirju: Yeah, this is a mango chutney.
Dan Pashman: Ooh.
Dolly Sirju: So ...
Dan Pashman: And what's in these fried balls?
Dolly Sirju: It's just split pea powder with salt, pepper, garlic, green seasoning, and I added spinach to it, so I make it with a little twist. [LAUGHS]
Dan Pashman: [LAUGHS] I have a feeling that a lot of your recipes end with that sentence.
[LAUGHING]
Dolly Sirju: Yeah, most likely. It's a little spicy.
Dan Pashman: No, it stays like this, Dolly, that I love my job.
[LAUGHING]
Dan Pashman: This is so — I'm literally at work right now. I'm hanging out at your house and you're feeding me.
Dolly Sirju: yeah.
Dan Pashman: Can you hold — oh, can you hold your microphone for a minute, so I can eat? Thank you.
Dolly Sirju: Yeah.
[LAUGHING]
Dolly Sirju: Try it. It has a little spice to it.
Dan Pashman: All right.
Dolly Sirju: So you might get more of a kick with the sauce on it, than ...
Dan Pashman: Mmm! Yeah, it's got more kick. There's some kick there.
Dolly Sirju: [LAUGHS]
Dan Pashman: I'm okay though, and my producer here, she's been helping me to build up my spice tolerance.
Dolly Sirju: [LAUGHS]
Dan Pashman: We've been working hard on that together. That's really good. It's got so much flavor. I'm gonna eat another one ...
Dan Pashman: Has coming to the U.S. changed the way you cook at all?
Dolly Sirju: No, it hasn't. I cook the same way, same tradition — everything, nothing has changed. That's why when anybody comes to my home, they'll be like, "Oh my god, this tastes so good, I can remember having this ... , " you know, and I'm like, yeah, I don't — I don't look about calories or fat or whatever. It's not that you're gonna eat the whole thing. You're gonna have a little bit, so I keep everything traditional. The same way they used to make it and everything.
Dan Pashman: Do you like to cook some of these foods? Have you been learning from your mom?
Mandy: Yes, I started learning to cook when I was 13, so I know how to cook it but it still tastes better when she makes it.
Dan Pashman: Well she still got a few years on you.
Mandy: Yes. [LAUGHS]
Dan Pashman: Maybe in a few more years, you'll catch up to her.
Mandy: Yes. [LAUGHS]
Dan Pashman: What do you like about cooking with her?
Mandy: Cooking with her, it's more fun because you get to hear more stories and it's, like, a totally different side cause it's more of like, you know, togetherness when you cook.
Dan Pashman: So Dolly, can you see a time at some point in the future when you'll be over there on the couch and all your kids will be here in the kitchen cooking, and you'll have your feet up, and they'll be serving you?
Dolly Sirju: Hm. I'll wish for that day.
[LAUGHING]
Mandy: When she was learning ... when she was teaching me how to cook, when I was first learning, she's like, "You're turning the pot wrong!" She took the spook out of my hand, she's like, "No, this way!", and she started turning it the other way.
Dan Pashman: So how has that changed over time?
Mandy: She's a lot more nicer with it. She's like, "Oh yeah, you know how to make. Just make and just go ahead."
Dan Pashman: [LAUGHS] So Dolly, is it that you've gotten mellower? Or that Mandy's gotten better at cooking?
Dolly Sirju: Um ... I think I got a little more mellower ...
[LAUGHING]
Dan Pashman: But what's it, like, for you cooking with her?
Dolly Sirju: It's like recreating a memory I had with mom. I would always be with my mom and dad and we'd always cook as a family. And so it's, like, you know, in my mind, I'm recreating — I'm at a happy place. I'm creating back that memory I had growing up as a little child.
Dan Pashman: When you were learning to cook from your mom, did you feel like you ever got to the point where you could do it as well as she could?
Dolly Sirju: Oh yeah ...
Dan Pashman: [LAUGHS]
Dolly Sirju: I was always an overachiever.
Dan Pashman: [LAUGHS]
Dolly Sirju: I always wanted to do it on my own and ...
Dan Pashman: And how does it make you feel when you're hanging out in the kitchen with her cooking?
Dolly Sirju: Oh my god, it's great because, you know, they would ask a lot of questions and I would try my best to answer most of them as I can. And the fun — they would be like, "Can we do it this way? Can we do it that way," — no, we have to do it this way.
Dan Pashman: [LAUGHS]
Dolly Sirju: And you know, but it's ... I mean, it's nice. It's a bonding — I don't know if everybody look at it that way, but I think it's a bonding experience with your children and I'm talking about not only my daughters, I do that with my sons too. I have them in the kitchen and I try to incorporate all of them into cooking — oh, can you hand me the bowl with the pholourie?
[KITCHEN SOUNDS]
Dan Pashman: So Mandy, why is it important to you to learn from your mom how to cook all these foods?
Mandy: I mean, I like to eat and ...
[LAUGHING]
Mandy: But even when she's gone, I can always pass this down to my kids and teach them, "Well, this is what my mom taught me ...", and they'll love the same foods that I grew up with.
Dan Pashman: What do you think of that, Dolly?
Dolly Sirju: Well, they have to carry on the tradition some way. Because my mom and dad were great cooks and it's nice to see that they want to pass the tradition on to the next generation. In my next life, when I come back and I happen to come back into the family again, I'll be getting good food.
Dan Pashman: [LAUGHING]
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Dan Pashman: That was Dolly Sirju and her daughter Mandy. And man, what a feast. They also made chana and aloo, which is, like, spicy chickpeas and potatoes, and a flatbread called dhal puri that was amazing. And I want you to know that you too can hang out with Dolly in her kitchen, eat her amazing food, and even learn to cook it. Because Dolly works with this great group called League of Kitchens that offers cooking classes taught by immigrants in their homes. So whether you live in New York or you’re coming for a visit and want a truly unique experience, this is unlike any other cooking class you'll ever take. Get more info at LeagueofKitchens.com.
Dan Pashman: Coming up, I’ll talk with the one and only DJ Rekha, live on stage. She’ll tell me how her family celebrates Diwali and what Indian dish is best eaten with a spork. Stick around.
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+++BREAK+++
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Dan Pashman: Welcome back to another Sporkful Reheat. I'm Dan Pashman. Hey, if you want to hear what I'm eating and reading every week, you should sign up for the Sporkful newsletter. I'll give you my weekly recommendations and so do our producers and the whole rest of our team. We also share announcements about exciting things happening with the show, when there's special discounts and my pastas, and on top of all that, if you subscribe to the newsletter, you're automatically entered into giveaways for cookbooks featured on the show — as long as you live in the U.S. or Canada. There's literally no downside. Sign up right now at Sporkful.com/newsletter. I promise we won't spam you. We're only gonna send you really good stuff. Again, that's Sporkful.com/newletter. Thanks. Now back to this week's Reheat.
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Dan Pashman: If you’re into club music and/or south Asian culture, you already know DJ Rekha. But if you aren’t, well she basically put a type of north Indian folk music called bhangra on the map. Here’s a bit of her track "Basement Bhangra Anthem" with Wyclef Jean:
[CLIP OF "BASEMENT BHANGRA ANTHEM"]
Dan Pashman: Rekha’s also served as a cultural ambassador for the state department, and spun records at the White House. She joined me recently live on stage at Tufts University …
[AUDIENCE APPLAUSE]
DJ Rekha: Check, check ... Just checking the mic ... DJ.
Dan Pashman: Oh .. Well you're ... You know how to use one of these, don't you?
[LAUGHING]
Dan Pashman: So Rekha, we're approaching the Hindu holiday of Diwali ...
DJ Rekha: Mm-hmm.
Dan Pashman: It's known as the festival of lights.
DJ Rekha: That's right.
Dan Pashman: Right? Have you had to fight the Jews? Has anyone trademarked it yet? Cause we have a festival of lights, too, you know?
DJ Rekha: [LAUGHS] Yeah, I know. It's not the same time period but yeah, there's enough to go around.
Dan Pashman: Okay, all right.
DJ Rekha: We do have parking suspended in New York City, so ...
Dan Pashman: Oh, well that's ...
DJ Rekha: We have one day. There are many Jewish holidays that have many things suspended, and so we're getting there.
Dan Pashman: Okay, well, I'm pulling for you guys to get a few more parking holidays.
[LAUGHING]
Dan Pashman: How do you celebrate Diwali with your family?
DJ Rekha: We light the house up — extras lights and we have a Puja, a little religious ceremony, then we have a little bit of Diwali sweets. If my dad is in a good mood, he gives us money, and then we play cards. They celebrate the goddess Lakshmi, which is the goddess of prosperity, so in the spirit of prosperity, we gamble. So it's a family affair, and ...
Dan Pashman: That's not always so prosperous.
DJ Rekha: When you win it is.
[LAUGHING]
Dan Pashman: And do you guys drink anything?
DJ Rekha: Yeah, we drink Scotch.
Dan Pashman: Okay.
DJ Rekha: Me and my father like to drink Scotch.
[AUDIENCE LAUGHS]
Dan Pashman: Nice, well, we're here on a college campus. I have a mini fridge here cause I wanted us to feel like we're a little bit like in a dorm room here on campus. And I'm gonna open up the fridge and I got some surprises for you in here, Rekha.
DJ Rekha: [GASPS]
[DAN PASHMAN OPENS MINI FRIDGE]
DJ Rekha: Oh yeah! [LAUGHS]
Dan Pashman: Ohh!
DJ Rekha: [LAUGHS]
Dan Pashman: Say when.
DJ Rekha: When. [LAUGHS]
Dan Pashman: Let's get some sound effects here.
[POURING SCOTCH INTO A GLASS]
Dan Pashman: Oh, we'll add that in post.
DJ Rekha: [LAUGHS]
[AUDIENCE LAUGHS]
DJ Rekha: Your glass is a lot bigger than mine ...
[LAUGHING]
Dan Pashman: Cheers!
DJ Rekha: Cheers!
Dan Pashman: Ahh.
DJ Rekha: Ah. Ah is right.
Dan Pashman: This is a holiday I can get behind.
DJ Rekha: Yes, it's my favorite holiday.
Dan Pashman: Let's look in the fridge and see what else we got.
DJ Rekha: Let's see what else we got ...
Dan Pashman: We got Indian sweets!
DJ Rekha: Mm-hmm.
Dan Pashman: Let's snack on these — so what? There are green ones and white ones ...
DJ Rekha: Mm-hmm.
Dan Pashman: They're sort of rectangles.
DJ Rekha: Mm-hmm.
Dan Pashman: What are we eating? Tell me about it.
DJ Rekha: So what we're eating is barfi. It's a milk concoction, solidified — and there's two kinds there; one is plain barfi, and the green one is pistachio.
Dan Pashman: Well, it's really good. It's kind of like a cheesecake filling ...
DJ Rekha: Mm-hmm.
Dan Pashman: A little bit sort of denser and with a little bit more texture to it which I really — cause it's not so creamy, it's a little more drier, but it is delicious.
DJ Rekha: In Diwali, often with the sweet offerings, there's often a lot of different sweets — people often try to outdo each other, the boxes are more elaborate every year, and people gift them to people. But I prefer to go back to the basics. The plain barfi is my favorite.
Dan Pashman: You kind of grew up between two cultures.
DJ Rekha: Mm-hmm.
Dan Pashman: How do you feel about that?
DJ Rekha: I feel blessed. I think it was great. I was very lucky. I think I grew up in between many cultures: suburban, urban, Indian, non-Indian ... I grew up in a predominantly African American community, African American Caribbean communities — so that's another culture. I've spent a lot of my adult life in the Brooklyn culture, so there are many cultures. [LAUGHS]
Dan Pashman: But it's got to be hard at times, too. I mean, do ever — like, I'm sure at times growing up, you felt like you didn't belong exactly in any one place.
DJ Rekha: Yeah, I mean, I think that's typical. I mean, especially if you're in an immigrant household, you feel like you're not getting — you're not doing what other people are doing in the same way, or your parents don't value things that — you know, things like vacations, [LAUGHS] or, like, famously Asians, sleepovers, or, you know, things like that, so ...
Dan Pashman: Asians don't have sleepovers?
DJ Rekha: No. Why would you go over to somebody else's house to sleep? Or camping, like ... Why would you go willingly out into the woods when you have a house, like ... [DAN PASHMAN LAUGHS] Makes no sense.
[AUDIENCE LAUGHS AND APPLAUDS]
DJ Rekha: You do not come to this country to then go and not be sheltered ...
Dan Pashman: Right. [LAUGHS]
DJ Rekha: Free of choice.
Dan Pashman: [LAUGHING] When you first started getting into music and working as a DJ, what did your parents think?
DJ Rekha: [LAUGHS] I mean, originally, I worked with my male cousin, so they didn't think much of it. It's when I took longer and longer to graduate college and had fewer and fewer day jobs that they started getting concerned — like with any parents, most parents want economic stability. So they weren't too pleased and I definitely lied a little bit when I quit my last job. I once met my dad in a business suit for lunch cause he thought I was taking a lunch break and I had already ... [LAUGHING] quit my job, but ... Yeah, I mean, it took a while. I mean, still, sometimes they're like, "When are you gonna get a job?" [LAUGHS] I'm like, this is my job.
Dan Pashman: [LAUGHS[ Right. Tell me about, like, what kind of foods you eat growing up in your house.
DJ Rekha: So we had — every night, my mom — I don't know how she managed to do it — we had a fresh Indian meal; fresh rotis, which is unleavened bread, mostly vegetarian, one lentil, one vegetable dish, and often just chicken. After school, we ate every processed American food imaginable.
[LAUGHING]
DJ Rekha: Chef Boyardi's, TV dinners ...
Dan Pashman: Why was that? Your parents were ... Your mom was working?
DJ Rekha: Latchkey kids.
Dan Pashman: Okay.
DJ Rekha: Our school let out really early.
Dan Pashman: What were some of your favorite Indian staples growing up?
DJ Rekha: Well, I was kind of ... I wasn't so into Indian food growing up, cause I felt like I was forced to eat it, but I came around and now it's my favorite food in the world. I love rice — chicken and rice. I love chicken and rice in any culture.
Dan Pashman: [LAUGHS]
DJ Rekha: So that was my favorite. And Sunday's for brunch, my mom would make stuffed parathas, which is the bread stuffed with different fillings. So she'd make it — her specialty was aloo. So it's potato filling ...
Dan Pashman: Oh yeah.
DJ Rekha: Spices. And you eat with yogurt or butter.
Dan Pashman: And how would you do the flat — how do you combine the yogurt and the flat bread?
DJ Rekha: It's just sort of a dip.
Dan Pashman: So you break it up with your hands and you dip it?
DJ Rekha: You break it up and then you ... Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Dan Pashman: And what would be your ideal ratio of parathas to yogurt? How much yogurt do you want in a bite?
DJ Rekha: You want enough — you don't want to over power it.
Dan Pashman: Mm-hmm. You want mostly to taste the paratha.
DJ Rekha: You want to taste the paratha.
Dan Pashman: And what about — what was your favorite American processed food?
DJ Rekha: [LAUGHS] My favorite American processed food ... This is ... This is the first time I'm ever sharing it. I really like chunky sirloin burger soup.
[LAUGHING]
Dan Pashman: From a can.
DJ Rekha: They had grill marks on the burgers.
Dan Pashman: Right.
[LAUGHING]
DJ Rekha: I don't know! I have a real, like — like, I like spicy food and Indian food, but I also, like, really like meat and potatoes, banal — you know, some things, it's just, like, kind of salty. I guess, have the —I would say I have the meat tooth.
Dan Pashman: Yeah, I hear you really like kebabs.
DJ Rekha: [LAUGHS]
Dan Pashman: Like, really like kebabs.
DJ Rekha: I do. I do.
Dan Pashman: Is it true that your nickname as a child was "Kebab"?
DJ Rekha: How did you find that out?
Dan Pashman: [LAUGHS]
DJ Rekha: Yeah.
Dan Pashman: We're breaking all the news on Dj Rekha here tonight.
DJ Rekha: Yeah, yeah. In my 20s, my friends nicknamed me "Kebab". That's right.
Dan Pashman: Now, one of the things that is interesting to me about eating Indian food is that you often have a lot of different components in a spread.
DJ Rekha: Mm-hmm.
Dan Pashman: You know, you're not just eating one thing. There are so many ways to combine it and so many bites that can be composed. Walk me through, like, one of your ideal bites of Indian food. How do you compose the bite? What's in it? Like nerd out here with me for a minute.
DJ Rekha: If there's fresh bread there, I like to mix in the rice with the different ingredients, whether it's, like, a vegetable or meat, and then take the bread and put the rice in the bread together and make that my bite. That's the ideal bite for me.
Dan Pashman: Interesting.
DJ Rekha: And then dip it in some yogurt.
Dan Pashman: Is there some sort of mortar that adheres the rice to the bread? Do you got some dal in there?
DJ Rekha: No, you just kind of scoop it.
Dan Pashman: You make the bread into a scoop.
DJ Rekha: Yeah. One of the things you learn as a kid is how to break the bread with one hand.
Dan Pashman: Woah.
DJ Rekha: Yeah, it's some advanced skills there.
Dan Pashman: Well, I mean, traditionally, don't many Indian people eat with their hands all the time. It's very common, right?
DJ Rekha: Mm-hmm. Yeah, it is.
Dan Pashman: And I know that I have Indian friends who's grandparents say it doesn't taste right if it's not with their hands.
DJ Rekha: Right. I didn't grow up in the household ...
[LAUGHING]
DJ Rekha: We grew up ... Well, we did grow up eating rice with spoons and then as an adult I started eating with a fork and now, I actually use a spork ... [LAUGHS]
Dan Pashman: Awesome! A spork!
DJ Rekha: Yes.
[AUDIENCE CHEERS]
DJ Rekha: I do.
Dan Pashman: Man, if we could get this going on the subcontinent ...
DJ Rekha: Yeah, I mean, it's ideal. You need a little bit of the tines to grab, you know, to get some texture to grab things. But you really want to get the most amount of rice in each bite.
Dan Pashman: Well, you're 100% right, Rekha, and I fight with my wife about this, cause whenever we have rice, she wants a fork with her rice. It makes no sense. Like, the shape of a piece of a piece of rice is exactly perfectly engineered to fall between the tines of your fork.
DJ Rekha: [LAUGHS]
Dan Pashman: Why would anyone eat rice with a fork? It makes no sense.
DJ Rekha: Yeah, but you need the fork to get the meat, so ...
Dan Pashman: Right. You need a spork.
DJ Rekha: You need a spork.
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Dan Pashman: That’s DJ Rekha, she hosts Basement Bhangra in New York the first Thursday of every month at Le Poisson Rouge. And you find her other tour dates and info at DJRekha.com.
Dan Pashman: As I said, I spoke with Rekha live on stage at Tufts University, and I wanna give a shout out to the Tufts University Bhangra team, they performed an amazing dance right before Rekha came out on stage. And they’re one of the top bhangra teams in the whole country. So if you ever get the chance, check out Tufts Bhangra.
Dan Pashman: Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @TheSporkful. Connect on Facebook at Facebook.com/Sporkful.
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