Delhi: Indian Cooking Class in Local home with Meal

You cook it, then you sit down and eat it.

This is not a demonstration kitchen. It is somebody's home, and you are in it for three hours learning to cook the food they actually cook.

How it runs

You are met with marigold flowers and a cup of masala chai or a lassi, which is how guests are received here rather than a performance for visitors. Then the spice box comes out and your host goes through it: what cumin does that coriander does not, why garam masala goes in at the end and turmeric at the start, what asafoetida is for and why a pinch is enough. Most people find this the part they remember, because it explains every Indian meal they eat afterwards.

Then you cook. Hands in it, not watching. Typically a dal, a vegetable dish, a bread made on the tawa, and rice, adjusted to what you want to learn. Chapati takes practice and the first few will not be round.

And then you sit down and eat what you made, with the family.

Options

Two at checkout: a vegetarian class, or one covering vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

Included

Welcome with marigold flowers, masala tea or lassi, a briefing on Indian spices, the hands-on class, and the full meal you cook.

Worth knowing

Who it suits

Travellers who want one thing in Delhi that is not a monument, anyone who cooks at home, and families — children usually take to the bread-making.