i say tomatoe you say tamato...
i can cook indian food!
yesterday i went to a cooking course at a little family owned/run vegetarian indian food resteraunt. they've owned the place for 12 years, cooking everything fresh daily AND teaching classes everyday. the couple that own it are super sweet and the food is always yummy. such nice people... they even welcomed us to come practice in their kitchen if we have free time!
so, keely and i showed up at 9am and were welcomed with a great breakfast with masala tea. we started chopping veggies and getting to know each other. it's funny how women bond over cooking.
we learned how to make a total of 16 things, including homemade yogurt, cheese (paneer), chapatti bread, naan, garlic naan, samosas and about 10 other dishes. the pumpkin curry was my favorite, although i loved the daal, the okra and the cauliflour/carrot koftas. everything was delicous. i learned how to flip a chappati up in the air while cooking it over the stove! they gave us a really nice cookbook with pictures and good instructions, and since she taught us lots of extra things we filled up all the blank pages with recipes. i was astonished at how simple it is to make homemade cheese, bread and yogurt.
it's funny how in the west there are all these fancy cooking utensils when all you really need is your hands, some pots, knives and spoons. i think having all those fancy tools really just complicates the process and adds too much clutter. the best way is to just get your hands dirty, throw all the spices together using your judgement. no need for fancy measuring tools, or dicing machings, or bread makers. i walked away learning a great lesson.
i brought home lots of leftovers so i've been enjoying the food we made. i will have a kitchen in about a month so i can cook indian, italian and mexican food for my roommates and sweetie.
yesterday i went to a cooking course at a little family owned/run vegetarian indian food resteraunt. they've owned the place for 12 years, cooking everything fresh daily AND teaching classes everyday. the couple that own it are super sweet and the food is always yummy. such nice people... they even welcomed us to come practice in their kitchen if we have free time!
so, keely and i showed up at 9am and were welcomed with a great breakfast with masala tea. we started chopping veggies and getting to know each other. it's funny how women bond over cooking.
we learned how to make a total of 16 things, including homemade yogurt, cheese (paneer), chapatti bread, naan, garlic naan, samosas and about 10 other dishes. the pumpkin curry was my favorite, although i loved the daal, the okra and the cauliflour/carrot koftas. everything was delicous. i learned how to flip a chappati up in the air while cooking it over the stove! they gave us a really nice cookbook with pictures and good instructions, and since she taught us lots of extra things we filled up all the blank pages with recipes. i was astonished at how simple it is to make homemade cheese, bread and yogurt.
it's funny how in the west there are all these fancy cooking utensils when all you really need is your hands, some pots, knives and spoons. i think having all those fancy tools really just complicates the process and adds too much clutter. the best way is to just get your hands dirty, throw all the spices together using your judgement. no need for fancy measuring tools, or dicing machings, or bread makers. i walked away learning a great lesson.
i brought home lots of leftovers so i've been enjoying the food we made. i will have a kitchen in about a month so i can cook indian, italian and mexican food for my roommates and sweetie.