We like to take a cooking class in each ‘exotic’ destination we visit, and as India is so vast & with such diversity of cuisine, we’re likely to do a few during our time here.
Indian cooking class No1 was in Goa, and Rahul’s Palolem Beach (www.rahulcookeryschool.com) was highly recommended on Tripadvisor.
We booked via WhatsApp from our sun lounger, being told ‘cash only’ and ‘plz be on time’. We dutifully dragged our backsides out of bed especially early for an 11.00 start and set off down the beach to follow the map we’d been sent. The directions weren’t entirely accurate but we found it the cookery school which turned out to be a hut amongst palm trees just off the beach. Have faith, it’ll be OK, Tripadvisor says so….
And indeed it was!
We were greeted enthusiastically and shown into an impressive kitchen, offered water or chai and a seat while our 6 fellow students arrived. Then Chef Rahul appeared and the fun began. He showed today’s menu – mainly vegetarian but with a special prawn dish – explained the ingredients in perfect English with some humour, and we were cooking….
We were to prepare: Palak Paneer (pureed spinach & paneer cheese), Masala Mushroom (self-explanatory I hope), Dal Tadka (lentils), Rawa fried prawns (wait & see) & Chapatis.
Apart from EVEREST Tandoori Chicken Masala spice blend (which we MUST track down before we leave India – update, FOUND IT!), all of the ingredients were recognisable and available at home. I’m not sure we’ll be able to get the same quality/freshness though (especially in Devon) – the fragrance of the curry leaves was truly amazing. We learned how to chop onions & tomatoes very finely, although the ultra-sharp knives will have helped. We came to understand that onions must be browned and caramelised or they’ll make the dish too sweet, and that dishes were ready once the oil had started to visibly separate. We could not believe just how much garlic, oil and ghee (known as ‘magic masala’) is used but my god it’s worth it.
Rawa Fried Prawns
Amazing - bigger than anything we'd ever see at home and we had 6 each. Salted, marinated in lime & chilli, coated in semolina and fried - a taste explosion!Method
Basically - marinade the raw jumbo prawns in salt and lime for 10 mins; mix in 2tbsp garlic/ginger paste, 1 tbsp turmeric, 3 tbsp chilli powder, coat in semolina and fry for 3 mins each side
Palak Paneer
Cooked & pureed spinach fried with paneer cheese. It was important to de-stalk if using 'old spinach', cook, blanch and puree the spinach before adding to the paneer and spices.Ingredients
- 300g paneer
- 1Kg spinach
- 8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 green chilli chopped plus 1 whole red chilli
- 1 tsp cumin seed
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp ghee/butter
- 2 tbsp fresh cream
- 1 tbsp fenugreek leaves
Method
Basically fry everything except the spinach and paneer, ensuring that the onion is caramelised, and then add the paneer to coat in spices before adding the pureed spinach. Apparently the ghee and cream are optional - but the dish wouldn't be anywhere near as lovely without them!
Masala Mushroom
Simple, rich (loads of ghee & cream) and our favouriteIngredients
- A load of mushrooms - the recipe says 5g but we suspect that's a typo, more likely 500g
- 2 tbsp of that Everest Tandoori Chicken Masala spice mix I mentioned
- 2 tbsp garlic & ginger paste
- 100g onion and 100g tomatoes finely chopped
- 2 green chillis
- The fat! 4tbsp yoghurt, 2 tbsp ghee, 2 tbsp fresh cream, 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tbsp chilli powder
- 1 tbsp Everest Chicken Masala (a different one)
- A load of fresh coriander
Method
Marinade the mushrooms in the garlic/ginger paste and tandoori chicken masala, brown onions, fry spices then add everything else. Cook for 5-7 minutes with lid on.
Dal Tadka (lentils)
we love a good dhal, and this was up there with the best. Yellow lentils, soaked and pressure-cooked before being added to fried spices and a chilli bomb concoctionIngredients
- 300g red or yellow lentils soaked for 30 minutes then pressure cooked (or boiled for 30 mins) with 300ml water,
- 2 chopped tomatoes,
- 1 tsp turmeric powder,
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 75g finely chopped garlic - a shit load!
- 5 tsp of any oil except coconut - ditto!!
- 100g chopped onion
- 2 green chillis
Method
Fry cumin seeds and onion/garlic until brown then add the remaining spices and lentils. For the tadka (added right at the end), fry up 5-7 curry leaves, 2 cloves of garlic, 2cm piece of ginger finely sliced, 2 dry Kashmiri chillis, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder and 100ml ghee, stir into the dhal and serve
Chapatis
Simply flour and water, kneaded, rolled, dry fried until bubbles appeared and then placed directly onto the gas flame for 6 seconds each side. It's a shame we don't have gas at home but we could perhaps improvise with a burner of some description.The paneer and mushroom dishes are better to be left a while and reheated before serving. Prawns obviously need to be served straight from the pan. Surprisingly we learned that dhal must also be served immediately – all these years we’ve been batch cooking and freezing, ooops!
Everyone’s efforts were combined and stylishly served up on individual plates to include all dishes and we sat down for a communal lunch to enjoy our output – which was bloody lovely.
A wonderful few hours, highly recommended (cost Rs 2,000 each – just under 20 quid), and a great opportunity to chat to some fellow travelers, hear about their experience of India so far and get their tips on places we plan to go next.
Too full for dinner we stayed in our room, drank wine and beer and ate Pringles…..
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