Unless you’ve been living under a rock that detaches you from social media, you would have enjoyed the banter between star choreographer Farah Khan and her home cook, Dilip who have taken YouTube content by storm. While Khan is taking her home chef to homes of celebrities to learn a recipe, the Mumbai’s homemakers are enrolling their maharajas and domestic cooks into cookery classes to learn international cuisines.
Take Kemps Corner’s Kinjal Dharia, for instance. Her family loves Asian fare, but their home cook, Sujata Dharkar, only knew how to whip up Indian-style fried rice, Hakka noodles and Manchurian dumplings. Since May, Dharkar can roll sushi and stir a mean ramen.
Tea Time Sandwich
All it took was a series of cookery sessions to expand his repertoire. In May this year, Karishma Mehta, who has been running Bowled Over By Kari since 2021, introduced a class for employed cooks. A one-off batch led to recurring sessions across international cuisines, including Asian, Thai, and Japanese.
Thai Paan
A full-time lawyer until 2019, Mehta quit her job during the Covid-19 pandemic and started cooking classes in 2021. When she moved the classes online, the demand grew double-fold. This May, she conducted a class for a home cook at her friend’s request. “I decided to turn it into a one-off batch,” says Mehta who conducts them at a friend’s studio in Worli.
Burmese Chickpea and Chili Tofu
Her inaugural session on Thai cuisine saw 12 participants. “While cooks are great at typical homestyle Indian food, be it Maharashtrian or Gujarati cuisine, they have limited experience with international cuisines,” Mehta explains. She was expectedly nervous. “I was going to teach a group that cooked daily. My first recipe was Som Tam; when I taught them how to make it without soy sauce, I got cheered for it. That’s when I was convinced these classes can be helpful,” recalls Mehta.
Smoky Paneer Bites
Dharia sees the worth in paying the fee for her “didi” to take the class. It ensures her kids eat home-cooked meals rather than taking them to restaurants, but they get tired of regular Indian khana. “I taught my staff as much as I knew from the cooking classes I have taken during junior college, and helped whenever possible, but it gets difficult with work and kids. Sending the staff for cooking classes has uplifted our meals! Kids are happy to eat their favourite dishes at home,” she admits, revealing that she also loves to host get-togethers at home. Earlier, she would hire a caterer to add new dishes to her menus. “Now, we are self-sufficient,” she laughs.
Deconstructed Sushi Cup
At the recently concluded class at the Little Fish Picture Co. Studio in Worli, Mehta focussed on appetisers. With all the mise en place prepped, Mehta also prints recipes in English and Hindi. She keeps the classes interactive. “We introduce ourselves, I introduce them to the cuisine, ingredients and techniques, and then I demonstrate the recipes, which everyone observes and tastes.”
Edamame Truffle Bites
Dharkar, who has already learnt to make Thai curries and Japanese ramen in earlier classes, aced Thai Paan, Smoky Paneer and Burmese Chickpea and Chili Tofu last week. “I am good at observing and replicating recipes. The classes are simple, and the recipe book helps once we are attempting it ourselves. I love learning new dishes, so I look forward to class.”
Recipes are available in Hindi and English for participants
Like Dharkar, 25-year-old Rakesh Kumar Paswan has also been a regular with Mehta.” I have been working with my current household for the last eight years, and can make a variety of dishes. Until now, I was watching recipe videos on YouTube and expanding my knowledge.”
COST Rs 3500 to Rs 3800 per class
DURATION 3 hours (per session)
CALL 9833105244
