About 11 years ago as a newly married couple, my husband turned to me and said:
“What are you saying about my cooking?” I gasped, “don’t you like it? “
At the time my cooking was one burnt sausage away from inedible. My husbands reply was brief and to the point, but regardless the cooking course never happened.
Fast-forward 11 years and my cooking hasn’t improved and my desire to spend time in the kitchen has taken a sharp nosedive. I have the same 10 dishes on rote that I have grown to hate and little energy to dream up more creative alternatives.
How I learned to cook authentic Indian food and have fun doing it
So when a friend suggested that I attend Ritika’s Tadka cooking class, I thought it would be a good chance to see if I could rekindle my cooking mojo. Even so, as the day loomed I was feeling slightly resentful at having to give up my free time to spend it in the kitchen, a place I consider a hellish workhouse.
The first things you should know about the class is it’s brilliant. Yes, the lessons are informative, and the food fantastic but most importantly it was fun. It felt as far away from my experience of cooking a meal as possible. I laughed like a drain, met new friends, learned new things and at the end of the day, I sat down to a magnificent Indian meal that I had helped to cook.
Warm, entertaining informal environment
As a host, Ritika is bubbly, warm and relaxed whilst being incredibly knowledgeable about her craft. As she cooks she takes you through the ingredients and her dazzling array of spices, inviting you to taste and smell each one. Her course is peppered with amazing stories from life in India. From hilarious anecdotes about the time she went for Pani Puri with her mother, to cultural tales around the origin of dishes.
Chicken dum Biryani
The day started, as all good days should, with a cup of chai and chance to get to know your classmates. Spirits were high as we went into the kitchen to start with the main dish which was Chicken Dum Biryani. Ritika introduced us to all the ingredients, from the familiar coriander; cinnamon and ginger to the unusual, ground mango powder, ajwain seeds and goond. She explained that the key to Biryani is in sealing the pot with dough and timing it perfectly. The dough ensures that no water escapes and that the meat and rice cook in the steam. Cook the dish for too long and the chicken and rice are dry, too short and it’s undercooked. Terrifyingly, because the pot is sealed you won’t know if you have cooked it properly until you are ready to serve it.
Pinni; an Indian dessert
Atte ki Pinni. Pinni is an Indian sweet delicacy, which is used in many different ways. It is given to give to children in snack boxes, served as a dessert or even for medicinal purposes, depending on the spices you add. Pinni are floured balls of sweetness, mixed with nuts, coconuts and spice. The use of ghee and spices make the a healthy snack as well as being ridiculously moreish.
Aloo Tikki chat
We then started to make Aloo Tikki chat, a potato and chickpea rosti flavoured with spices and fried until crispy in mustard oil. This was my favourite of all the dishes. Served with yoghurt, a coriander chutney and a sprinkling of crispy chivda, they were so easy to make and so impressive looking.
Then it was lunchtime. The Biryani was ready. The pot was cautiously opened, the dough carefully removed and the chicken pronounced cooked to perfection. We sat down to an Indian feast. Truly authentic cooking. Food a world apart from that of the high street Indian restaurants in the UK which I have grown up with.
A fun and entertaining day full of belly laughs
I left Ritika’s house not only stuffed full of the best food I’ve had in a long time, but armed with recipes that I genuinely believe I will be able to replicate at home. Best of all I left with a new found desire to cook and to learn.
Tadka by Ritika
If you fancy making friends, lots of belly laughs, learning about cooking and culture from a fabulous and funny lady and accompanying all that with an amazing lunch then check out the Tadka page here.
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