The Newcomers-Encore Club is a social club open to all residents of Short Hills and Millburn, no matter how long they’ve lived in the area. The Club organizes various fun events and activities through out the year for its members.

One of my good friends Neetu Salhotra approached me with an idea for offering a cooking class for the Newcomers group. I agreed and we both exchanged a few ideas and emails to come up with the following menu for the group.

1. Quinoa with roasted Cauliflower, Cranberries and Walnuts
2. Curried Brussel Sprouts with Paneer and Bell Pepper
3. Lentil pudding

I printed recipe cards and handed it to everyone. There was a lovely group of 10 wonderfully enthusiastic people ready to whip up these dishes. I split them into groups of 2 and they were so good at following the recipe and carrying out their tasks like chopping/ cooking/ seasoning/ garnishing-that we finished the class right on time for all of them to taste the dishes that they cooked as a team.

It was interesting that they all had one thing in common to tell me that they learnt a few new ingredients that they used in the class-

1. Freshly ground garam masala
2. Fresh coriander seeds
3. Fresh cardamom seeds for the pudding
4. “Jaggery” for the pudding- it is a healthier substitute for sugar
5. Dried Fenugreek leaves for brussel sprout dish

I think it is extremely gratifying to know that people have a nice take away from the class apart from learning to cook couple dishes -in this case- introduction to a set of new ingredients that they werent used to cooking with and now are willing to incorporate in their everyday cooking:)

I am very grateful to all of you and always appreciate the team effort that leads to such wonderful cooking experiences with beautiful people like you.

Stay tuned for more events coming up soon…..