Clicks from Hands on Cooking Class on Dec 9th 2012@ Bowery Culinary Center, Whole Foods, NY

by Currylicious | Dec 18, 2012 | BLOG

Its almost been more than a week since I completed my most awaited Hands On Cooking Class at Bowery Culinary Center at Whole Foods, Bowery in NY!

Its been so busy with Christmas and New Years coming up and everyday goes by so quickly with both my girls that it does make me feel I have been busy doing nothing(why am I beat by the end of the day!!!!) I could go to bed at 6 .00pm:)))) IF and there s this big IF I COULD!!!!As much as it is fun being with family, its a mother talking here:) just doing everyday chores for my family and kids is exhausting!!!

Anyways, enough with my rant:) I de stress while I cook and Cooking works like therapy for me! So on the day of my cooking class in NY, my husband dropped me and decided to take the girls to the museum close by. I enter this so warm and nicely organized kitchen at Whole Foods, Bowery and Min, the main cooking lead greets me in.

She is a super woman – I must tell you. She takes care of all the cooking demos as well as is a food writer, and organizes every single class. I was blown away by how organized she was. She had all the tables and chairs set up. We had discussed a menu plan for the class.

On the Menu: Lentil Soup with Cilantro; Crostini with Corn and Pesto; Quinoa with Indian-Style Tomato Sauce, Topped with Cucumbers and Cilantro; Baked Cauliflower with Pecans in a Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce; Caramelized Banana Slices with Basil and Coconut.(http://wholefoodsmarket.com/store/event/easy-vegetarian-cooking-indian-twist)

She had every single ingredient measured out for every person who participated and everything was neatly arranged in trays that were labeled!

Min mentioned to me that my cooking class was a full house within the first 2 weeks they had published on their website. So we had 12 people who registered for my class and Min had divided them into 4 groups.

We decided to make Crostini with corn and Pesto first since we figured that way they have something to eat along while they are cooking:)It was such a fun group as always and I am going to be sharing the pictures I clicked with all of you.

The way it worked was I would show them how to put together every dish and they would watch and go to their respective stations and make it. I would always be around them for guidance or if they had any questions checking in and chatting!

At the end of our cooking class, they enjoyed every single dish they made and I once again felt this rush of joy and like the luckiest person ever alive since I can bet in a million years nothing gives me so much happiness than cooking for such fun group of people and to see the wonderful smiles in their faces enjoying every single bite of my currylicious dishes!

A huge Thanks to Min Liao and every single person who came to my cooking class:)Looking forward to many more……….

Much Love and Hugs…….

Private Cooking Lesson with Thalia!

by Currylicious | Nov 30, 2012 | BLOG

I always felt the need to share my cooking skills with people who are passionate about food and cooking. I came across Thalia, a sweet Brazilian girl at Williams Sonoma.

She came with her brother and mom to buy something at the store. I was at the store conducting a cooking demo when they walked in and her brother immediately stopped to pick one of my creations and stood there enjoying every bite of it. I clearly remember him looking at his sister and saying to her” You should learn to cook like this”

I was very humbled by their kind words and appreciation and they picked one of my business cards and left. The week after my cooking demo at Williams Sonoma was the week of destruction by “Hurricane Sandy”. As we were all recovering from the aftermath of the hurricane, I receive an email from Thalia saying she wanted to take a cooking class from me and wasnt able to contact me because of power outages during the hurricane.

I knew immediately that this girl was truly and genuinely passionate about learning how to cook. I figured a simple menu for about 3 hours is the way to go. So planned a simple menu plan of:

Chickpea salad with grated coconut

Quinoa with onions, tomatoes and bell peppers

Baked Cauliflower with pecans, caramelized onions in a yogurt cilantro sauce.

When she received the menu plan she was so thrilled and said to me” Honestly, I dont care just teach me to cook well”

According to Thalia, all they ate was rice, beans, potatoes and chicken!!!! She was so bored of eating the same thing that she wanted to step up and start making new dishes. Thalia mentioned that her brother was also very interested in cooking and would try a few new recipes from television whenever he found time.

I give private lessons from my home kitchen so Thalia came home and I had all the ingredients and recipes printed out. I asked her to read all the ingredients and organize everything so its easier when we start cooking.

We started with chickpeas salad and Thalia was so excited to use grated coconut. She loved coconut. She tasted the salad and loved it so I put it in a box so she could share with her family.

Then came the interesting part, when we started to make the quinoa with veggies! Thalia said “we use butter knife to chop everything up”!!!!!

So I showed her how to chop using a PROPER KNIFE:) and I must say she’s a fast learner and picked it quickly.

We had so much fun while cooking- laughing and joking! I got to know her and her family a little bit and so did she- she met with my kids 🙂

I packed her some quinoa with the veggies and the baked cauliflower dish. She was very happy to go back and share with everyone back home. She called me recently to thank me and said that her brother was amazed that she could make all these dishes.

She hopes to come back for few more cooking lessons but I felt so happy that I was able to teach her a few of my favorite absolutely healthy dishes!

Cooking Class at Kings Cooking Studio, Short Hills, NJ

by Currylicious | Aug 16, 2012 | BLOG

I want to begin by thanking every single person who came to the VEGETARIAN COOKING WITH AN INDIAN TWIST cooking class last night at KINGS COOKING STUDIO, SHORT HILLS, NJ.

One of the best experiences ever. I can walk you through the KINGS COOKING STUDIO mentally for those who missed it-

The Cooking Studio at Kings is one of the best teaching studios in NJ and seats upto 20 people in an exquisite setting. It is so well equipped and has anything and everything required for any cooking class. There is a television for people to watch the Chef/ Instructor cook and the camera is placed in such a way that it covers every angle and corner of the Chef working.

If you missed it, I would highly recommend you to register for one of the classes. They have classes all through the year.

Randi, the main cooking lead and who heads the Cooking Studio is very friendly, extremely helpful and passionate about it!

Yesterday, my menu was Indian Vegetarian and so I made a:

Lentil Soup with Caramelized Onions, Cumin and Cilantro for a starter,

For Main Course,  Skinny Basmati Rice Pilaf (the one with low glycemic index- came across it for the first time and is very good avaialble at Kings!) with Indian Cottage Cheese prepared two ways:

1)  Indian Cottage Cheese in a Rich Creamy Tomato Sauce with Colored Bell Peppers;

2) Indian Cottage Cheese with Veggies in a Rich Creamy Cashew Nut Sauce

For dessert, Sweet Lentil Pudding with Coconut Milk, Raisins and Cardamom

My cooking class asked for Voluntary Participation. So I welcomed all my students with a warm “NAMASTE” and all of us introduced each other and they took their seats.

Barbara and Sarah were a mother daughter team who from what they told me are such opposites. Barbara is such a fun loving person who enjoys delicious food – she doesnt mind some butter being thrown in or some rich cashewnuts!!! as long as it tastes good.

Whereas Sarah on the other hand is very healthy vegetarian:) She said to me she turned a vegetarian at the age of 13 and has never looked back ever since. I wondered why she took up Vegetarianism and she simply said to me” I simply dont like eating meat ” 

Then we had Lynne and Walter – another wonderful couple. They were so warm and appreciative of all my cooking and food. I also had one of my very good friend Sumukha and her daughter Dolly who are always such great supporters!!! Dolly was my little helper giving me bowls/ plates and serving everyone :), clicking away pictures!!

I took a few minutes to explain the menu and what I planned to do for the class. Then I said to them” All of you get to jump in and help”. And trust me, they were so delighted to participate:) Sarah and Walter impressed me by their chopping skills.  I assigned every one responsibilities simply because I wanted everyone to feel involved and enjoy themselves at the same time.

I must mention ELSA- my assistant at Kings Cooking Studio. She is an amazing organizer, helper and a great assistant to have whenever I needed anything. Whenever I was missing something, it was like she would wave a magic wand and it would appear:)

We first cooked the starter, the Lentil Soup topped with Caramelized Onions, toasted Cumin and Cilantro and served everyone. Everyone enjoyed the hearty soup, Lynne said to me that she never would have thought of topping it with Caramelized Onions and she loved it and everyone agreed.

Then all of us were back in action to make the main course. Sumukha who is also from India helped me with grinding my spices. I let everyone smell the spices and everyone thoroughly enjoyed some spice knowledge.

For a sweet ending, we made a Lentil pudding with Raisins and ground Cinnamon. Finally we clicked some pictures and said Goodnight.

I want to thank every one who came last night once again and not to mention I completely enjoyed my cooking class experience with such wonderful students!and I hope you all did too:)