Travel

Rahul's Cooking Class: Goa, India

A vegetarian cooking class in Goa , India.

Sara Gibson

16 Sep 2017 — 3 min read

Rahul's Cooking Class

I love attending cooking classes wherever I can and learning from a local when you are travelling definitely has that special appeal. When I spent time in Goa I was keen to learn how to reproduce the delicious food I was enjoying every day and I was thrilled to discover Rahul's Cooking Class located just back from Palolem beach (about 10 minutes from my beach hut!).

Rahul has been teaching vegetarian and non-vegetarian cooking classes in Goa for over 10 years. Classes last approximately 3 hours, depending on class size, and cover 5 different dishes. Rahul will take requests in advance if there is a special dish you wish to learn or he will select a menu. Classes currently start at either 11.30am or 6pm.

Scheduling your class in advance is necessary, but you will often find that class sizes are very small; I had a semi-private lesson with only one other attendee. Many people in India are vegetarian and therefore the variety and flavour of vegetarian options is incredible in comparison to the UK, so I was happy to let Rahul select the menu of 5 vegetarian recipes I would be learning!

Malai Kofta
A North Indian dish, malai is cream whilst the Kofta is a deep fried paneer and vegetable dumpling in a rich, creamy cashew/tomato based sauce.
Dal Fry
A red lentil dal mixed with tomatoes, onions and cream. Perfect with rice or bread.
Mushroom Dopiaza
A mushroom based curry with double onions. A more southern Indian dish
Vegetable Biriyani
Originally from Hyderabad region, a mix of a vegetable curry baked with rice to make a wonderful main dish
Chappati

An Indian flat bread made with whole wheat flour. Surprisingly easy to make and made in most Indian homes.

We made all of the dishes in order and learnt a few key points of Indian cooking along the way!

Onions in Indian food are always red onions as they don't get brown onions here.
Most curries have the exact same base of onions, tomatoes, ginger and garlic and then the spices you add make the different varieties.
Always cook your spices out to release their flavour and aroma.
Every household has their own garam masala mix recipe, although many families are starting to buy packet mixes now.
Potato, green beans, aubergine, carrot, okra and any other slightly harder vegetable can work in nearly any curry but may need to be cooked first - perfect for leftover veg!

Don't be afraid to use oil, butter and cream to add to your curry mixes.
Indian spice boxes are amazing!

Rahul was an informative and patient teacher and I had a lot of fun learning how to cook some amazing dishes that I love to cook at home now! Many of the curries can be amended for different vegetables or the addition of meat as desired. I was very impressed with the end result of a fantastic lesson and enjoyed a delicious lunch!