Learning to cook Indian food in Mumbai

Oh God, I love Naan! And my wife does too. I think this is an addiction, but I am afraid to seek medical help because I could not quit.

Fortunately, Indian food is quite popular in Poland, so we have a dependable supply of these delicacies. But it was always a mystery to me:

How is it possible that they are so delicious?

Fortune favours the hungry

Fortunately, fate decided to help launch me on a fact-finding mission.

When we were roaming around Thailand, our company organized an event in India. Since we were reasonably close, we volunteered to help with the situation and visit Udaipur and Mumbai and enjoy the culture food.

And learn the secrets of the Naan.

Naan-making class

On a trip to Paris, a few years ago, I have attended a croissant-making class. I highly recommend the experience, and I was on the lookout for similar fun since.

Somebody should tell Artur that these are not the Naan.

So, Naan being superior to Croissants, you would expect an even greater abundance of delicious learning opportunity in India, right?

Wrong! Cooking classes are very hard to come by in India!

How is that possible? Indian food is so Instagram-mable, delicious, hard to make, and popular that there should be no issue finding a cooking school. But there are none!

Fortunately, my Indian friends were kind enough to explain it to me in great detail.

What you went for a cooking class? Hahahahahahaha! You are so weird! Hahahahaha!
Kruti, my friend.

After the mockery was over, I learned that Indian people learn to cook from their mothers and grandmothers. There is 0 need for a cooking school because they will learn to make delicious Kadai, Kormas, and Naans at home.

As a side note, it is also quite accessible to hire a cook that will come to your house and cook you food for 2-3 days. In Europe and the US we are used to takeout, but in India, they approach this situation from precisely the opposite viewpoint.

You cook and learn to cook at home. Not at a cooking school.

Fortunately, I have used this thing called capitalism to find a cooking school in Mumbai (Click here for Chhabria Cooking Classes). After double-checking with the teacher that we indeed will be making Naan, we embarked to see the school.

Only to find out it was indeed someone’s home! A very enterprising Indian lady was running cooking classes for foreigners at her apartment. It was perfect because the kitchen had a very similar layout to ours, so we learned how to prepare delicious Indian dishes, Yes, including Naan.