Cooking with Shashi

Tuesday night at 5:30pm we went for our second Indian cooking class. This one was given by the delightful Shashi, who was highly recommended in Lonely Planet, and instantly we knew why. She sat all four of us down, a German couple (Nicole & Heiko) and Pete & me, placed bindis on the girls, and began her story. She grew up in a village outside of Udaipur. Her marriage was arranged to a man who lived in the city, so she packed her things, said goodbye to her family, and came to live with her new husband's family in Udaipur. They were blessed with two sons and a healthy marriage. Her husband passed away nine years ago, when she was only 32, and in the Brahmin caste, you are only allowed one marriage; the idea of remarriage is forbidden. After a death of a husband, a widow must mourn for one year without leaving her home and other women come to her house to cry and mourn with her. As if grieving the loss of her husband and not leaving her house wasn't bad enough, her late husband's family did not take care of her. Now with two sons to raise in an unfamiliar city without the support of a family, she was lost. Because of her high-ranking caste, she was forbidden to do many jobs such as cleaning or laundry - jobs she easily get at one of the local hotels. So in secret, she would wash clothes for hotel customers in her home. And all this time she kept cooking and cooking. About three years ago, she first welcomed tourists into her home and taught her first cooking class. This first class was with an Australian couple and she didn't speak a word of English. Through movements, hand gestures, and many smiles, her first class was successful. She gave many more classes, and because of her amazing cooking and warm, motherly nature, many westerners started to help her. One group typed up their notes from the class for future classes to have printed recipes. Others helped Shashi learn enough English to get by. And soon her business was started. She was able to pay school fees for her sons, something her late husband's family wasn't willing to do.

Now seeing Shashi, she is quite the established business woman. Through her years of teaching tourists, she now has the basics for English, French, German, and many other languages. She has a kitchen outfitted with mugs and aprons from all over the world, sent to her from previous, thankful students. One student took amazing pictures and created a bound cookbook full of pictures. Lonely Planet raves about her classes, as they should, and her business is very successful. Because of the peaks and valleys of the tourism business, she now teaches cooking classes at a school to women and girls of all ages, which allows her a steady income year round. One of her sons, who studied hotel management, is living at home and helping his mother with her business, scheduling classes for her, cleaning the kitchen while she's at school so it's ready for her evening cooking class, and even chopping vegetables to help the class move along. Her late husband's family is quite jealous of the success she's seen ... and this is really only the beginning.

After her story, we began discussing the recipes and going over what we would be making. She would look to me and say some words in English; she would then look at Pete and say some words in French; and, lastly, she would look to the German couple and say the words in German. For someone who didn't speak a word of English three years ago, this was quite amazing. With our mouths watering from the delicious sounding recipes, we moved to the kitchen and began the class.

First up was chai. Being in India, we've had some good chai, but nothing really compares to the chai Shashi made for us. With a hint of sweetness, the creamy marsala chai was to die for. If we can recreate this recipe only half as well when we get home, we'll be very lucky! Then came chutneys, both mango and coriander, and pakoras, little fried snacks. We began with potato and onion pakoras, and when we were enjoying them with the chutney, Shashi whipped up spinach/paneer and mixed vegetable pakoras.

Shashi straining the chai

Me stirring the mango chutney

Yummy pakoras

After tea and our snacks, we were ready to get down to business. We selected the Aubergine (eggplant) & Tomato from the long list of curries in the recipe book. (All curries take the same base sauce, so Shashi just teaches one curry and then you can pretty much make them all). In addition to the curry, we made Vegetable Pulao (with julienne vegetables instead of the diced vegetables in a biryani). When you’re in Shashi’s kitchen, you definitely know who runs the show. There were no questions of who wanted to take a shot at grinding the spices together or stirring the vegetables into the sauce – Shashi would quickly assign a person and that was that. I think she also has eyes in the back of her head, as many times when you didn’t think she was looking she’d say, “you can stop stirring now” or “mash harder.” For as militant as that sounds, she did so in a warm tone and with a big smile. You couldn’t help but feel like a child learning to cook from a mother.

Me & Shashi preparing the curry

Once the main dishes were cooked, we set them aside and covered them to stay warm. We then got to work on the naan, chapatti, and parantha. As Shashi claims, she shows us how to make naan, but Indians much prefer the healthier, wheat-flour based chapatti and hardly ever eat naan. Descriptions of the types of bread:

• Naan: white-flour based, egg-shaped, and cooked dry (no oil)
• Chapatti: wheat-flour based, circular, and cooked dry (no oil)
• Parantha: wheat-flour based, triangular, and cooked in oil

For variety, we made a delicious garlic-cheese spread and tomato chutney (almost like a cooked bruschetta) to put on the naan. We also stuffed some of the parantha with potato, cheese, and onion. And Shashi whipped up a sweet parantha with ghee, coconut, and sugar for dessert.

Pete mashing the pepper and garlic for the garlic-cheese spread

Once everything was complete, around 9:45pm, we sat down to our feast. The four of us barely made a dent on the meal! Between all the pakoras (snacks) we ate in the beginning of class and the vast amount of food on the table, there was no way we were going to finish it all. Shashi and her son said they had eaten a big lunch, so they wouldn’t help eat any. We felt rather bad letting so much food go to waste, but then we started to see some locals show up to chat with Shashi’s son. We soon realized they must turn up every night around the end of class and hope for some handouts. In the end, we didn’t mind leaving bowls not even half finished on the table.

The finished product: Aubergine & Tomato Curry

Clockwise from left: Naan & Chipatti (on top), Parantha, Stuffed Parantha with Chutney, and Garlic-Cheese Spread

While we ate, Shashi handed out little elephant figurines for good luck and asked for feedback about the class. We could only say wonderful things about the class, the recipe book, and her teaching style.

When both our brains and stomachs were full of good Indian food, we snapped one last picture with Shashi and said goodbye.

Pete, Shashi, & me

… We had to stop back by Shashi’s house the next day, since we were treating ourselves to a traditional spice box and some Indian spices (buying through Shashi). Even though her son was taking care of us, she stepped out of the class she was teaching, took one look at me, and said, “your face looks so empty.” She ran to her drawer and began looking for something. While Shashi juggles a million things at once, like a mother, she genuinely cares about her students and wants nothing but the best for them. She must teach hundreds of students per month, but the care she shows makes you feel like her only student. The next thing I knew, Shashi placed another bindi on my forehead and rushed back to the class she was teaching.