Indian cooking lessons

My mom teaches Indian cooking lessons from her home in Glenview, here is a copy of the schedule/menu. Her food is excellent, definitely the best Indian food I have had in this country.

SHOBA’S INDIAN COOKING CLASSES

SPRING 2006 CLASS SCHEDULE
Classes are held on Wednesday or Thursday afternoons from 12noon to 3p.m in my Glenview home. All classes include participation. A full sit-down lunch will be served after every class. There will be very generous samples of everything prepared in class to take home (please be sure to bring containers with lids for leftovers).

Payment in full is required with registration. Payment will be returned in full if the class is booked. Your cancelled check will be your receipt.
REFUND POLICY
Refunds are given for cancellations received 3 days in advance. There are no refunds for cancellations beyond that time so you may prefer to send a friend in your place.



INDIAN TAPAS $50
MARCH 29 or 30
Time: 12noon-3p.m
Many of the items in this class are dry and great as appetizers for dinner parties. We will make lamb chops, chicken tikka bites, fish cutlets, kheema (ground lamb) kabobs and golden fried spicy shrimp.

EASY ENTERTAINING $ 45
APRIL 5 or 6
Time: 12noon-3p.m
The first course will be samosas with tamarind chutney. For the main course, I will demonstrate how to make chicken tandoori in your oven at home. We will also be preparing chicken makhani over jeera (cumin) rice along with potato and green peas curry. We will make a cool cucumber raita (yogurt salad) to cool off your palette. Finally, we will finish the meal with an easy Indian dessert.

30 MINUTE GOURMET $40
APRIL 12 or 13
Time: 12noon - 3p.m
For this class, we will make three entrees that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less. The entrees are elegant enough for company and easy enough for a weeknight family dinner. The dishes include, egg biriyani (a spicy rice dish), simple chicken curry, paneer tikka masala (Indian cheese cubes in a flavorful curry sauce), and a cool kulfi (Indian ice cream) for dessert.

VEGETABLES $40
APRIL 19 or 20
Time: 12noon-3p.m
Indian cuisine is known for the liberal use of spices as well as the use of a greater variety of vegetables than most other cuisines. In this class we will start with a cool, refreshing lassie drink (yogurt-based milkshake) and can be served sweetened or with salt. We will then be preparing stuffed paratha, a north Indian favorite made with shredded vegetables mixed with spices and stuffed into dough which is then rolled, flattened and roasted. Also, we will be making another north Indian specialty, bagaara baingan, which is baby eggplant stuffed with ground masala and cooked in a spicy curry. Dum aloo, spiced potatoes curry, dal fry, spicy fried lentils, and vegetable biriyani, rice cooked with vegetables and spices, will finish off the main course. Finally, we will finish with jalebis (a luscious pretzel shaped dessert fried to a golden crisp and soaked in saffron syrup).

BREAKFAST $40
APRIL 26 or 27
Time: 12noon-3p.m
In this class, we will make a wide variety of foods that are normally served for breakfast in India. We will make upma (a savory semolina dish), dosa (spicy pancakes with potatoes filling), and finally vada and sambar (made from ground lentils, deep fried and served with an Indian soup).

If you have any questions about the schedule or the individual classes, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] or call 847-657-9226 (home) or 847-778-6973 (cell).

Zagat Czar - those classes sound fabulous! How many people are the classes limited to? Most importantly, can your mother ever be persuaded to give a class on a friday evening or anytime on Saturday?? I know many people who would LOVE to do this (including me!) but who couldn't ever do it mid-day on a weekday...

The classes are usually for 4-7 people. She has done weekends in the past and I believe she would do a weekend if there was a group who was interested. Send her an email and she can work out a particular day and menu that works for you and your friends.

I've sent a few emails now with no reply.

I asked about classes last week and this week. It is a bit difficult to get a group together without any feedback.

Weekends or evenings would work better for me as well.


pd

Shoba contacted me by email and let me know she has been under the weather a bit.

She also confirmed this was the class Paul L. enjoyed.

If you are attempting to schedule a class or would like to, please either post or send a pm to me. I have made it a priority to increase my knowledge of Indian cooking.

Regards,
Peter

HI,

I am interested in the breakfast class, though like everyone else hopes it might be an evening or weekend.

Regards,

MENU OF THE WEEK

FISH CUTLETS
Patties made with canned tuna mixed with mashed potatoes, chopped onion, green chilies and cilantro and deep fried.
SHRIMP MASALA
Jumbo shrimp stir fried with spicy ground masala made with poppy seeds, anise, fresh coconut, garlic, dry red chilies and onion and tomatoes.
CHILI CHICKEN
Chicken pieces marinated with garlic and ginger paste, chili powder then fried and garnished with soy sauce, rice vinegar, curry leaves and green chilies….oriental taste.
EGG FRIED RICE
Oriental style stir-fried rice. A perfect complement to the chili chicken.
QUBAANI (dried apricot desert)
A typical Hyderabad desert made with dried apricots and served with custard.

PLACE: 2110 WARWICK LANE, GLENVIEW IL 60026
TIME: 12 noon
Cost: $45
DURATION: 2 1/2hrs approx.
Spices are available for purchase


Class will be offered the week of MAY 15th -19th,
12noon-3pm. Need 4-8 people to schedule this class. Pls
sign up for a day thats convenient for you.
RSVP by may 14th.
847-657-9226
[email protected]

I have a cancellation for my Vegetarian class May 29th 11am. I have room for couple more people,if anyone is intrested.Here is the menu....

Menu of the Week
May 29th, 2006
Created by Shoba Havalad
LASSI
A refreshing summer drink made with buttermilk. This is flavored with crushed curry leaves, green chilies, and ginger and lime juice.
STUFFED PARATHAS
A North Indian favorite made with potatoes and peas stuffed into dough with whole wheat flower, which is then rolled, flattened and roasted.
DUM ALOO (Spicy Potatoes)
Petite potatoes boiled, fried and then cooked in thick creamy spicy sauce.
BAGARA BAINGAN
Baby egg plant cooked with spicy ground masala in a thick curry.
DAAL MAKHANI
Lentils cooked in a pressure cooker and mixed with fried spices and sour cream.
VEGETABLE BIRIYANI
Basmati rice cooked with cauliflower, potatoes, green beans and spices.
JALEBIS
Petite pretzel shaped loops fried to a golden crisp and soaked in syrup.
_____________________________________________________________________

Cost: $45 lunch included
Cancellation Fee: $10 if cancelled within 3 days of class
Time: 11am
Cell: 847-778-6973
Email: [email protected]
Duration: Approximately 2½ hrs
Place: 2110 Warwick Lane, Glenview, IL 60026
Phone: 847-657-9226

Note: Please bring containers for leftovers
Spices will be available for purchase

Just discovered this post. I love Indian food, have even traveled in southern India to learn more about it, and would certainly delight in learning more. Will there be any more classes offered, now that those listed are in the past? I am able to attend classes on Wednesday afternoons, but do I need to gather the group, or would I just be part of a group of people who responded to the listing?

Cynthia,

Definitely give Shoba a call or email if you're interested--you don't have to get a group together, though it certainly is fun to go to the class with friends. I'm on her mailing list and got an email about a class on June 8th, but since then I haven't heard anything further. I'm sure she's planning others, though, so definitely contact her.

If you would like to request a class on a different day than her regular schedule, she seems pretty flexible, but I suspect you would need to gather a small group to guarantee there'll be enough people to make the class worthwhile--when I went, she said that 4 people is generally her minimum, otherwise it's not as fun.

If you do go, I'm sure you'll enjoy it--I was at the class on May 29 and it was tons of fun! The food was delicious and there was definitely plenty to go around. She even made a couple of additional dishes ahead of time. Have fun!

Thanks Tammy....