We were delighted to hear from Pooja Agarwal who was keen to share her newly established Indian cooking workshops with us right here in Haarlem, Netherlands. First and foremost because we are yet to find true Indian food in Haarlem (sadly the closest we have come to that is in Amsterdam), but also because who doesn't want to experience something new?!
INTRO
Pooja invited us to her warm and cosy home here in Haarlem for an afternoon of getting to know her, her business plans and her motivation to start up a culinary workshop and chef services.
It was a delight to get to know Pooja on a personal level, to understand her experiences in North India where she grew up with a large family. I personally travelled South India back in 2011, during a gap year with a friend, before we started university (major throwback!) and I loved discussing my travels around India during the workshop. If you're interested here are some areas I went to in the South... (Tamil Nadu : Chennai, Madurai; Kerala: Varkala, Kochi, Munnar, Alleppey; Karnataka: Hampi, Mysore).
What's interesting about Indian cuisine is that it varies so much by area. For instance, it's said that food tends to be spicier and more tropical in the South. But honestly, I hear different stories! I was keen to learn more about North Indian cuisine and the spices used!
Pooja also spent some time living in the USA before moving to the Netherlands, and being huge fans of travelling the states, it was lovely to share travel stories! A bonus of the informal setting of her workshops, is really feeling like you are visiting a friend at home and cooking together !
LETS GET STARTED - THE PREP
We began the workshop with a lovely opening chai ceremony ( a personal fave of mine since my Indian adventure!), followed by a detailed discovery of the spices we would use for the dishes, and learning about their qualities and health benefits. We touched on different methods of chopping and preparing the vegetables (which is actually the first time I've really done this other than following my own technique ?!).
Pooja has a wealth of knowledge of the dishes, history and spices and we loved hearing this throughout our session!
THE DISHES
We cooked two main dishes together, the first was Butter Paneer Masala (we are big lovers of butter chicken - it's our go-to in an Indian restaurant, so it was great to learn the paneer version - which I also love! It was great that although Pooja specialises in vegetarian cooking, that she explained we could alter the recipes to include meat or fish to our liking!).
The second dish was cauliflower Manchurian, an Indian Chinese recipe! Little did we know, that Chinese cuisine is extremely popular in India! We had no idea...
Pooja had so kindly prepped a couple of other dishes to serve with our meal in advance ; a lovely Dal Makhani (originating from the Punjab region) and a Pav Bhaji (a traditional street food vegetable curry dish served with soft white bread).
Her wonderful family (husband & children) joined us for a relaxed lunch and we enjoyed what we had cooked up together ! Everything was delicious and very full of flavour, you could really taste all of the spices.
I highly recommend booking one of Pooja's cooking masterclasses if you're looking to learn more about Indian cuisine, want to enjoy a group session with friends and family, or for a gift for someone special!
O'Shante also has options for booking Pooja as a personal chef with in-house cooking options or food drop-offs as well as events catering. What's more, you can also purchase Pooja's homemade fresh spices from her store shop!
Head to the site or Instagram now to discover or book today!
Use code "HFF" (Haarlem Food Finds) to receive a 5% discount off bookings in 2024!
*Booking must be made between the dates of 27th February 2024 and 30th April 2024.
Offer ends 30th April 2024 when the code will be deactivated.
Thank you so much for inviting us for such a wonderful afternoon!
And for those who choose to book, Enjoy!
Decadent Dammers & Haarlem Food Finds
MY INDIAN TRAVELS
A whole lot of love for India!
Want to see some photos from my 2011 South India travels? Check them out below! ... look forward to hopefully going to North India sometime in the future !
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