Four experts on how cooking classes empower students

Gowri’s jeyuk bokkeum; (left) miso roasted pumpkin

Life skills

Home chef and small business owner Devika Gowri's move to Manipal, a student town, was planned. She wanted to teach a life skill to youngsters. Noting that the kitchen and home are gendered spaces where food knowledge is usually passed down to women, Gowri shares that approaching the act as a necessary skill for all to survive, and starting young can be a way to come away from a cycle perpetuated by patriarchal notions.

Her classes offer easy and quick global recipes using local seasonal ingredients such as ash gourd in Chinese dishes. She even incorporates miso with pumpkin. Learn to make Korean-inspired stew, bulgogi, pickled veggies, namul and kimchi in her next online class.
On: September 11; 10.30 am to 12 pm
Log on to: @curlyfrieddumpling
Call: 9746041748
Cost: Rs 350

Accessible for all

Tikoo at one of her online classes

In Delhi-based Anita Tikoo's next online cooking class, she'll be teaching how to make fresh pasta. With a view to making cooking accessible to all, Tikoo reveals that inhibitions about making dishes such as bread and pasta come from these items being unfamiliar and not complicated. She feels that by outsourcing cooking, to a large extent, we are losing touch with the art of cooking and deep-diving into our culinary culture.

On: September 17; 2.30 pm to 4.15 pm (part 1) and 4.30 pm to 6 pm
Log on to: @a_madteaparty
Cost: Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,000

Easy bakery

Ekta Saraf's students and clients mainly include homemakers - all women - from her residential society, and a community of over 300 women built through friends and word of mouth. "There is a preconceived notion that some dishes are difficult to create.

But that is not the case. I teach falafel, baked vada pav, pizza rolls, donuts, cannelloni, granola among other dishes," Saraf tells us. Catering to her audience, she alters recipes to suit the cook. She is also available for phone calls after online classes to clear doubts. Saraf's next class will demonstrate coffee walnut cake and donuts.
On: September 20; 4 pm to 5 pm
At: Prabhadevi
Log on to: @ekta _saraf; Ekta's Delights
Call: 9372441427
Cost: Rs 2,000

Being a guide

Chocolate briwat

Ghatkopar-based Madhavi Modha, founder of Annapurna Bakery Classes, empowers women looking to earn an income by selling baked goods. After completing a bakery course, she was left with many questions and the task of sourcing expensive ingredients like mascarpone and cream cheese. "My students and clients have families like mine that don't consume eggs or can't find certain ingredients in their kitchens.

They also need guided practice to help develop confidence in making new dishes like macarons, baklava, breads and cakes. So, I started to develop techniques and alternatives that I know are more suited for us and our kitchens. I even make ingredients such as cream cheese, phyllo pastry and khari myself," Modha tells us. She'll be teaching her signature dish chocolate briwat, baklava and other Middle Eastern delicacies at her next class where all the ingredients will be provided.
On: Last week of September; 12 pm to 6 pm
At: Ghatkopar East
Log on to: @annapurna_bakery_cookery_class
Call: 9594428703
Cost: Rs 3,000