Lalita's Kitchen Indian cooking classes delight Northwich cooks

Northwich residents need lumber in ignorance no more as Indian foodie couple, Lalita Sivakumar and Shiva Venkat, have made it their mission to set us on the true path to Eastern culinary enlightenment.

You may already know them as the husband-and-wife team behind Lalita’s Kitchen, the ‘homemade takeaway’ business whose delectable vegetarian and vegan tiffin boxes brought smiles to so many faces during the various lockdowns.

When requests for Lalita’s sumptuous recipes began to pile up, the entrepreneurial couple hit on the idea of running regular veggie and vegan cooking classes when normality finally returned. 

Earlier this year, they made this dream a reality, and Lalita's Kitchen Cookery School classes already run at capacity at weekends at their home in Winnington.

Students need no previous cooking experience, and the whole class is designed to be interactive with both hands-on and demonstrative techniques to help students learn the subtle art of fine Indian home cookery. 

Roger Knight recently left the school a five star Google review after a very successful weekend class (Image: Lalita's Kitchen)

They're fully adaptable to all allergies and preferences, and full details of local Indian grocery shops are provided so students can be sure of sourcing the ingredients to make the recipes at home.

Top favourites dishes include onion pakoras; jeera (cumin) rice; green chutney made from coriander, mint, green chilli, and garlic; and matar paneer, which Shiva describes modestly as ‘a cottage cheese curry with green peas’.

“Paneer is a wonderful alternative to chicken,” he said.   

“Our tiffin boxes were such a superhit, people really wanted to know how we were cooking those dishes.

Indian cookery students Paul Sutherland, Emma Finemore-Lunn and Stephanie Cheadle with their delicious creations (Image: Lalita's Kitchen)

“Lalita loves to cook. She’s been doing it seriously for 28 years. She also teaches Bollywood dancing professionally, and says the two really go hand in hand.

“People ask ‘why come to a cookery class when you can just follow a recipe?’ The simple answer is: the tastes and textures of Indian takeaway in the UK are completely different to authentic, homemade Indian food.

“This is what people discover for themselves when they attend our classes.

(L - R): Teacher, Lalita Sivakumar with proud students Victoria Coffey, John Ellis, and Nicky Chapman (Image: Lalita's Kitchen) “They realise it’s completely different from anything they’ve ever had before, even if they order Indian takeaway every week.

“If you've never tried it, you don't know how it's supposed to be. That’s the difference we make.

"We help students learn to cook the dishes properly, and they'll never turn to a readymade curry sauce ever again.

“We teach them to make their own spice mixes, gravies, sauces, and chutneys.

“And as we’ve both lived and worked in lots of parts of India, we’re able to teach students delicacies not just from one area of the country, but all over.”

Due to the popularity of the classes, the duo is now looking to increase the numbers of classes on offer to keep up with overwhelming demand.

They even have a somewhat festive treat in the pipeline.

Shiva added: “We’re hatching a plan to teach a very special classic dish soon, an Indian vegan and vegetarian thali.

“It’s a mixed plate full of various curries, dals, snacks, sweets, and flavoured rice.

“It is a real delicacy made during Diwali, the festival of lights, which falls in November this year.”

Lalita's Kitchen cookery classes can be booked through the website.

They also have an active Facebook page, or email: lalitaskitchennorthwich@gmail.com.