Shaheen will welcome you with a kokum drink and a chat about Kohlapur, the region she comes from. Then join her on a tour of a local market where you will see and learn about variety of fruits and vegetables. You may buy a few ingredients before returning home to the kitchen.

Meal

Cooking Experience

Market Tour

Enjoy a welcome drink and meet the family before walking to the open-air market near their home. Here you may buy some of the fresh ingredients you will use to prepare your meal. You may also pick a few herbs from the garden Sama tends at their apartment building.

Meal

Cooking Experience

Market Tour

Bohri cuisine is served course by course rather than all at once. Unlike most Indian meals, you begin your meal with something sweet followed by something savory, all desserts are called mithaas and the savory dishes kharaas. You will share the meal with Rashida in her sprawling dining room decorated with furniture from another era. The meal might include dahi vada (deep fried potato served with thick yogurt), dahi bhindi (okra with yogurt), succulent mutton kebabs, salad, kheema khichdi (minced meat pulao), kheema na samosa (minced meat samosas), biryani and homemade ice-cream.

Meal

Cooking Experience

Market Tour

Simeen and Amish offer a dining experience that brings to the table a mix of traditional Parsi and Gujarati cuisine. The meal starts with popular Gujarati farsan (savory snacks) such as dohkla (a light cake of fermented rice and chickpea flour), patra (colocasia leaves filled with batter, rolled and steamed) and khandvi (bite-sized rolls of gram flour and yoghurt). <br><br>The main menu includes Parsi dishes such as mutton sali boti (goat curry topped with fried potatoes), dhanshaak (lentils and vegetables perked with spices), chicken farcha (Indian fried chicken), patra ni macchi (fish cooked in green chutney wrapped in banana leaves) and traditional Gujarati mains such as fansi-dhokli (tangy dish made with French beans and gram flour) and batata nu shaak (potato combined with sesame seeds, curry leaves and ginger-green chili paste, topped with coriander). You meal is accompanied by Gujarati or Parsi dal, served with chapattis and rice. Finish with a Parsi custard and Indian sweets.

Meal

Nina likes to present various regional cuisines and the décor and music she chooses to enhance the chosen region of the day. She believes in a holistic experience from the welcoming rituals, décor, table set-up, and of course – most important of all – the delicious food! When serving traditional Rajasthani cuisine, Nina welcomes you with an aarti (an auspicious traditional custom in Rajasthan) and a Rajasthani drink such as mogra flower sherbet (fresh jasmine flavored drink). Enjoy various appetizers while Rajasthani folk music plays in the background. Your main meal will be served on a shining silver thaali, “Maharaja-style”. Some of the dishes you will sample may include dum aloo (baby potatoes flavored with traditional spices), five lentil panchmel (five lentil curry), and gatta pulao (steamed gram flour rolls in rice), matki saffron curd (yogurt served in a clay pot), and dahi vada (lentil dumplings in a spiced yogurt sauce). All this will be accompanied with various pickles, chutneys, salad and crushed papad. Top of the meal with a dessert such as jalebi (deep-fried pretzel shaped dough dipped in a sugar syrup) or and rice pudding. As a customary end to every traditional Rajasthani meal, Nina serves mouth-fresheners like cardamom, cloves, and fennel seeds. With Nina as your host, you could get a wide variety of vegetarian cuisines including East Asian, Mediterranean, South American, Spanish, European, Lebanese, Continental and of course, Indian! Needless to say, you can expect the most traditional food with her own special twist in a very interesting and innovating way. Please let her know if you would like to try a certain kind of cuisine.

Meal

Cooking Experience

A typical lunch with lunch would start with a cold aubergine salad, followed by selection of dim sum, tofu in black bean sauce, Sichuan style fish, Macanese chicken curry, garlic stir fried vegetables and egg fried rice, with sago Melaka for dessert. The beautiful thing about Tejal is her attention to detail. She offers a varied selection of flavors, colors and textures to make up the entire meal.

Meal

Yakuta will prepare a typical Bohri Muslim meal which includes a refreshing kokum sherbet drink (traditional Indian summer cooler great for curing acidity) followed by staple celebratory meal called khuddal palidoo or dal chaval palidoo (lentil rice served with a curry) served with bengan bhartha (roasted eggplant, mashed and cooked with spices) and chana bateta (chickpeas and potato in tamarind sauce) followed by a traditional Bohri dessert called thuli made of sweetened cracked wheat. <br><br>Yakuta can also offer a typical Parsi meal of mutton sham aak or masonry ma gosh (mutton curry and rice) or saace ni machi (fish cooked in a tangy white sauce). If you are looking for a Maharashtrian meal with a twist then Yakuta is the one! Try her teesrya, shellfish cooked in fresh coconut with greens and pickles.

Meal

Traditionally, the meal begins with a pinch of salt on the tongue, followed by a sweet dish, such as a peach soufflé. This would be followed with savory dishes, such as fried chicken, then another sweet dish like halwa, and then another savory dish, like leg of lamb served with a special naan. This leads to the main course, perhaps her mutton curry with rice, served with a salad, pickles and chutney.

Meal

Overall my experience was really great. Shilpa and her husband were really welcoming and we had some great interactions. The food was really amazing and Shilpa seemed really dedicated at showing off Indian Punjabi food.

Meal

Cooking Experience

Market Tour

Malvika and her dog will greet you at the door of her apartment. Once you settle in she will offer you a refreshing welcome drink made with cumin seeds and served with boondi (crisp, fried gram flour balls). As you snack on appetizers suck as pakora (fritters) or dahi bhalla (lentil dumplings in yougurt sauce) Malvika will tell you about her culinary and cultural background. She might tell you about how her father gave her a cooker for her birthday when she was learning to cook, or how her marriage into a Maharashtrian household and her new life in tropical Mumbai introduced her to Konkani cuisine, which she has completely integrated into her culinary repertoire. <br><br> Malvika can cook both an authentic Punjabi and Maharashtrian cuisine for you. Your meal will be served in a silver thali and may include butter chicken, amritsari chole (chickpeas in a brown curry), bhindi masala (okra), dal makhni (lentils), missal pav (a spicy curry usually made of sprouted moth beans served with a bun), pav bhaji (vegetable curry served with a soft bread roll), prawn curry and shrikhand (a sweet made of strained yogurt). She also makes some seasonal pickles and chutney that complement the meal.

Meal

Mumbai Magic Tour organised a driver to collect us from our hotel. Our dining hosts were delightful and very knowledgeable on nutrition and traditions. As we attended on a Hindu festival day, they prepared special food. It was very relaxed, good conversation and tasteful lunch. Thank you!

Meal

Reshma helped us create a truly amazing butter chicken and naan dinner and we have made the meal twice since : ) We've always wanted to try it but felt intimidated by recipes online, so it was awesome having this chance to be guided through the process by an expert. Reshma was super kind and easy to connect with. I was nervous about getting the time set up correctly from the US to India, but it was a very easy process to finding a time that worked for all. Would definitely try the Traveling Spoon again and have recommended to several friends who enjoy cooking and traveling.

Meal

Cooking Experience

Market Tour

A very knowledgeable and inspirational experience for our kids.The host was very informative and provided great tips and information on lots of food. They were kind enough to invite us to stay for dinner too. A must cooking class for everyone.

Meal

Cooking Experience

Market Tour

You will be greeted by Nithya, Jaideep and Duke, her Labrador, at their apartment in the centrally located neighbourhood of Dadar. Nithya is a Tamilian Brahmin and her food and cooking style and are heavily major influenced by the Iyengar community in south India. As you sip on your welcome drink she will tell you how the cooking of the Iyengar community is largely rice-based and is traditionally prepared without any onion and garlic. They use a wide variety of legumes such as lentils, parrupu (pigeon pea), ulundu (black gram) and kadalai paruppu (split chickpeas) and, like all south Indian food, there is also the use of coconut. <br><br>A traditional Iyengar lunch/dinner might include two to three varieties of rice, such as coconut rice, tomato rice or yogurt rice which are be eaten with kuzhambu (lentil and vegetable stew), saturmadu (a tangy soup seasoned with spices), vegetables in coconut gravy, or china urilakizhangu (small roasted baby potatoes) and paruppu usili (french beans). No south Indian the meal complete without appam (a pancake made with fermented rice) and poppadum (thin crispy wafers). To finish you’ll enjoy a sweet rice pudding called payasam. Despite the numerous restaurants in Mumbai that serve south Indian food none can compare to the taste of traditional home-cooked meal like this one!

Meal

Abi was our guide/host. She has an Interesting background- started in banking and, after many years, has switched paths now focusing on her passion for cooking!The market was fascinating. My daughter (11) and myself enjoyed seeing so many different fruits and veggies. We also popped into a local store to see all the different dried lentils and beans they use. Abi had a driver that made it super convenient to get around between market and her home. Once in her home, which was beautiful and a perfect glimpse inside daily living, we cooked a few dishes together. Abi had also prepared food ahead of time so everything ran very smoothly/was well organized. We had a traditional meal and even got to eat it on banana leaf “plate.”I highly recommend this experience for anyone interested in learning about Indian cultural and cuisine.

Meal

Cooking Experience

Market Tour

From the moment we arrived Mahrukh and her family made us feel genuinely welcome and relaxed. Mahrukh outdid herself with her gracious and generous hospitality. The dishes she had selected, and the instruction she provided at the market place, and in the kitchen, gave each dish added meaning, flavor and satisfaction. Coupled with this was her patience with all our questions, adding further to the cultural element of each dish. This visit was a true privilege, and one we hope many others come to enjoy.

Meal

Cooking Experience

Market Tour

Rachna will welcome you into her home and then show you to the living room, which is warmly decorated with her paintings and artwork.You will share the meal with Rachna at her dining table and might include dishes such as biryani, palak paneer (fresh cheese with cooked spinach), mutton do pyaza (mutton in an onion-based sauce), chicken butter masala, butter garlic prawns, jeera aloo (potato with cumin seeds) and to finish, phirni (a sweet pudding).

Meal

Cooking Experience

You will be welcomed by Deepak and Tamanna into their simple but artfully decorated home. Deepak collects antiques and you’ll see artwork and crystals displayed around their home. They are perfectly matched as Tamanna loves to cook and Deepak loves to eat! Deepak handles the marketing and promotion of their catering business while Tamanna focuses on the cooking. <br><br>As you enjoy a welcome drink, perhaps angoori lassi, a grape drink often prepared in Tamanna’s home city Delhi, and a snack of samosas (just try to figure out the secret ingredient!) Deepak will tell you how they got the idea to use bitter gourd in one of India’s most beloved dishes, the biryani. Her method takes two days to prepare and requires an intensive process of boiling, drying and roasting the bitter gourd to get rid of the bitter taste. <br><br>Tamanna hails from Delhi in north India and her cooking has a strong Mughlai influence. In addition to her famous biryani, you’ll get to taste some of her other signature dishes perhaps including her meltingly tender mutton shaami kebabs, anari shaami kebabs (vegetarian kebabs made of pomegranate seeds), chicken rezala (chicken curry), gobi gosht (cauliflower and mutton), lagan ka paneer (a vegetarian take on the famous Hyderabadi chicken dish), dry fruit kheer (pudding) or sheer khorma (vermicelli pudding). You can be assured that in every meal there will be a surprise dish with a secret ingredient from Tamanna’s innovative kitchen!

Meal

Faiziya will welcome you into her traditional home and will greet you with a refreshing drink called rooh afza, a fresh lime soda with a mint garnish. She will tell you about the Cutchi Memnon cooking style and dishes she has been preparing for over 20 years. The cuisine is meat-centric and is famous for using slow cooking techniques and liberal use of spices like saffron. <br><br>At the dining table you will receive a written menu of the dishes will be served. The meal will be presented on chinaware and served in courses. You might start with mutton harissa (goat stew with cracked wheat) followed by mutton samosas or kebabs, a whole stuffed chicken or nalli nihari (slow cooked lamb stew) all served with bread and biryani. Top it off with a sweet dish, possibly Faiziya’s khubani ka meetha (apricot, custard and cream).

Meal

Cooking Experience