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.
Shaheen will tell you enthralling stories about the history and culture of her home region and you will get to taste the recipes that are influenced by both Maharashtrian and Mughlai cultures,which have been passed down through the generations in her family. You will enjoy a meat-centric meal prepared with homemade spice mixtures and cooked using a method of slow cooking called dum’ ka khana that gives Shaheen’s food its rich flavor. Your meal might include solkadhi (a coconut milk and kokum drink), meat kebabs that have been shallow fried, yakhni pulao (her signature rice dish cooked in mutton stock), pandhara rassa (mutton soup), mutton curry made from a special family recipe and phirni (a creamy dessert made from rice and milk).
Please note that this is a cooking demonstration, not a hands-on cooking class. You will join Shaheen in the kitchen to watch her prepare 1-2 authentic dishes that you will eat along with other prepared dishes eaten with rice and Indian breads.
Please note that for groups smaller than five people, Shaheen offers an everyday meal of 2-3 dishes plus dessert. While the dishes may be few for a typical Indian meal, they are meat heavy and are very rich and filling.
This is just a sample menu to give you an idea of the types of dishes the host cooks. Your menu will vary according to seasonal availability.
Shaheen lives with her husband Riyaz in a beautiful, peaceful apartment in Kandivali, very close to the Borivali National Park. Her home is decorated with bonsai plants that she has designed and if you're lucky you may get to spot birds by her windowsill that occasionally visit her home. Shaheen is extremely proud of her Kolhapuri roots, loves simple cooking, hosting friends and family and is the happiest when in the kitchen. A homeopath by qualification, Shaheen currently volunteers with an NGO that works with tribal Warli artists to revive their art form. In addition to food and cooking her family recipes, Shaheen's other passions are birding, trekking and traveling.
