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.
Join Nina in her kitchen and learn how to make 2-3 of the dishes such as sookhe matar with badam (almonds with peas in a cashew gravy) and jeera pulao (cumin-flavored rice). You can expect to be cooking for 1 hour before you share the meal you helped prepare over conversation with your host
Nina only offers vegetarian cuisine.
Nina can offer roundtrip transportation at an additional cost for those staying in the Bandra or Andheri neighborhoods of Mumbai. Please choose transport when making your booking if you'd like a pick-up.
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.
Nina lives in Mumbai and is a true bundle of energy who tries to pack in 36 hours of work into a 24 hour day! Her love for food and attention to detail led her to start her catering business over 15 years ago. These days Nina caters high-end parties, does daily party orders, and is a menu consultant for weddings. To further her passion in food, Nina joined hands with a friend to start Food Salon – an exquisite culinary experience! They teach themed classes a few times a month in which they demonstrate different recipes, table decor and food presentation.
In addition to her culinary endeavors, Nina is also involved with a few charitable organizations, teaches brides-to-be about the basics of married life, and if that’s not enough, along with some of her friends, she started an organization that upcoming talent in various fields of music.
"Entertainment is what I do best! I love and enjoy meeting people, hosting parties and delighting people with my food. As a host, it gives me immense pleasure to make travelers experience traditional customs and food."
