Join Vinita in her small kitchen for her favorite stress-reliever: cooking! You can expect to learn how to make 2-3 of the dishes you will be eating, either dal baati churma (baked flaky bread served with a lentils and a sweet side) or gatte ki sabzi with missi roti (gram flour dumplings in a yogurt-based curry served with flatbreads).
Vinita lives with her husband, mother-in-law and children in a modest, no frills apartment in Vasant Kunj in South Delhi. Start your experience with a kokum drink or a coconut cooler, after which you will meet the family and get an introduction to Rajasthani food and culture. You will be served a traditional, healthy Rajasthani meal at the dining table. Your host might make dishes such as meeta chawal (sweet rice), kadi (buttermilk curry), khersangri (dried stems), panchmel ki subzi (curry made with five vegetables), bajre ki khichdi (pearl millet and lentils) and her grandmother’s special badam ka halwa (almond pudding) for dessert.
Visit the local Vasant Kunj street market where you will find fruits, vegetables, spices, grains, kitchen ware and street food. Vinita offers a standalone tour of the market or you can combine the market visit with a meal or a cooking lesson. Please note that the market is only available on Mondays and Fridays.
Vinita's kitchen is quite small so you may do some prep work at the dining table and join her in the kitchen only for the final cooking process.
Vinita only serves vegetarian food and her home is very family-friendly.
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.
Vinita is a Marwari by culture (with grandparents originally from Rajasthan and Haryana but she was born and brought up in Delhi. She comes from a large family and learned to cook at a young age from her grandmother, mother and aunts. She loves to share Rajasthani recipes straight from her grandmother and mother’s kitchens. Rajasthan is a dry region and their food reflects the climate. Most preparations use minimal water and rely instead on milk, yogurt, buttermilk and cream to keep dishes moist. Vinita is vegetarian and her cooking features lentils, grains, gram flour and seasonal local produce. Traditionally Rajastani cuisine uses a lot of ghee, but Vinita ensures all her meals are healthy, nutritive and tasty.
Vinita and her husband both are dentists by profession and run their clinic from home. On top of her dental practice she runs “Winy’s Flavoursome Kitchen” which provides wholesome breakfast tiffins either packed or served live at her home with love and nutrition. She loves to innovate and makes something unique each day, which keeps both her children and customers happy and looking forward to the next day’s meals!
"Dr Vinita and I will remain in contact, indeed remain friends and I look forward to welcome her in London when she comes to run the London Marathon."
"I used TravelingSpoon to book a meal with Vinita in New Delhi. She lives in an apartment very close to the airport. Vinita and her family are very warm and welcoming. I was traveling by myself, and they made me feel right at home chatting with them. Vinita prepared a number of different dishes, and all of them were DELICIOUS! And she even asked me in advance if I had any preferences for what type of menu I wanted. I would highly recommend Traveling Spoon - it is a great way to enjoy sampling local food while also meeting people from that area. It was so much more memorable than eating at a restaurant!"
"Vinita and her family are very warm and welcoming. I was traveling by myself, and they made me feel right at home chatting with them. Vinita prepared a number of different dishes, and all of them were DELICIOUS! And she even asked me in advance if I had any preferences for what type of menu I wanted. I would highly recommend Traveling Spoon - it is a great way to enjoy sampling local food while also meeting people from that area. It was so much more memorable than eating at a restaurant!"
