Cooking Class

Around 9:30 this morning Larissa and I walked over to the indian restaurant to check in for her class. We were welcomed in, and promptly served tea, water, and potato naan. It wasn't long until Larissa was presented with a red and white apron (which she was quite excited about) and put to work cutting and peeling vegetables. I thought that this would be a good time for me to take off for awhile. While Larissa did some prep. work, I interviewed a few tour agents to get an idea of what might be the best trek to embark upon.


Eventually, I came back so that I could sit and watch some tv, and drink a soda or something. This was not in the cards; however, as I was promptly put to work peeling potatoes. While I slaved away, Larissa and her Indian teacher went off to the kitchen to start cooking. The kitchen was nice enough, though now that I think of it I would never eat at a place that looked like that in the states.

After I peeled a mountain of potatoes, I was free to roam the streets again. I returned periodically over the next couple of hours to try the latest dish. Here is Larissa presenting Masala Dosa, Yello Dahl, and a tamarind dipping sauce.

All of the recipes were delicious. I think Larissa kept accurate enough notes so that she should be able to repeat them when we return home. Unfortunately, Larissa is still feeling a bit sick today. She didn't really feel like eating a lot of the food that she made. After learning nine recipes, she was ready to go back to the hotel to lay down for awhile. I stayed back at the restaurant to learn how to make garlic naan and samosas. This lady really has things figured out. She basically gets people to pay her to work for her. My samosa making went very well, well enough that she had me make enough to fill the lunch orders. I was sent home with seven or eight different dishes for Larissa and I to enjoy in the hotel room. While Larissa was able to eat a little bit, it was mostly me doing the enjoying. Here is me proudly holding a samosa of my own making. They are filled mainly with potatoes and cilantro.

Overall we were both very pleased with the cooking class experience. For the price of an average dinner at an average American restaurant, we got to learn some recipes and come away completely stuffed.

Hopefully we will able to go on a trek soon. We are most interested in a 3 day tour in a national park north of here. We will be able to sleep in hill tribe villages, take an elephant ride, go whitewater and bamboo rafting, and enjoy vegetarian meals cooked by our guide. It is actually cheaper for us to go on a tour like this than it is to eat and do a bit of sightseeing around the city.

We are leaning more and more towards taking the train from Bangkok to Singapore. While we could actually fly down there cheaper, we think that spending a few days on the train will have a more positive overall effect on our budget. We plan on stopping for a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur to see the sights of the city, mainly the Petronas Towers. After that we hope to have a day or two in Singapore. If any of you know of some must see sights in these areas, please let us know.