I would consider myself to be relative novice when it comes to cooking. So heading into Latasha’s Kitchen in Leederville I was thinking maybe I was a tad out of my league.
Latasha runs cooking classes for traditional Indian cuisine, using fresh ingredients herbs and spices. The first thing you notice when you enter is the amazing aromas; it instantly makes your stomach tell you how hungry you must be!!
When you meet Latasha you realize just why her kitchen and cooking studio have become so popular. She is a very friendly and warm person who is always interacting with the class and explaining all the Indian terms and their origins, why she uses certain cooking methods, where the ingredients come from and is constantly giving helpful tips and pointers. She keeps things very light hearted with an occasional joke here and there and the atmosphere in the studio was great.
The cooking studio is situated at the front of the room, it is quiet large, with mounted mirrors on the ceiling so the class is always in full view of what is happening.
The first dish we would be learning was Chicken Varaval or for us uneducated Chicken Masala. Latasha insists on using fresh produce and making all her ingredients from scratch. She explains how things like jarred garlic and ginger have preservatives and ruin a dish. She also leaves the bones on the chicken as they add to the taste during the cooking process. By the time Latasha has finished the first meal it is hard to concentrate on what she is saying because the Chicken Varaval looks and smells so good.
The second dish was Sambal Prawns. I’ve always had trouble cooking seafood, so watching and listening to somebody as experienced as Latasha was a big help. There was a lot of chilli’s used in this dish but it was explained that Sambal is not hot, and it’s just the taste of the chilli you get not the hotness.
The next dish was Spinach Thanni Saar(soup) which is a combination of English spinach, mustard seeds and freshly made coconut milk. Latasha set the soup on its way to cooking and started on our final dish which was Potato Podimas, which is the Indian was of saying spicy mashed potatoes.
Then came my favourite part. Eating time! And with a cheeky glass of pinot we were all given a tasting plate, with quite large portions of all the dishes we had just learned about. The Chicken Varaval (Masala) was amazing and by far the best ive ever had. Every dish had its own unique flavours and textures and they all seemed to compliment one another really well. The preparation and use of the fresh everything really showed through in the taste and presentation of the end product. I would urge anyone wanting to learn about Indian cooking to take yourself along to Latasha’s Cooking Studio.
Upon leaving we are all given a gift pack which contained, different herbs spices and recipes, so as we could attempt some of what we had learned at home. So after my initial worries that maybe I was in over my head, I took off home, gift pack in hand, to give what I had just learned a go.
Its fair to say I surprised myself. Latasha really simplified everything that had seemed difficult in the past. All in all it was a great experience and something I would love to do again.
Latasha’s Kitchen is also open from 10am-5pm, Tuesday till Saturday, with freshly prepared food and snacks
