Rashmi's Recipes

As a westerner, it is wonderful to find Rashmi's cooking classes! She teaches Indian cooking in a way that is easy to understand and quick to prepare. She also teaches classes for Indians who have been cooking Indian food for 40 years, yet want to learn how to do it in half the usual time. Her website offers lots of delicious recipes. I want to take more of her classes!

Really great experience!My team and I did a team-building/offsite cooking class with Rashmi, and everybody loved it! She's very patient, thorough, and if you love Indian food (and, I imagine, even if you don't, you'll likely change your perspective a bit) you'll eat this class up :-)Don't be afraid to bring and share a couple wine bottles with her, depending on the size of your group, as well -- she seemed to appreciate it :-)We got to eat together in her backyard, which was a truly relaxing and enjoyable experience in and of itself.In short, it was a very warm and inviting few hours, not to mention tasty and educational. Many team members took home her collection of spices, which she wasn't pushy about at all, and did seem like a good deal, on top.Strong recommend, and if you're thinking about cooking classes, or even just informally cooking with your friends/team/family, in a cozy, home setting, with someone who's definitely very knowledgeable and passionate, Rashmi's cooking class is the one.

This was so much fun! I really enjoyed all of the dishes and best of all, Rashmi has all of the spices that you would need to make the dishes at home available for purchase at the end of class. All I have to do now is go and buy a few ingredients! The Pakoras were the best ever and the desert was simple, healthy and delicious. Also, The education behind what types of legumes are used in Northern Indian cooking was very interesting. I take a lot of cooking classes but this class I will take again. Thanks Rashmi!

I ordered a spice kit for my brother who loves cooking with authentic spices from all over the world. The reviews were all great, packaging beautiful, spices expertly combined...all of the things we hope for and expect when ordering online. But what I didn't expect was kindness.I sent an email with my order explaining that it was my brothers birthday and I wouldn't mind paying more for an expedited delivery so that it would arrive on time.Within minutes, I received a response from Mrs. Rashmi ...she was kind enough to cover the extra cost. Karma...kindness ...shop where it matters.

We had a team building cooking session with Rashmi.. she was a fabulous teacher and host.I highly recommend this for corporate team building

Had an awesome time last night learning how to cook Indian food. Rashmi was very prepared and focused, as well as entertaining and informative about the history and health benefits of the food she was cooking. We had an opportunity to learn about short-cuts to save time but not compromise flavors, she provided ample opportunities for us to get hands on, and answered many of our questions. It was quite a treat to make the food together and to share the meal afterwards. I liked having the recipes on-hand to take notes, and also have recommendations for particular brands of ingredients or where to locate them here on the SF Peninsula. Overall a great cooking/cultural learning experience. I highly recommend Rashmi as your guide to learning about Indian cooking.

Rashmi's class was a terrific, hands on get together for a work team building event in her home. In addition to learning a lot of great background on the dishes and ingredients, she was energetic, an excellent story teller, and able to manage a party of rowdy work colleagues. Her recipes and food were better than any Indian restaurant I have ever experienced.

I loved our class with Rashmi. She is very friendly, inviting and warm, not to mention a great chef and teacher. She was very flexible with the menu options and makes the complex cuisine seem easy and possible for anyone. She took time to explain all the ingredients in detail and had many of the recipes ready to go with most of the prep work completed. It was a fun and delicious evening!

NOT A CLASS FOR PEOPLE WITH BUSY LIVES!Have you ever:-- been to a cooking school where your private class was canceled a couple of hours prior (despite the fact that you have taken time off, stayed in town for the weekend, synched your schedules, hired a babysitter, etc.)?--PAID GOOD MONEY for a group cooking class where the instructor told you she was surprised more people didn't stay past 9:30 p.m. to do the clean-up? (Sidebar: My mom is still laughing at this because she loves to cook, and she wants people to pay her to do the dishes, too!)--received a menu for a cooking class only to find that some of the menu items were completely done before the class?--been told, in writing, that the size of your cooking class would be a maximum of 6 people only to show up for the class to discover that there are 10 people in total?If it all sounds too good to be true, Rashmi's class might hit the spot. And, hey, if you want to pay her to crowd into a 5-foot opening by the stove with ten other interested cooks and then stay to do some dishes, she will allow that as well. In all fairness, Rashmi is quite articulate and charming (a communicator and actor by training), she has a nice home kitchen (although quite small for eleven people), and the food was good. With regard to the last minute cancellation, she claimed she had a family emergency. I understand that things happen. What I have difficulty comprehending was how there was no attempt on her end to make up for the special private class birthday plans that were squashed by her at the 11th hour, and how, later, at the group class there was no attempt to provide a warning or compensation for the change in promised class size. With regard to the private birthday class Rashmi canceled, her subsequent emails were about group events. When I made an effort to set another date, she told me that, with a couple of exceptions, she was booked a few months out (due to her daughter's wedding). After planning in advance for a private cooking class, setting a menu, coming to an agreement on the terms, planning to stay in town, and hiring a babysitter, waiting to celebrate my husband's birthday four months past the date seemed a little silly. So, when Rashmi sent an email with a menu for an upcoming group class I talked my husband into it. Rashmi promised, "There will be a maximum of 4 other people besides you two."Six steps into her home, we discussed walking out, but we were still both interested in learning Indian cooking, and...there was the babysitter we arranged for the second time. We stayed and learned that a few menu items were pre-made, and many of the steps were done ahead of time. (To learn how those things were done, she basically told us to refer to her blog!) When I wrote to ask her for explanation, rather than apologizing for not keeping to her written word about the class size, she wrote, "I am disappointed that very few people helped with the chopping, cooking and cleaning last night."(Note: if you want a higher percent of attendees doing "hands-on" work, keep the class to a size that is reasonable for "hands-on" work in a private kitchen, and if you want people to stay to do the dishes, perhaps it is best to advertise that the class will be expected to scrub pots at the end.)Save yourself a lot of time, a ton in babysitting fees, and the frustration of trying to make somebody hold up their end of the bargain. Learn the recipes and techniques using the blog. According to her note, the blog is there because she enjoys cooking and teaching others. It is a great resource. Once you have read the blog, if you still are eager to pay to do some dishes, please drop me a line, and I'll put you in touch with my mom!===============================UPDATE: After this review was posted, Rashmi was very generous in offering us a free private class to answer any questions we still had. (There was still no apology for the class size debacle.) However, we did send her emails stating our concerns and letting her know that we were planning to write a review. Although Rashmi was very communicative and responded more than once to our email, no free class was offered until the review was posted.

From the first phone call with her, I knew that it was going to be a wonderful experience. She answered me right away and helped me plan an unforgettable birthday party for my friend.We were 10 women cooking together in her kitchen in Mountain View, and we all felt like we were in our homes. Rashmi taught us how to prepare gourmet Indian cuisine and also enriched us with her knowledge of spices and legumes. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Rashmi!