Nepalese Home Cooking Master-class
With Lina Guatam
Monty’s of Kathmandu, 28 Eustace Street, Temple Bar, Dublin
2.
www.montys.ie
Last Monday, in the cosy
wood-panelled basement room of Monty’s of Kathmandu, I was part of a small
group who witnessed Lina Guatam’s sense-tingling demonstration of Nepalese
cooking. Guatam, a sunny presence and
excellent communicator who pitches her masterclass perfectly, begins by passing
around samples of the various spices before proceeding to cook two mains and
two side dishes with great efficiency and little fuss.
As this is a ‘home cooking’ class, the emphasis is on simplicity and the mains – achari chicken (pickled chicken curry) and chao chao (noodles) are hearty affairs that anyone could rustle up provided they had access to the spices. The side dishes – chana chat pat (chick peas with red onion, chillies and lemon juice) and aloo dum (potatoes with yoghurt and tomato) – provide good ideas on how to de-monotonise starchy fare.
Gautam has plenty of sensible tips for those with rudimentary cooking skills but there is never a sense that she is talking down to us. Along with a glass of wine, we are given a sample of each dish as soon as it is cooked, all of which leaves us nicely teed up for the excellent three course meal that follows the class. At a very reasonable 50 euro for the class and meal combined, this is well worth a punt.
As this is a ‘home cooking’ class, the emphasis is on simplicity and the mains – achari chicken (pickled chicken curry) and chao chao (noodles) are hearty affairs that anyone could rustle up provided they had access to the spices. The side dishes – chana chat pat (chick peas with red onion, chillies and lemon juice) and aloo dum (potatoes with yoghurt and tomato) – provide good ideas on how to de-monotonise starchy fare.
Gautam has plenty of sensible tips for those with rudimentary cooking skills but there is never a sense that she is talking down to us. Along with a glass of wine, we are given a sample of each dish as soon as it is cooked, all of which leaves us nicely teed up for the excellent three course meal that follows the class. At a very reasonable 50 euro for the class and meal combined, this is well worth a punt.
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