On the first day of the new year, I signed our group up for a cooking class at Pink City Cooking. I had connected with Bunty on WhatsApp a few days earlier and made all of the arrangements with him. It turns out that Bunty was only the middle-man. The real chef was Bunty’s lovely wife, Dimple. Dimple doesn’t speak much English so Bunty and their daughter were there to help with translations.
Bunty and Dimple were like the Indian uncle and aunt that everybody wish they had. They were warm, humble, funny, patient, loved kids and on top of that, Dimple could cook like nobody’s business.
Dimple started out by showing us how Indians make masala chai at home. Masala chai (spice tea) for Rajasthanis is considered a basic necessity. Most Rajasthanis will have chai at least twice a day, once in the morning at breakfast and once in the afternoon at tea. It is usually served in a small clay or ceramic teacup and taken very hot and very sweet. Each family has its own way to prepare masala chai with variations as to the kind of tea, spices and how much milk and sugar. Dimple showed us the way her family makes it with their preferred combination of spices which if I remember correctly, included green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
The part about Indian cooking that has always intimidated me is the vast array of spices. Dimple set out trying to demystify Indian spices. She showed us her spice boxes – three plastic containers, each with seven small bowls containing colorful spices. She explained the spices most common in Indian cooking and when to use them. There are about 20 to 30 spices that she uses on a regular, if not daily basis. Although I am far from being able to use these spices confidently, I do know a little bit more about this aspect of Indian cuisine.
Over the course of the next few hours, Dimple taught us how to prepare a full vegetarian menu that included biryani rice, paneer masala, dhal, potato and eggplant, and chapati. Everybody, including the kids, were eager to take part in the preparation work and cooking. Under Dimple’s gentle guidance, we all helped to cut, chop, pour, measure, stir and flip. While chopping vegetables, RY sliced his finger. With so many people pitching in, it was lively and chaotic.
To be honest, I’m not sure how it all came together, but by the end of two and a half hours, we had prepared three dishes, a rice and a bread.
It was time to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Despite being completely vegetarian, this was one of the most delicious meals we had tasted so far in India. Maybe it wasn’t just the food alone, but the entire process of preparing the food, learning about the cuisine, being with Dimple and finally enjoying it together, that made it so special and memorable.
Over the delicious meal, we had a chance to chat with Bunty, Dimple and their daughter. Their daughter is studying engineering in university but she shared with us that she also has a side hustle. She took us upstairs and showed us an apartment that she has decorated and rents out on Airbnb and other rental platforms. Downstairs on the first floor, Bunty has a jewelry business that has been in his family for a few generations. We stayed a while a looked at the necklaces of semi-precious stones and silver rings displayed in the modest showroom.
Now that the bigger picture was coming into view, I admired this family even more. Each of them is building their own business with support and encouragement from each other. Bunty has the jewelry business, Dimple has the cooking studio and their daughter, still in college, has the rental unit.
Seeing the epic sights in India are a must, but the time we spent with Bunty and Dimple is the type of connection and inspiration that I am always searching for when we travel. Our lives intersected for just a moment in time. That moment allowed us to meet a beautiful family building their livelihood with love, generosity, sincerity and passion. I thought of Mohammed and his family at the Old Egyptian Village Restaurant in Luxor and Chloe at Astrikas Biolea in Crete. All over the world, in countless different ways, people are building amazing, creative, niche businesses to earn a living and improve their lives and the lives of their children. Today was the first day of 2024. I was grateful to start the new year with Bunty and Dimple.
