Indian Cooking Class with Ruth

For Christmas, Ruth's boss gave her a free cooking class from his wife, Julie Little, who teaches at the Blue Ribbon Cooking School. Julie told Ruth to bring a friend, and I was incredibly grateful to be chosen as her cooking date for the night.

We met up downtown, walked up to her car on Capitol Hill, swung by Paul's place to drop off some Gatorade and bananas (he wasn't feeling well), then headed to Eastlake to the school. The location of the school is amazing - right on the water, in what was apparently an Azteca some time ago, but is now a perfect space for teaching cooking, and for holding events (they do weddings). One entire wall of every room is windows looking out on the lake, and there's a patio/dock on one end of the space, too.

We were greeted warmly by the staff, met Chef Julie, and were pointed to where we could get an apron and a cocktail. There was beer and wine, as well as two homemade cocktails inspired by the Indian theme of the night - a tamarind drink and a ginger cosmopolitan - both of which were delicious and perfectly refreshing on a hot almost-Summer evening. They also had a strawberry-mint drink and a lavendar lemonade that were non-alcoholic, and equally tasty.



Once nearly everyone had arrived, we washed up and got started making some appetizers - curry puffs (aka samosas) that Julie gave us a quick lesson in making, then set everyone to work trying their hand at rolling out the dough, adding filling, and sealing them shut. Chef Mark (an assistant for this course) set to work himself with a large wok of hot oil, making some spicy corn vada balls, and got some of our classmates up and running frying up the curry puffs. As batches of each were ready, they were passed around for everyone to enjoy.



While we noshed, Chef Julie introduced us to the basics of Indian cooking. We learned that Indian cooking uses primarily spices, not herbs (the reverse is true of many other Eastern culinary traditions), that 'curry' is a word used in Indian cooking to describe any stew-like dish, and she passed around containers of the key spices of Indian cooking. We also walked through how to make the spice mix garam masala, learned why it should be made fresh (ideally) and why we shouldn't bother with the powdered stuff in a jar (the aromatics are all but lost), and were all encouraged to make some for ourselves to take home.

Chef Julie then walked through all the dishes we'd be making, and then asked who'd like to do what. Ruth was excited about the Tandoori fish recipe, so we both pulled an Arnold Horshack ("ooh-ooh-ooh") and got picked for that dish. It turned out all it entailed was peeling garlic and ginger, tossing it in a food processor with spices, oil, and tamarind paste, then marinating the fish for awhile. (Later we laid the fish out on parchment lined baking sheets, and broiled the fish for about 10-15 minutes.)



Since we had so little to do with the fish, we also took on frying up the papadums. We had a lot of fun when we realized we could use the tongs to 'free-form' the softened papadums into shapes before they dried and hardened. The goal was to create a swan, which Ruth very nearly pulled off.




Other students in the class were busy making lamb biryani, curry chicken, raita, chutney, lentil daal, rice, and seemingly countless other Indian dishes. The two kitchens were a flurry of activity.



During our downtime, Ruth and I got a chance to chat a bit with Chef Julie, and she asked what I do for a living... then recanted and asked what I do in my spare time, so I told her I cook and write about food. She talked about how the class is mainly aimed at beginners, but I assured her I was definitely learning new things and having a great time - and took the opportunity to ask some questions. It was wonderful to get to ask a chef questions about terminology and ingredients, and her enthusiasm toward teaching was readily apparent. We went to the back kitchen to get the fish in the broiler, and talked about Thai vs. Indian 'curry' and showed me galangal - a ginger-like root that I've not yet worked with. She also showed me her favorite Indian cookbook, Curries Without Worries, which is unfortunately out of print but still can be tracked down on Amazon and elsewhere.



Somehow, despite a very wide range of experience levels and many people just getting their feet wet with cooking, everything turned out beautifully. It seemed like, all of a sudden, a long banquet table was filled with food and our noses were filled with amazing, rich, spicy smells.



I was only able to capture photos of a few of the finished dishes, but did load my plate up with a little of everything. Ruth and I found a seat and were joined by Dylan, a lawyer who's friends with the owners of the cooking school and lives on a houseboat just down the block. We had a great conversation and ended up invited to swing by his place on Saturday when we're out on the electric boats - even though he'll be away. He assured us his wife, Misha, would love to have a boat full of strangers dropping by.













Just as we were finishing up our meal, Chef Julie brought out dishes of a dessert they'd prepared of ricotta cheese & sugar mixed, then baked, then cut into circles and coated with a mix of cream, spices, and pistachios. The creaminess and richness of the spices made it seem decadent, without being filling, heavy or overtly sweet.



And Chef Mark brought out decaf coffee for everyone - which I normally wouldn't go for, but the presentation and pairing with thick, whipped cream on top was too enticing for me to pass up.



As things wrapped up, Ruth & I got a chance to chat with Chef Julie and our host, Bryce - an old friend from my days up at Western Washington University. They, and the rest of the staff made us feel so at home, and all the little touches made it such a great experience. I highly recommend checking out a class there if you get a chance.

Blue Ribbon Cooking School
2501 Fairview Ave. E
Seattle, WA 98102
206-328-2442