Rishikesh, India
West Indian Cooking Class in Rishikesh
From Rajasthani dal baati to Gujarati dhokla - discover the bold, diverse flavours of India’s west.
About This Class
West Indian cooking covers two very different traditions: the sweet-and-sour complexity of Gujarati cuisine and the robust, wheat-and-lentil cooking of Rajasthan. This region has given India some of its most distinctive dishes: dal baati churma, dhokla, thepla, kadhi and shrikhand. Each one has a story behind it rooted in climate, geography and practical ingenuity.
In this hands-on class, you will cook across both traditions, understanding how the same wheat-and-lentil pantry creates completely different results depending on technique, spice and intent. Nandini guides every step with the warmth and patience of a Gujarati grandmother, making even complex dishes like dhokla and baati feel completely achievable.
- Bake baati (hard wheat balls) and serve with five-lentil panchmel dal dripping in ghee
- Steam Gujarati dhokla - the fermented chickpea-flour sponge that India cannot get enough of
- Roll thepla - methi-spiced flatbreads that stay fresh for days (the perfect travel bread)
- Whisk silky shrikhand from hung yogurt, saffron and cardamom
- Learn the sweet-sour-spicy balance unique to Gujarati cooking
What You’ll Cook
Dal Baati
Hard wheat dough balls baked until golden, broken open and drowned in ghee, served alongside smoky five-lentil panchmel dal - the defining dish of Rajasthan.
Dhokla
Steamed fermented chickpea-flour sponge cake tempered with mustard seeds, green chilli and curry leaves - the Gujarati breakfast that has conquered all of India.
Thepla
Thin flatbread packed with fenugreek leaves, sesame seeds and warming spices - the legendary Gujarati travel bread that is equally good fresh off the tawa or three days later.
Kadhi
Tangy, turmeric-yellow yogurt-and-gram-flour soup tempered with mustard seeds and curry leaves - the Gujarati daily staple that anchors every thali.
Shrikhand
Strained yogurt whisked with saffron, cardamom and crushed pistachios into a silky, cloud-like dessert that showcases the best of Gujarati sweets.
Masala Chaas
Spiced buttermilk churned with cumin, ginger, coriander and black salt - the essential digestive drink of the west and the perfect ending to a rich meal.
The Experience
Welcome & Western Pantry
Discover the key ingredients of West Indian cooking: besan (gram flour), fenugreek, ajwain, saffron, asafoetida and ghee - and learn how they define the unique sweet-sour-spicy-bitter balance of Gujarati and Rajasthani cuisine.
Prep & Dough Work
Make baati dough and thepla dough, prepare dhokla batter for steaming and hang yogurt for shrikhand. Learn how one pantry creates completely different results depending on technique.
Cook Together
Bake baatis, steam dhokla, roll and cook theplas, simmer kadhi, whisk shrikhand and temper every dish with perfectly-timed tadka. Hands on the entire way with Nandini guiding every step.
Eat & Share
Sit down to a proper Rajasthani-Gujarati thali: rich, layered, sweet-savoury and deeply satisfying. Leave with your recipes and a new appreciation for the ingenuity of West Indian vegetarian cooking.
What’s Included
Included
Not Included
Class Details
Why Learn West Indian Cooking in Rishikesh?
Gujarati and Rajasthani cooking are both built on a short list of ingredients: besan, wheat, lentils, ghee and spices. What makes each tradition distinct is what they do with that same pantry. Rajasthan bakes wheat into hard baatis and drowns them in ghee. Gujarat ferments besan into fluffy dhokla and balances every dish with a touch of jaggery. Our west Indian cooking class in Rishikesh teaches both in one session so you can taste the contrast directly.
Gujarati cooking is also closely aligned with Ayurvedic principles. The sweet-sour-spicy-bitter balance that runs through every Gujarati meal maps onto the six-taste framework of Ayurvedic nutrition almost exactly. Taking this Gujarati cooking class in Rishikesh, where Ayurveda is still part of daily life, gives that connection a real context. Students often tell us this was the class that finally made them understand why Indian food is the way it is.
Meet Your Instructor
Nandini
Chef & Founder, Rishikesh Cooking
Nandini grew up cooking beside her grandmother in the Kumaon foothills - measuring spices by instinct, not by spoon. What began as a personal passion became a calling when travellers kept asking: “Can you teach me how you do that?”
Today she leads every class herself. Her teaching style is unhurried, patient and full of the kind of kitchen wisdom that only comes from decades of cooking for family. She has welcomed guests from over 40 countries and takes genuine delight in watching someone master their first perfectly-puffed chapati.
Nandini speaks fluent English and Hindi, and is happy to adapt any recipe for allergies or dietary preferences with prior notice.
What Our Guests Say
Find Us
We are located in the heart of Rishikesh, easily reachable from Laxman Jhula, Ram Jhula, and the main market. Our home kitchen is a calm, welcoming space just minutes from the Ganges.
Getting Here
- →Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
- →5 min drive from Laxman Jhula
- →10 min walk from Ram Jhula
- →Classes by appointment only