The Workshop/classes description

I would like to demonstrate some healthy, vegetarian cooking and talk about the health benefit of all the spices that I use in my cooking. You know that Indian cuisine is based on the foundation of Ayurveda - the ancient science that balances the mind, body and spirit. My classes provide a foundation to balancing tastes, observing and using the basic spices of fennel, cumin, ginger, saffron and other essential ingredients.

Make better use of spices by discovering the many health benefits provided by the spices in addition to the flavor and taste. You can be more creative in use of spices if you know its uses better. Some may be a substitute for your costly medicine.

Secrets of Healthy Indian Food

My aunt cooked Indian food that was out of the world. She was not a professional cook, but her home cooking was professional quality. She only knew how to cook Bengali Indian food. Rice, curry, greens, dal, fish, hand-made bread, lamb, prawn, and rarely, a dessert or fruit chutney.

I learned a lot of my dishes from her. I got the basics, and then I added my own fine tuning.

One common thing I noticed I have about my aunt's home cooking and my cooking is our focus on the health aspects of the food. She never used artificial flavor or color, she  never used preservatives, and she always used fresh vegetables, fish or meat. In Calcutta or Bengal back in those days, we never knew anything that was not organic. Here in New York, I always use organic. It makes a big difference when it comes to the quality of my preparations. People write wonderful reviews. It makes me very happy.

Many Americans and Westerners have no idea that Indian food could be healthy and delicious at the same time. But we can't blame them for their ignorance. Most Indian restaurants you visit -- whether in New York, New Jersey, London, Rome or Paris -- serve food that is quite tasty but high in sugar, fat and cholesterol. Plus, many of these restaurants use ingredients that fill you up instantly, and you feel heavy and overstuffed as soon as you get out of the restaurant. You do not want to do anything for the next few hours: your energy level does not keep up with you.

Problem is, if you eat this variety of Indian food, you drastically reduce your chances to live long. Your altered metabolism does not help your heart and other vital organs. Eating food made out of genetically modified crops is also a sure-shot way to get life-threatening diseases. Therefore, I'd strongly recommend that you opt for a healthy-and-delicious variety. Of course, I'm biased about my own cooking and my home-based little entrepreneurship Mukti's Kitchen. But honestly, I'm just asking that you found out the difference between a run-of-the-mill Indian and a real Indian -- real, home-based Indian cuisine that helps you to keep healthy.