Renuka Patel is the original spice girl - she started her boutique cookery school in north-west London over 15 years ago. She teaches curry lovers how to make healthy and authentic Indian food from scratch. Ren has an extensive repertoire and she teaches a wide range of Indian dishes from all regions of India. Ren’s students come from far and wide, and are of all ages, from novices to confident chefs.

The foundation of all classes is Ren’s Spice Masterclass, a sensory journey through the world of Indian spices and ingredients, where students taste each spice to explore their features and purpose. 

Ren has created her own range of spice kits, Ren’s Blends, a collection of her delicious recipes in convenient pre-measured kits, with the unique Chilli-Ometer, so you can choose how wild or mild you want your dish to be.

In this episode, we talked about:

• Ren’s family made everything from scratch and she remembers enjoying in the kitchen as a young girl

• Her summer job at Harrods led to a full-time job. She went on to work in the city and was then made redundant when she was pregnant with her first child

• She decided to start a food business of her own and the idea of teaching people to cook came up as an idea from friends

• “Spices perplex people”

• The importance of tasting ingredients, not just smelling them 

• Supermarket ground spices don’t always dissolve and can taste ‘sandy’

• Supermarket whole spices have been heat-treated for preservation, as raw spices are vulnerable to bacteria. Heat-treatment lowers the quality 

• Buying from the ‘world food aisle’ instead of the jars of spices is a better purchasing choice

• Cumin is one of the world’s most used spices- taste a few seeds. If they are from the supermarket, they will be roasted and taste crunchy. It’s a robust flavour and will make your mouth water. It becomes bitter if it’s roasted too much. It’s an aromatic, so there’s no heat. Cumin seeds are added to oil at the beginning of cooking a curry. Cumin powder is added to layer the flavour

• Spices should only be cooked once more than that and they will burn

• Ways of cooking spices: roasting (flat pan without oil), grinding with a pestle and mortar, tempering (added to hot oil)

• Coriander seeds are citrusy and aromatic. They are a light yellow/ green colour. They can be added whole for crunch and flavour

• Black mustard is a contradiction, as the mustard flavour is removed when it’s added to hot oil. It’s also an aromatic

• Garam masala: garam means ‘warming’, or heat providing. Masala means ‘mix’. It comes from North India and includes cinnamon, clove, cumin and bay leaves. When you smell it, it reminds you of Christmas

• Masalas are vegan and can be used creatively. Three different masalas will add variety to your food. They can be used wet, dry, cooked or raw

• You can make dishes as hot as you wish to

• Magic paste: equal quantities (volume) of chilli and ginger ground into a paste with a little water- can be kept in the fridge and freezer and used at the table to add heat

• You have to taste chillies before you use them so you can gauge the heat

• Whole, dried red chillies gently add flavour to the food and give depth

• Ground red chilli powder are an instant hit of heat

• Ren calls fenugreek ‘the armpit spice!’ It can be used in seed, leaf or ground form. It can be used in breads such as parathas and freezes well, but it has a strong flavour

• Only whole and raw spices should go into the bottom of the pan. Ground spices are added to something wet (otherwise they will burn)

Resources

Website

Instagram

Keep in Touch with Avni:

Sign up for my free course ‘5 Days to Wellness with Ease’