Chennai Dosa Making Class & Home-Dining Experience with Jyashree

What your day looks like

Host Bio: Attention to detail is Jyashree's signature cooking talent. She still follows the traditional way of cooking and uses authentic, traditional vessels and organic country vegetables to prepare South Indian Iyer cuisine, which is vegetarian by definition. Her ammamma (mother's mother) taught her that the smallest detail has the ability to elevate simple, everyday dishes to the level of masterpieces. Jayashree would watch as her grandmother prepared gulab jamuns, an elaborate dessert that requires hours of patience and skill, from scratch and as she steamed idlis (a simple traditional South Indian breakfast staple) to perfection. Her grandmother would line the idli batter with a homespun muslin cloth to give it extra texture, the kind of additional detail that has long been abandoned by most cooks for the sake of efficiency. Jayashree focuses on these small touches to bring an extra element of care and refinement to her cooking. She says, "Now when I cook, I don't just use her years of experience and favorite earthen pots that have passed down from generation to generation in the household, I also think "what would ammamma do?" And so when you sit at my dining table, I'd like to think you'll meet some part of her too - a feisty feminist and homemaker whose way of life shaped me in her mold." Jayashree lives in a comfortable home with her husband and their three beloved dogs. They look forward to welcoming you to their table and sharing their South Indian culture and cuisine with their guests. "Food in my house is not just something we eat - it is a central part of our life and relationships." Meal Description: Jayashree prepares a traditional South Indian Iyer sapaad, a vegetarian Tamil Brahmin spread consisting of a wide variety of dishes all prepared with fresh, seasonal ingredients and served on a banana leaf. You'll taste dishes such as sambar (lentil and tamarind based stew with country vegetables), rasam (peppery soup of puréed tomatoes, spices, and tamarind or lemon), vegetable poriyal (sautéed vegetables with regional spices and freshly grated coconut), moorkuzhmbu (spicy yogurt gravy with coconut, red chilies, mango and curry leaves), and a vegetable roast (either potato, cauliflower or colacassia, marinated in spices and fried to golden brown perfection). The meal is accompanied by rice and handmade dosas (crispy South Indian crepes). You will also sample Jyashree's homemade pickles and chutneys, which vary based on the seasons, such as lime and tender mango pickle, sweet and sour mango pickle, dhal (chutney made of red chilies, garlic, and grated coconut) or her green tomato, chili and garlic chutney. End with a homemade sweet, perhaps her badam kheer (a creamy, cold dessert made of ground almonds, milk, and saffron) or a payasam (a dessert made from milk or coconut milk, sugar or jaggery, mixed with tender coconuts, bananas or jackfruit).