Needham Community Education

Summers in India are hot and humid. The scorching Indian summer heat can often lead to dehydration, lack of appetite, indigestion, and malnutrition. Indian cuisine, however, can offer a variety of options for meals that are cooling for the body and easy to assimilate. We will prepare Pani Puri, a cold popular street food of small round puris, stuffed with sprouted moong beans, chickpeas, and potatoes, then smeared with sweet and sour date chutney and finally filled with a spicy mint water. We will also make chutney sandwiches with cilantro and peanut spread with cucumbers, tomatoes, and beets–ideal for a lazy afternoon meal. We will end with Falooda, a dessert imported from the Muslim world, of milk sweetened with rose syrup, speckled with chia seeds, and topped with ice cream. These dishes are ever so popular in India and yet hard to find in local Indian restaurants. Let’s have a summer soirée! A $20 ingredients fee is payable to the instructor in class. Limited to 12.