Meet
Pranathi (City)
Pranathi is a multidisciplinary artist with a background in architecture, permaculture design, and landscaping. Originally from South India, she has called Nepal home for the past decade. Together with her husband, she designed and built both their city home and farm using natural building techniques, including rammed earth and bamboo. She is passionate about growing her own food, cooking seasonal meals from freshly harvested produce, crafting herbal infusions, and formulating natural skincare products - she loves bringing nature into everything she does! Pranathi looks forward to welcoming travelers into her unique garden-centered home and sharing the food, stories, and sustainable lifestyle that have shaped her life in Nepal.
What to expect
Please note menu might vary. If there are particular dishes you are interested in trying, please include your request in the booking form.
In-home meal:
(1-4 guests)
Join Pranathi and her husband for an in-home dining experience in Kathmandu at their beautiful Kamalpokhari home, which they designed and built using natural materials. Originally from South India and living in Nepal for over a decade, Pranathi is a passionate home cook who draws inspiration from her garden, the changing seasons, and her travels. Her cooking blends South Indian flavors with Nepali influences, using fresh, homegrown ingredients and recipes passed down through generations. During this authentic food experience in Kathmandu, enjoy a seasonal Nepali–South Indian fusion thali that may be inspired by a traditional South Indian banana leaf meal or a classic Nepali dal bhat. As you share a home-cooked meal around the table, learn about sustainable living, gardening, local food traditions, and the journey from farm to plate.
Cooking experience:
(1-4 guests)
Join Pranathi for a hands-on cooking class in Kathmandu that begins with a cup of herbal tea and a walk through her home garden. Discover seasonal herbs and vegetables, learn about sustainable food-growing practices, and pick fresh ingredients to use in your cooking class. The class takes place in Pranathi's cozy home kitchen, or outdoors in the garden when the weather permits. Pranathi draws inspiration from Ayurvedic South Indian cooking, Nepali food traditions, and the seasonal produce she grows herself.
Choose between a Nepali or South Indian menu and learn to cook two dishes from scratch in 1.5 hours. The Nepali menu may include dal bhat (lentils and rice) or alu ko achar (warm potato and sesame salad) and farsi ko munta (a seasonal delicacy made from pumpkin shoots). The South Indian menu may include rasam (a spicy and tangy soup) and thoran (stir-fried seasonal vegetables) or pachadi (a yogurt-based relish), or akki rotti (a rice flour flatbread) and yennegai with peanut chutney (stuffed baby eggplant). After cooking, sit down to enjoy the home-cooked meal you helped prepare.
This authentic cooking class in Kathmandu offers a unique opportunity to learn local recipes, seasonal cooking techniques, and tips on growing your own food.
Market visit:
(1-4 guests)
Join Pranathi for a guided market tour in Kathmandu, starting with a walk to the bustling Naxal Tarkari Bazaar, a local vegetable market just 15 minutes away. Discover seasonal vegetables, fruits, and herbs, and learn how they are used in Nepali home cooking. Along the way, explore spice shops and herbal stores to understand traditional seasonings and spice blends. Alternatively, visit a local spice mill to see how whole spices are ground and blended fresh. After shopping for fresh produce and spices, take a short tuk-tuk ride to Pranathi’s home, where your Kathmandu cooking class begins.
This immersive food experience in Kathmandu offers a deeper understanding of Nepali cuisine, market culture, and seasonal cooking.
Notes:
1. Pranathi can accommodate lactose-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, or vegan diets if informed in advance.
2. She serves a vegetarian menu.
Round-Trip Transfers:
If you choose this optional add-on, you will be picked up by private car from your hotel, accommodation, port, or other designated location and dropped off after your experience.
Languages spoken:
English, Nepali, Hindi, Kannada
Sample menu
Traveler reviews
This was so much more than a cooking class. It was an afternoon full of incredible food, fascinating conversations, laughter, dancing, and genuine human connection.
Our host picked us up from our hotel and took us through a local market, where she taught us about traditional Nepali fruits, vegetables, and spices. She was incredibly knowledgeable, and we loved getting to explore the market and pick out fresh ingredients together.
From there, we headed to her beautiful home, which she and her husband, both architects, designed and built themselves. We made a fresh chopped veggie salad, delicious lentil soup in the pressure cooker, and dessert. She also thoughtfully picked up a variety of local treats for us to sample, giving us an even deeper taste of Nepali culture. One of us is vegan and the other vegetarian, and she was wonderfully accommodating of both.
But what really made this experience unforgettable was HER. She’s warm, funny, engaging, incredibly generous with her knowledge, and genuinely interested in getting to know her guests. We talked about everything from Nepali cooking and culture to her farm outside Kathmandu, hosting guests, travel, and the challenges of making meaningful friendships as adults. My friend is hoping to create a similar hospitality experience someday, and it was so fun watching the two of them connect over their shared interests. It felt less like attending a class and more like spending the afternoon cooking with a new friend.
We were lucky enough to be her very first guests for this experience, and although she admitted to being a little nervous, you never would have known it! She was a natural host, and the amount of thought, care, and personality she put into every detail really showed.
We left with full bellies, new cooking skills, wonderful memories, and a new friend we hope to stay in touch with.
If you want something more meaningful than the usual tourist activity, book this class. You’ll learn a ton, eat delicious food, laugh a lot, and get a genuinely personal glimpse into life in Nepal. We can’t recommend it enough, and we can’t wait to see her share this wonderful experience with more travelers!
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nikhil
October 21, 2026
