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VIEW PHOTOS
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Host: Lakshmi

Kolkata (Calcutta), India

USD
$22-$32 per person

A traditional, vegetarian Rajasthani thali in Ballygunge, Kolkata

Host offerings
  • Apartment
  • Home cook
  • Pets
  • Vegetarian
  • Alcohol
  • Transportation
  • Cooking class
  • Market visit
  • Food tour

Meet Lakshmi

Lakshmi and her husband, Gordhan hail from a Rajasthani family, who are settled in Kolkata for generations. Kolkata, has a huge population of Marwaris, they are traders who originally hail from Marwar (the desert region of Rajasthan) and have traveled all over the country for business purposes. Lakshmi ancestors came to Kolkatta many years ago and fell in love with the city and have settled there ever since, running their family business. Rajasthani, is the cuisine she grew up with in Kolkata and that her husband Gordhan also enjoys from their shared heritage. Lakshmi leaned to cook as a young wife from her husband Gordhan, who learned to cook by observing the cook when he was at boarding school. Lakshmi and Gordhan eat and serve pure vegetarian food and love having friends and family over for a meal – who have always greatly appreciated Lakshmi’s cooking. In Lakhmi’s words, “I enjoy meeting and interacting with people and love to share my passion for food and cooking.” She is truly excited to share her Rajasthani heritage with travelers coming to Kolkata!

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: (1-6 guests) Lakshmi lives in a popular residential neighborhood in an established, leafy and pleasant suburb of Kolkata. The Ballygunge area has a lot of interesting things and travelers should make the most of a meal with Lakshmi to also visit the Birla temples, popular Bengali restaurants, as well as the gorgeous Byloom hand woven textiles shops! The state of Rajasthan is primarily a desert and so its cuisine is influenced by its scarcity, based on the few vegetables and grains available there. But having lived in the lush fertile plains of Bengal since birth, Lakshmi cooks traditional Rajasthani food using the large variety of vegetables available in Kolkata, to create innovative dishes. Lakshmi takes great care to ensure her ingredients are of the highest quality and grinds her own spices and flours and even churns her own butter!

A few Rajasthani dishes that you will try at Lakshmi’s dining table are dal bara (a spiced savory fritter) or dahi vada (fried lentil dumplings, topped with curd), gatte ki sabji (cooked gram flour dumplings which are added to the spicy curd gravy), missi roti (flatbread), vegetable pulao and paneer (cottage cheese) in a cashew nut gravy. Your meal will end with a dessert called rabdi (a sweet, condensed-milk-based dish) and Darjeeling tea from the family tea garden.

Cooking experience: (1-6 guests) Join Lakshmi in her favorite place at home – the kitchen, for a one hour hands-on cooking class. Learn to make the popular and traditional Rajasthani dish, gatte ki sabji (cooked gram flour dumplings which are added to the spicy curd gravy) from scratch. First you will learn to knead, roll and cut the dough to make the dumplings. Then you will learn to make the gravy in which the flour dumplings are cooked. You will end your cooking class learning to make a classic Indian dessert, rabdi (a sweet, condensed-milk-based dish) or then a spiced savory fritter, dal bara. Lakshmi will provide you recipes at the end, so that you can concentrate on cooking!

Notes: Lakshmi only serves vegetarian food.

Languages spoken: English, Hindi

Sample menu

This is just a sample menu to give you an idea of the types of dishes the host cooks. Your menu will vary according to seasonal availability.
  • Appetizer - dal bara (a spiced savory fritter) or dahi vada (fried lentil dumplings, topped with curd)
  • Mains: gatte ki sabji (cooked gram flour dumplings which are added to the spicy curd gravy), missi roti (flatbread), vegetable pulao and paneer (cottage cheese) in a cashew nut gravy
  • Accompaniments: masala papad, kachori chutney
  • Dessert: rabdi (a sweet, condensed-milk-based dish)
  • Darjeeling tea from the family tea garden
PERSONALLY VETTED REVIEW
A Traveling Spoon ambassador visited this host. Here is their personal review.

Lakshmi and her husband are warm and generous hosts who share their interesting Rajastani heritage and family journey with guests through the cooking and eating of a delicious vegetarian traditional thali. Lakshmi's dedication to quality ingredients means she makes everything from scratch including her own butter, flours and spices. It was great to also combine the experience with other local highlights like the Byloom textile shop, two local temples and some excellent restaurants all within easy distance of Lakshmi's house. The experience was excellent and I do recommend it. I loved the traditional dishes of Rajasthan and I saw the different ways gram flour is used so versatile but most of all it was the tea from the family tea estate that we shared and the story behind it that I will remember most.

Michele and Darren, Traveling Spoon Ambassador

Traveler reviews

5.0 (1)
Lakshmi openly welcomed my Dad & I into her home, treated us like family & gave us an experience to remember. She personalised our menu to our preferences & taught us how to cook our favourite dishes (with exact measurements & the correct spices). Even with my slight medical emergency, she was kind, accommodating & insistent on teaching me exactly how to cook the meal. Lakshmi even printed the detailed recipes & ended the meal with a lovely pot of Darjeeling Tea from the family estate. It was lovely getting to know her & her husband, and the food was delicious. I look forward to trying to replicate it at home once I find the best spices for the job. Would highly recommend, the food was unbelievable!
- BecsySmith May 12, 2019
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Lakshmi

$22-$32 USD

per person
100% VETTED
Learn more
  • 100% satisfaction guarantee or your money back
  • Credit card is not charged until the host confirms your booking
  • Private experience
Pricing (per person)*
1 person 2-4 ppl 5+ people
In-Home Meal
 $28 $22 $22
Cooking Experience + Meal
 $32 $28 $28
*Does not include 3% payment processing fee applied at checkout.
1 person 2-4 ppl 5+ people
In-Home Meal
 $28 $22 $22
Cooking Experience + Meal
 $32 $28 $28
*Does not include 3% payment processing fee applied at checkout.
Experience Timings
 Lunch Dinner
In-Home Meal
 12:00pm-2:00pm 7:00pm-9:00pm
Cooking Experience+ Meal
 12:00pm-3:00pm 6:30pm-9:30pm

Meet Lakshmi

Lakshmi and her husband, Gordhan hail from a Rajasthani family, who are settled in Kolkata for generations. Kolkata, has a huge population of Marwaris, they are traders who originally hail from Marwar (the desert region of Rajasthan) and have traveled all over the country for business purposes. Lakshmi ancestors came to Kolkatta many years ago and fell in love with the city and have settled there ever since, running their family business. Rajasthani, is the cuisine she grew up with in Kolkata and that her husband Gordhan also enjoys from their shared heritage. Lakshmi leaned to cook as a young wife from her husband Gordhan, who learned to cook by observing the cook when he was at boarding school. Lakshmi and Gordhan eat and serve pure vegetarian food and love having friends and family over for a meal – who have always greatly appreciated Lakshmi’s cooking. In Lakhmi’s words, “I enjoy meeting and interacting with people and love to share my passion for food and cooking.” She is truly excited to share her Rajasthani heritage with travelers coming to Kolkata!

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: (1-6 guests) Lakshmi lives in a popular residential neighborhood in an established, leafy and pleasant suburb of Kolkata. The Ballygunge area has a lot of interesting things and travelers should make the most of a meal with Lakshmi to also visit the Birla temples, popular Bengali restaurants, as well as the gorgeous Byloom hand woven textiles shops! The state of Rajasthan is primarily a desert and so its cuisine is influenced by its scarcity, based on the few vegetables and grains available there. But having lived in the lush fertile plains of Bengal since birth, Lakshmi cooks traditional Rajasthani food using the large variety of vegetables available in Kolkata, to create innovative dishes. Lakshmi takes great care to ensure her ingredients are of the highest quality and grinds her own spices and flours and even churns her own butter!

A few Rajasthani dishes that you will try at Lakshmi’s dining table are dal bara (a spiced savory fritter) or dahi vada (fried lentil dumplings, topped with curd), gatte ki sabji (cooked gram flour dumplings which are added to the spicy curd gravy), missi roti (flatbread), vegetable pulao and paneer (cottage cheese) in a cashew nut gravy. Your meal will end with a dessert called rabdi (a sweet, condensed-milk-based dish) and Darjeeling tea from the family tea garden.

Cooking experience: (1-6 guests) Join Lakshmi in her favorite place at home – the kitchen, for a one hour hands-on cooking class. Learn to make the popular and traditional Rajasthani dish, gatte ki sabji (cooked gram flour dumplings which are added to the spicy curd gravy) from scratch. First you will learn to knead, roll and cut the dough to make the dumplings. Then you will learn to make the gravy in which the flour dumplings are cooked. You will end your cooking class learning to make a classic Indian dessert, rabdi (a sweet, condensed-milk-based dish) or then a spiced savory fritter, dal bara. Lakshmi will provide you recipes at the end, so that you can concentrate on cooking!

Notes: Lakshmi only serves vegetarian food.

Languages spoken: English, Hindi

Sample menu

This is just a sample menu to give you an idea of the types of dishes the host cooks. Your menu will vary according to seasonal availability.
  • Appetizer - dal bara (a spiced savory fritter) or dahi vada (fried lentil dumplings, topped with curd)
  • Mains: gatte ki sabji (cooked gram flour dumplings which are added to the spicy curd gravy), missi roti (flatbread), vegetable pulao and paneer (cottage cheese) in a cashew nut gravy
  • Accompaniments: masala papad, kachori chutney
  • Dessert: rabdi (a sweet, condensed-milk-based dish)
  • Darjeeling tea from the family tea garden
PERSONALLY VETTED REVIEW
A Traveling Spoon ambassador visited this host. Here is their personal review.

Lakshmi and her husband are warm and generous hosts who share their interesting Rajastani heritage and family journey with guests through the cooking and eating of a delicious vegetarian traditional thali. Lakshmi's dedication to quality ingredients means she makes everything from scratch including her own butter, flours and spices. It was great to also combine the experience with other local highlights like the Byloom textile shop, two local temples and some excellent restaurants all within easy distance of Lakshmi's house. The experience was excellent and I do recommend it. I loved the traditional dishes of Rajasthan and I saw the different ways gram flour is used so versatile but most of all it was the tea from the family tea estate that we shared and the story behind it that I will remember most.

Michele and Darren, Traveling Spoon Ambassador

Traveler reviews

5.0 (1)
Lakshmi openly welcomed my Dad & I into her home, treated us like family & gave us an experience to remember. She personalised our menu to our preferences & taught us how to cook our favourite dishes (with exact measurements & the correct spices). Even with my slight medical emergency, she was kind, accommodating & insistent on teaching me exactly how to cook the meal. Lakshmi even printed the detailed recipes & ended the meal with a lovely pot of Darjeeling Tea from the family estate. It was lovely getting to know her & her husband, and the food was delicious. I look forward to trying to replicate it at home once I find the best spices for the job. Would highly recommend, the food was unbelievable!
- BecsySmith May 12, 2019
Pricing (per person)*
1 person 2-4 ppl 5+ people
In-Home Meal
 $28 $22 $22
Cooking Experience + Meal
 $32 $28 $28
*Does not include 3% payment processing fee applied at checkout.
1 person 2-4 ppl 5+ people
In-Home Meal
 $28 $22 $22
Cooking Experience + Meal
 $32 $28 $28
*Does not include 3% payment processing fee applied at checkout.
Experience Timings
 Lunch Dinner
In-Home Meal
 12:00pm-2:00pm 7:00pm-9:00pm
Cooking Experience+ Meal
 12:00pm-3:00pm 6:30pm-9:30pm
ABOUT TRAVELING SPOON

Traveling Spoon connects you with meaningful culinary experiences, from private cooking lessons to homecooked meals in people's homes. Enjoy an immersive cultural experience that gives you a glimpse into the local way of life.

FAQ

    You can cancel your reservation up until 48 hours before your experience for a full refund minus a 3% processing fee. Experiences within 48 hours are not refundable.

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    Some hosts offer alcohol as an optional add-on for travelers who are of legal drinking age. Pricing for alcohol is visible on the host profile page and includes one to two glasses of wine, beer or local alcohol.

    Have a flight or other tour planned and can’t make the timing provided? If the timing listed on the host’s profile doesn’t work for you, our hosts can often accommodate timing changes. Because all of our experiences are private our hosts are happy to tailor experiences to meet your travel needs. Simply note your request in the booking process.

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    Hosts typically respond to booking inquiries within 72 hours. If for some reason you have not heard from your host or if you have any questions you can always contact us at reservations@travelingspoon.com.

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    Some hosts offer transportation as an optional add-on for travelers. Typically this is round trip transportation with pick up and drop off at your hotel. Pricing is quoted per car. Specific instructions for transportation will be provided in your confirmation details when your booking is confirmed.

    Many of our hosts accommodate solo travelers. You can see if a host accepts solo travelers by looking at the traveler range found next to the experience descriptions on the host profile (indicated by the numbers in parentheses next to "In-home meal", "Cooking experience" and "Market visit").

    Most of our Traveling Spoon experiences are incredibly family friendly and can accommodate infants and children. If a host is unable to accommodate children that will be noted in the “Notes” section of their profile. Our child pricing policy is children aged 5-11 are 50% off, and infants aged 0-4 are free.