About us
Our Story
Hi! My name is Shashi and I was born in a village. My village is 200 km away from Udaipur. I got married at the age of 19 and it was an arrange marriage. We have not seen each other before marriage. But I was lucky, that he was handsome and a very understanding husband. But unfortunately he died in 2001. He was murdered by one of his close friends. And in this tough time no one was there to support me. I was all alone to fight for justice. But unfortunately as there was no support, the murderer came out of the jail after one year.
I am a Brahman by religion and in our religion there are many strict rules and regulations to be followed after the death of the husband. And as per those rule and regulations I was not allowed to step out my house for one year and for 45 days I used to sit in one corner of the room. Everyday form 6 in the morning to 5 in the evening, ladies of my community would come to my place and used to cry. Then, after all the ladies would leave, I prepared food for me and my children. After having our dinner I cleaned everything and then again go to that corner and sleep.
This was my daily routine for those 45 days. In those times, in our religion widows were not allowed to remarry. I am not allowed to wear red, organ or any bright color sarees and I can’t wear glass bangles and heavy jewelry. With time things have changed, now can wear different color clothes.
I have two children, and both of them are boys. When my husband died my elder son was 7 years old and the younger one was 5 years old. I was all alone, as my parents and my mother in law and father in law were also not there in this world to support me. I have two brother in laws, even they didn’t helped me. I was just 32 years old when my husband died. As I was from a village there were no good schools so didn’t had the opportunity to have a proper education and therefore was not able to do a job. I didn’t have enough money as my husband was in a private job. So to earn money I washed clothes of foreign tourist, did cleaning and washed dishes in neighbors houses for 4-5 years. But in our religion all these are not included in good jobs.
Then by the grace of God, a man from Ireland came to Sunrise restaurant, and I used to live in the room just below the restaurant. Owner of that restaurant was my husband’s cousin brother (his uncle’s son). As that Irish man used to come daily at the restaurant, my two sons and that man became good friends. My sons invited him to our place for dinner, I prepared dinner for him and he really liked the food. Next day again he came for dinner and at the dinner table he said that I really make good food and suggested me to start Cooking Classes. After hearing this I was really motivated and thought to give it a try. But my brother in law said that I don’t know English language, while he was saying all this that Irish man was standing there only, he said you just start it, and as the time will pass you will learn the language. That Irish man really motivated me to start cooking classes. After having words with him I gathered all my courage and started cooking classes by the name “Shashi Cooking Classes”. And now by the God’s grace and help of foreigners I can speak in English and know the names of vegetables, fruits and all the basic words used in cooking in different languages.
Today I have my recipes written in many different languages, foreigners from different parts of the world come to “Shashi Cooking Classes” to learn authentic Indian food. They all have made me strong, independent and have really helped me grow as an individual and they all have also helped me to write my recipes in different language. So today I have my own recipe book, and recipes written in different languages.
By the God’s grace today my cooking class’s name is there in “Lonely Planet” and “Trip Advisor” as “Shashi Cooking Classes”.
I am really thankful to all those who have helped and supported me to reach the position where I am today. Thank you to all..!!
Testimonials
Best cooking class I had. Shashi and her family are so inviting! The food was delicious! We learnt to make so many different Indian recipes. Definitely a must do in Udaipur
This class was the highlight of our 2 months in India. Shashi and her family kindly welcomed us into their home and went far beyond just teaching us how to make many tasty dishes. We spent over four hours cooking, talking and eating with Shashi, her son, daughter-in-law and adorable granddaughter. We were given a detailed recipe book and taught the skills to make all the dishes with tips about how to make them back home too. This class has you making everything from scratch, including some spice blends. She even had spices prepared that would be hard to find in Canada that we could take home for incredibly reasonable prices. They have a new location a little off the beaten path, but it is totally worth going for an authentic, home cooking experience. The food was delicious and plentiful (make sure to come VERY hungry). Excellent value for your money. Thank you to Shashi and her family for such a genuine, heartwarming evening.
We had a really nice experience at Shashi Cooking Classes. We learnt a lot - very good basic information and skills about Indian cooking to make different meals. Shashi is more than lovely and a good teacher with assistance of her family members. After cooking we had the self prepared diner and the meals tasted better then the meals we had in many restaurants. Price for the class is more then reasonable! So really recommended cooking class. Thanks again for the nice experience! ♥ï¸
Absolutely wonderful and super yummy experience. Shashi's daughter in law is a fantastic teacher and her helping husband an amazing chopper of anything. We absolutely loved the whole experience A to Z and even met a nice traveling couple in the group to compare traveling notes with. We really highly recommend everyone to take this class when in Udaipur.