Indian Appetizers

Indian Appetizers is a hands-on Indian cooking class at Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens on Thursday, November 12, from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. It's built for beginners, so you don't need to know your way around a spice rack to get something out of it. The whole point is to get your hands dirty and actually make the food yourself rather than just watching someone else do it.

The menu covers three distinct appetizers. You'll make tandoori pepper chicken sliders, chana masala served with bhaturas—the fried leavened bread that usually comes with it—and vegetable pakoras, those savory fried fritters that are a staple of Indian street food. Between the three, you're getting a good spread: a meat slider, a hearty chickpea dish, and a fried vegetable snack. It's a decent cross-section of flavors to walk away with.

Once the cooking is done, you don't just pack up and head home. You'll sit down and eat what you've made, served with cilantro sauce and a glass of wine. It turns the class into a full evening—you spend the first part of the night learning how to put the dishes together and the second part actually enjoying them. If you've ever wanted to try making Indian food at home but weren't sure where to start, this is a low-stakes way to do it.

The class runs from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM on Thursday, November 12, at the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Columbus. You'll walk in and leave with three new recipes in your repertoire.