On Friday August 21st, we made our way to Maan Farm Estate Winery in Abbotsford. We were booked in for an evening of learning how to cook an authentic Indian Meal from start to finish. On the menu for this evening was a Butter Chicken Meal.
Upon arrival we showed our tickets, check in and followed the instructions of where the cooking evening was being held. We wandered around the back of the store to a barn around back. It was pouring rain out but the lights and set up in the barn was not hindered by any of it.
Due to Covid 19, it was a socially distanced evening. The tables were set up per group that was attending, and the names of the booking party was awaiting the arrival of its occupants. On the table were some glasses for drinks, a bottle of chilled water waiting to be drank, cutlery and a recipe booklet to follow along with for the evening. Inside the booklet on each recipe was a notes section (a pen was provided) where could mark down any notes that you picked up along the way as each dish was demonstrated. I enjoyed this little touch and made use of the notes section.
For appetizers, it was the veggie Pakoras, which tasted very fresh. Each person was given a portion of their own. For the main meal itself, as titled by the evening, was Butter Chicken, served with a side of Rice Pilaf and a side serving of Roti. The aromas that filled the air were magnificent and mouth watering. To my surprise, as I think was to a few, I never would have thought about adding spices and oil to my pot as well as an onion before putting in the rice and allowing it to cook together – the results are very tasty indeed. For dessert, we has a chocolate tart with fresh strawberries and pie with ice cream – maybe the next cooking class we take can be to learn how to make these. Each person was given two drink tickets for the evening which we enjoyed through the meal, himself their strawberry lemonade and I had a glass of each of their wines, which I’m thinking the blueberry one is now my favourite.
We ended the night by purchasing one of their spice boxes and took home our recipe booklet with talks of attempting these recipes at home by ourselves the weekend after. Unfortunately we didn’t get around to it that weekend but we have since completed the challenge. I won’t lie, it wasn’t as quick and easy as it seemed, the first time making any of these dishes for us but we enjoyed it none the less while figuring it out and dancing around the kitchen. The end result – we did a pretty good job. Improvements to be made on making the Roti and the thickness of the Butter Chicken but overall it was a success.
I’ll be sure to keep my eye on the next Mama Maan’s Cooking Adventures at the Maan Estate. It was a lot of fun and new recipes were learned for a nice cooking experience.
-A
GazingBlueEyes 