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While Adam Ruderman, of West Pittston, chopped some fresh ginger root on a recent Friday morning, Paula Chaiken of Shavertown peeled garlic cloves and Doug Evans, of Mountain Top, whisked black pepper into a beaten egg.
It was the second lesson in a four-part series on Indian cooking, taught by Kavita Syed from the Letts Eat restaurant in Wilkes-Barre, and hosted by the new Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston. (The center is so new its Grand Opening is set for 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, and the public is welcome.)
The kitchen was big enough to comfortably fit nine participants plus their teacher and her helper, and give everyone a chance to chop and stir and fry.
“The class filled up very quickly,” said Taly Kornfeld, who like Chaiken, is a JCC board member as well as a student in the inaugural cooking class. The board members expect the series will be the first of many that will reflect various cooking traditions.
The dish of the day was Indo-Chinese Chicken, an entree whose ingredients included chicken, cumin, turmeric, salt, black pepper, cauliflower, bell pepper, red onion, soy sauce and ginger-garlic paste.
“We’ll have scallions and cilantro for garnish,” Syed said.
“I love the smells,” Carmine Carrato, of Hazleton said, explaining she is a fan of Letts Eat and, when she read about the JCC class on the restaurant’s Facebook page, she was delighted to sign up. “I’m not a real spicy person, but my husband is, and you can adjust the spices in a dish.”
“I have two pans,” Syed continued. “One for vegetarian and one for non-vegetarian.”
Soon Karin Hohn of Mountain Top was frying chicken in a pan while Alison Kovalchik and Ellen Greenberg, both of Shavertown took turns frying cauliflower florets that would play a large role in the vegetarian version.
Indian cuisine is a new venture for Kovalchik, who said that brisket is her specialty at home. “That’s what everybody seems to like best.”
While the fryers finished frying and Chaiken sliced scallions for garnish, Ruderman thought of a beverage.
“Who can ‘go to India’ without tea?” he said, rounding up a few helpers to peel cardamon seeds and bring out other spices to add to a pot of chai tea.
“It smells like Christmas,” Hohn said.
“It does smell really good,” Kornfeld said.
Hohn said she appreciated seeing how Syed enhanced the flavor of the food, first by adding a fresh paste of ginger root and garlic and later by using minced onions as a thickening agent. “When I tried making Indian food at home before, it was bland,” she said.
Cooking classes are just one example of what the Friedman Jewish Community Center, located at 613 S J Strauss Lane in Kingston, just off Third Avenue and next to the levee system, has to offer. Its programs range from an early learning center to classes for senior citizens, a fitness center, a food pantry, educational speakers, fitness classes specifically designed for people with Parkinson’s Disease, banquet halls and an outdoor patio where receptions can be held.
You can learn more about its various programs if you attend the Grand Opening from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday. The event includes interaction with Harlem Wizard basketball players, a chance to win a flat screen television and refreshments. For more information, call 570-824-4646 or see friedmanjcc.org.
