Sharmini's Inspirational Indian Cuisine

Sharmini's Inspirational Indian Cuisine

Sharmini's Inspirational Indian Cuisine
5
About
Sharmini Thomas, from Kerala (God’s own country) is now settled in York (God’s own county) has been teaching Indian cuisine for the City of York Council for the past 18 years. In addition, Sharmini provides team building events to Corporate clients through the ‘medium’ of cooking; client networking events; hands - on cookery workshops.
Duration: More than 3 hours
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.

Top ways to experience nearby attractions

Are you currently on your trip?
Help us find experiences available for you.
The area
Address
Reach out directly
See what travellers are saying
  • SimonLock
    York, United Kingdom26 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Excellent introduction to Indian Cooking for my Grandson
    I've attended one of Sharmini's Indian Cuisine courses previously and we bought another one, as a Christmas present, for me to introduce my 11 year old grandson, Harry, to Indian cooking. Harry absolutely loved it. The introduction to the spices in their 'raw' form was really enlightening. Understanding how they are grown, and what they look and smell like, really adds to the confidence when including them in the curries. The support from Sharmini, and her right hand woman, Helen, throughout the day really helped and gave Harry the confidence that he was doing things correctly. Sorry there isn't a pic of the actual food that Harry prepared. He ate it too quickly!!
    Visited February 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 21 February 2024
  • Davemortman
    Doncaster, United Kingdom9 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Fantastic experience
    What a fantastic experience , Sharmini is a fantastic chef who is clearly passionate about her craft. Sharmini is an excellent teacher and ensured the whole class went on the journey together. The class gave me the skills and confidence to try new dishes and I look forward to the next class …
    Visited March 2024
    Travelled solo
    Written 4 March 2024
  • Steven R
    7 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great way to spend a day
    Had a full day course, was a brilliant day. Was a great opportunity to ask about the spices and how to use them from a knowledgeable expert. It was a relaxed day and would recommend to anyone that has an Interest in Indian cooking. A good mix of demonstration and hands on experience. Helen did a fab job of keeping us supplied with tea coffee and Ingredient's.
    Visited April 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 21 April 2024
  • Tom S
    3 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    1/2 day experience
    Me and my 15 year old son took part in the 1/2 day experience. It was a really well organised event with a good balance of instruction, demonstration and cooking. We made two fantastic curries and learned lots of techniques and principles you could apply to other recipes. Sharmini was a fantastic teacher and the quality of the food we produced was lovely. A really nice thing to do with my son who is interested in cooking as well as giving him some valuable life skills. Highly recommend.
    Visited April 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 21 April 2024
  • Peter S
    1 contribution
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Layering & Quantities - Indian Spice lessons!
    Attended the 6 hour Sharmini’s Indian Cuisine Cookery School last Saturday. I learnt so much about layering the spices and their quantities that will help me going forward with Indian cookery for the rest of my life! An excellent session well supported by Sharmini, Helen & the other 8 chaps who made it a lovely all round experience. Thanks to my family for making it possible.
    Visited April 2024
    Travelled solo
    Written 22 April 2024
  • Lloyd S
    5 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Fantastic
    I enjoyed a fantastic experience on the half day 4hr class. Sharmini’s knowledge and experience is what makes the course extra special. Whether you are a complete novice or an experienced chef, you will definitely take away lots good tips to improve your skills whilst having a great time doing so. The group size was just right too. Thanks again Sharmini, my family loved the curries!
    Visited May 2024
    Travelled solo
    Written 29 May 2024
  • Mike
    5 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Returning for another course!!
    A friend and myself attended the cooking course 2 days ago and had an extremely enjoyable day. We had attended a previous course with Sharmini in 2018 and enjoyed it so much we always intended to do another course. We are enthusiastic home cooks who enjoy traditional Indian food. Sharmini is an excellent teacher who has a good sense of humour and is extremely patient. The day involves demonstrations and hands on cooking of a variety of dishes. Helen was an admirable assistant able to produce the necessary ingredients and equipment just as you needed them. I would certainly recommend this experience and although I was with a friend the other 6 students were all solo yet everyone got on well and bonded through a shared love of Indian cuisine.
    Visited June 2024
    Travelled with friends
    Written 1 July 2024
  • Danny W
    1 contribution
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Loads of learning in half a day
    My son and I went to the half day cookery course and had a fantastic time. We learnt loads of useful tips about layering a recipe and the patience needed to colour vegetables and meats. Since the course we have enjoyed putting our new skills into practice.
    Visited October 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 21 October 2024
  • David H
    Pocklington, United Kingdom4 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great day great food
    My wife and I attended Sharmini's cooking class and had a very enjoyable day. We both increased our knowledge In Indian cooking and created some fantastic food. Sharmini is a fantastic teacher and makes everything look so easy.
    Visited October 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 21 October 2024
  • Denise T
    1 contribution
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Learning to make a biriyani
    I'm a novice in Indian cookery. Sharmini was very encouraging and demonstrated each process. She is an excellent teacher and I felt much more confident by the end of the session. This was an excellent course and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Indian cookery.
    Visited October 2024
    Travelled solo
    Written 24 October 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
5.0
5.0 of 5 bubbles104 reviews
Excellent
102
Very good
2
Average
0
Poor
0
Terrible
0

Sami S
2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2024 • Couples
We went to Sharmini’s full day Vegetarian/Vegan cooking experience - it was brilliant! Sharmini contacted me in advance to ensure I was okay with the vegan alternatives, and the recipe book from which we cooked was both delectable and effortlessly adaptable. We were given Sharmini’s expert advice and homely tips, leaving us feeling like we’ve walked away with increased knowledge and wonderful memories to boot. 10/10 would recommend!
Written 23 November 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Joanne S
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2023 • Solo
Recently attended the half day cookery course with Sharmini. Was given a red letter days voucher by work colleagues and was not disappointed by the experience I selected. Pre-event information was detailed and Sharmini took the time to find out what I wanted to learn before arriving. Her attentiveness continued throughout the course, putting us all at ease to ask any questions and draw from her wealth of experience. It was a great blend of practical tips, demonstrations and the opportunity to cook the recipes provided. Our group was a good mix of abilities and believe everyone got something out of it. I took away so many tips and the confidence to recreate these dishes at home. It was a truely immersive experience into South Indian cooking and would thoroughly recommend to anyone wanting to hone or learn new culinary skills. As others have mentioned big shout out to Sharmini's assistant Helen who looked after us and tirelessly ran around after us the entire course!
Written 25 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

karenrZ5694NN
Redcar, UK3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2024 • Solo
What a wonderful day I had. I wasn’t experienced in Indian cooking at all but Sharmini and her team gave me the confidence and inspiration to make some delicious dishes. I learnt a lot about the different spices and how to use and store them. She even changed the menu plan beforehand when I mentioned a food I didn’t like. Through her encouragement throughout the day my confidence grew and I have gone on to cook a delicious chicken dish at home for the family. For anyone who is wondering about attending this cooking day I would say you will have a fantastic time.
Written 24 November 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

JoDa10
York, UK58 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2022 • Couples
I first found out about Sharmini’s cookery school after reading in the local press that she had won a National award for her classes. I thought what a great present this would be for my wife and I as we have done several cookery classes together. I managed to get us on a course in March run from a local school.

I have to say this was one of the best cookery courses we’ve been on. She is a very warm and welcoming person as is her support person called Helen. Sharmini has such an in-depth knowledge of Indian cooking and a natural way of imparting this knowledge to students.

Throughout the day we cooked several dishes that sounded complicated but in fact weren’t. Our fellow students were obviously keen cooks and we all agreed that the course was extremely informative, well run and excellent value for money.

We enjoyed the labours of our morning at lunch, and took home the dishes we made in the afternoon. Since then we have successfully recreated her dishes easily at home, and both learnt a lot more than we already knew.

We would highly recommend Sharmini’s cookery classes and you will definitely learn something new even if like us you’ve done other courses. In short she explained everything well and made it simple.
Written 15 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Louise Jackson
4 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2022 • Solo
I was bought the vegan/vegetarian day as a present from my husband and children. It is up there as one of the best gifts ever!

I spent the day making 4 curries, jeera rice and some poori (fried bread), ate some of what I cooked in the morning for lunch and have also come home with 4 containers full of food.

There were 8 of us there, you are partnered up but you each cook your own food.

Sharmini starts of by talking us through each of the spices, then demonstrates how to make the curries. She explains about layering the spices, waiting for the right aroma to be released before moving onto the next stage. We then went to our workstations and began making our own.

At every stage Sharmini or Helen checked on you to make sure you understood and had everything you needed. You also have the help of your partner if you think you misheard or are unsure of the next step.

The day absolutely flew by, we ran out of time to make the accompaniment but Sharmini demonstrated it and made sure we had the ingredients to take home and make it there.

She demonstrated an Indian rice pudding, which we got to try and the end of the day. Honestly, it was the tastiest rice pudding I have ever had and will certainly be attempting to make it myself!

You get a booklet with all of the recipes and methods in to keep, you can also use this to make notes on during the day. I bought myself an apron (really good quality) for £15. Sharmini also sells recipe books and spice kits which contains her own brand of garam masala.

So, I'm having curry for my tea and I can't wait to attend another class soon!

Thank you Sharmini and Helen.
Written 14 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Zoe R
Driffield, UK6 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2019
I had an unforgettable experience at Sharmini's Inspirational Indian Cuisine at the Yorkshire Wolds Cookery School. Sharmini lived up to the title - she was truly inspirational!

The day started off with a hands (and nose!) -on introduction to spices which was informative and fun. The cookery workshop which followed was excellent. We learned how to prepare and cook an impressive array of dishes and Sharmini created a very relaxed and informal atmosphere. The Yorkshire Wolds Cooking School is also very impressive and provided a state of the art environment with individual work stations and equipment to hand.

Sharmini demonstrated each step of the preparation before we were let loose on the ingredients. Dishes ranged from Butter Chicken (Murg Makhani) to Lamb Jalfrezi and onion pakoras to desserts like Carrot Halwa (which was delicious!) , plus side dishes. Somehow we managed to fit in time to have an enjoyable lunch and chat too!

Sharmini was so good at explaining techniques, how to produce perfect rice as well as explaining a bit about the history of dishes and ingredients, what the names meant and how and when they were enjoyed in India. It was a truly authentic experience as Sharmini is not only an experienced tutor and teacher, she has also always cooked traditional Indian food for her own family.

The dishes I cooked received an enthusiastic response from my own family. I have used the recipes many times since at family events and dinners when guests are always suitably impressed. I can also heartily recommend Sharmini's excellent cookery book: Sharmini's Inspirational Indian Cuisine which has clear recipes that are easy to follow and wonderful photos.
Written 8 September 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

david s
Leeds, UK81 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2022
This course was really good. The main lesson we took was that we needed to be more patient with our approach and to let the meal build by adding the spices and ingredients properly. We cooked a meat, fish and rice dish plus a pakora, all of which we ate either at the course or when we got home. Strongly recommended and a shout-out to the people supporting Sharmina making sure we had all the right ingredients and pots.
Written 26 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mike C
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2023 • Solo
The half day course, which was a Christmas present from my children, turned out to be a weekend in York as well. The whole weekend was fantastic and the course was amazing. Although I went on the course on my own I couldn't have met a nicer and friendly bunch of people. Sharmini made everyone feel truly valued and introduced aspects of Indian cooking that were especially relevant to each of our personal needs. Throughout the day we were encouraged to ask questions and always received professional replies and tips. Layering of spices and tempering I will always remember. We were shown how to prepare and cook several dishes (many useful techniques demonstrated) and then we had a go at doing it ourselves. The kitchen smelt wonderful as twelve individual "chefs" prepared a tasty Indian curry. I must also thank Sharmini's assistant, Helen, who was kept very busy providing help and advice throughout the session. Overall an excellent experience. And what a wonderful city York is!
Written 15 May 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

John S
3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2023
I recently spent an enjoyable day cooking tasty food with Sharmini and Helen. The day was a Christmas gift from my wife. Thanks Deb! Sharmini and Helen worked together well to put the group at ease and allow friendship and humour to emerge.
I enjoyed Sharmini’s informal, open manner and constant encouragement for the group to ask questions. Her answers were always helpful and respectful.
I learnt the simple steps to follow to create a tasty curry using onion, garlic, ginger, green chili and selected spices. And then to add the vegetables or cooked pulses to the curry base.
The day was full of learning that I will be using for years to come.
Written 24 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

adarsh51
Derby, UK3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Solo
A Full Day cookery course with Sharmini Thomas, from Kerala (God’s own country)..
She is a renown tutor in the Kerala cookery and today we had a full-day cookery course as demonstrated by her and followed by our own cookery under advise and guidance from her and her assistant Helen. It was an excellent cookery course so well planned and executed by Sharmini & Helen. Despite being in a lovely group of ' chefs', we had personal one to one input from both of them. I strongly recommend it for the beginners as it was so well organised in purpose build 5 star hotel !
Written 10 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 104
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

SHARMINI'S INSPIRATIONAL INDIAN CUISINE (2025) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

All York HotelsYork Hotel DealsLast Minute Hotels in YorkHotels near Sharmini's Inspirational Indian Cuisine
All things to do in York
Amusement Parks in York
RestaurantsFlightsHoliday RentalsTravel StoriesCruisesCar Hire