Tarla Dalal (centre) demonstrates a recipe in Jamshedpur on Thursday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Around 200 women were seen religiously jotting down notes at Michael John Auditorium in Jamshedpur on Thursday.

After all, they were getting lessons from celebrity chef Tarla Dalal, who for three hours demonstrated recipes and gave tips for some lip-smacking cooking. If asked, they might have confessed that they were more attentive here than they had been at college.

The popular cook book author had come to the city as a guest of Jamshedpur Green Steel Ladies Circle, a wing of Ladies Circle India, an apolitical and non-sectarian outfit.

The 15-member outfit (city chapter) held this unique workshop to raise funds for charity through sponsors.

“Everybody cooks at home, but we offered an opportunity for women to learn from a master chef like Tarla Dalal, whom people have only seen on television. Depending on the amount generated from the show, we’ll decide on how to uplift rural lives,” said outfit secretary Priyanka Singh.

For the veteran Dalal, cooking is serious business, but enjoyable too. Apart from spices, she also showed more than a pinch of her humour. “Dishes can go wrong, but don’t let that spoil your mood,” she quipped.

“A beginner should always start her journey in the kitchen with something easy to prepare. You can’t apply for a degree course after school. I am preparing something you can learn easily,” she said.

Her fail-proof recipes were Bombay curry soup, moong dal panki, paneer and corn quesadilla (a Mexican recipe), potato roast and apple jalebi.

She also shared some culinary secrets. “To use leftover idlis, dip them in water, cover them and microwave for two minutes,” she said.

Dalal also advised the audience to eat healthy. “Go in for atta and not maida, as the latter is hard to digest,” she said.

Chief guest Rakhee Agarwal, the better half of Seraikela-Kharsawan deputy commissioner R.K. Agarwal, proved to be one of the most diligent students.

“I am taking notes as there is so much I didn’t know. Dalal is a celebrated chef and learning from her means a lot to a homemaker,” she gushed.