A monthly cooking class by Curry Masala is offering more than a dash of spice for local foodies and fans. The restaurant owners take time away from their kitchen to introduce area cooks to a wealth of family recipes and a cuisine as varied as their East Indian homeland.

Al Rodriguez and his wife, Justine Ashokar, initially had thought they would host one cooking class. It proved to be popular, as cooks and food fans returned time after time, bringing along friends and other foodies to take part. Now classes are held on the second Saturday of each month from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the restaurant on West Main Street.

"It's a new food for a lot of people. They think that curries are all hot, which isn't true. Another belief is that curry is one compound rather than a mix of spices," Rodriguez said.

Because there are trees that produce curry leaves, many people thought that was the only spice within a curry. But a true curry can have a dozen different spices and range in taste from mild to fiery hot, he said.

"Many people shy away from Indian food because they believe it's all hot and don't understand the different spices used in the dishes," Ashokar said.

The couple's goal is to demystify the use of spices in curries, break down foods by ethnicity and then finally embark on the cooking process. It all results in recipes that can be easily reproduced for an authentic Indian meal.

"Indian cooking is so varied and rich," she said.

The couple wants the cooking students not only to make a dish, but to understand its medicinal value and health benefits, and spices' role in preserving foods. Within a single recipe there may be two millennia of the historic Chinese and Greek spice trade, so taste tests of these spices are a requirement of their curriculum.

"When I do the cooking classes, I do four different items," Ashokar said.

This will include a rice, vegetable, meat and bread. Once students have finished with the class, they will have participated by kneading bread, fashioning their own curry and making enough food to take home to share with family and friends.

"It's really neat sharing what we do here because we enjoy it. It's a part of our culture," she said.

The couple arrived in South Dakota in 1991, where Rodriguez pursued his master's degree in engineering at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Two years later, the family moved to Rodriguez's new job at a Los Angeles engineering firm. They later opened their own engineering business in San Jose, Calif. Yet, something was missing.

"We wanted to come back to South Dakota. We liked this place and we had made a lot of friends here," Ashokar said.

After working in the engineering field for years, Rodriguez was ready for a change.

"I wanted to do something different. I noticed there weren't any Indian restaurants in town," he said.

Rather than take the immediate plunge, they thought out the kinds of food they would serve. When Rodriguez asked Ashokar about what recipes they would use, she was shocked.

"What recipes? We don't have any recipes," she said.

So began the laborious task of writing down the measurements of the favorite foods that their parents had taught the family to make by sight, smell and taste. But they wanted to be able to reproduce the same delicious dish time after time, which meant writing out a recipe.

They use chicken, lamb and beef on their menu. But more foods include eggplant, turnips, peas, carrots, cauliflower, mushrooms, lentils and legumes. Ashokar also has signature flatbreads and vegan-friendly dishes.

"We don't use oil in our curries. We're trying to keep the food healthy because we eat here, too," she said.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com.

Recipes for creating your own authentic Indian meal

After Al Rodriguez and Justine Ashokar began offering monthly cooking classes in Indian cuisine at their restaurant, Curry Masala, they soon discovered ingredients that they took for granted were hard to find. They now stock a variety of exotic ingredients for their classes and those wanting to cook an authentic Indian meal.

Vegetable Curry

2 pounds vegetables (mixture of cut potatoes, cauliflower, peas, carrots, green beans)

2 yellow onions, julienned

1 teaspoon ginger (paste)

1 teaspoon garlic (paste)

4 tomatoes, diced

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon fennel powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

2 cups coconut milk

3 tablespoons oil (vegetable or canola)

2 teaspoons salt or more to taste

1-1/2 cups water

Heat the oil. Reduce the heat, add the dry ingredients of turmeric powder, fennel powder, cumin powder, chili powder, coriander powder and stir them for about a minute. Then add ginger, garlic, onions and tomatoes and stir for a few minutes until the onions are slightly brown. Add salt and the remaining vegetables and stir. After 5 minutes, add coconut milk and water. Increase the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat. Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender. It goes well over rice. Serves 6 to 8.

Chicken Masala

4 pounds chicken, cubed

2 yellow onions, diced

2-inch cinnamon stick

10 cloves

6 cardamom pods

2 teaspoons coriander powder

2 teaspoons black pepper powder or more to taste

1 teaspoon chili powder or more to taste

2 teaspoons turmeric powder

2 teaspoons cumin powder

1 teaspoon fennel powder

3 teaspoons ginger (paste)

3 teaspoons garlic (paste)

4 tomatoes, diced

5 tablespoons oil (vegetable, canola or coconut oil)

2 teaspoons salt or more to taste

Heat the oil. Reduce the heat and add dry ingredients of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, coriander, pepper, chili powder, turmeric, cumin and fennel, stirring for a minute. Add ginger and garlic paste and stir for two minutes. Add onions, tomatoes and cook until the onions are translucent. Add chicken and salt. Cover and simmer until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Then, remove lid and increase heat while stirring to reduce any excess liquid. Serves 6 to 8.