Angela Malik Cookery School

I purchased a deal from Groupon which turned out to be a real bargain.
My class was in Indian cooking and was amazing. I am a complete novice cook but the team were so helpful and kind and did everything to help and everything was explained clearly.
There was a learning task at the beginning too which I have taken to using when testing out my skills at home.
I am so pleased I went and it was lots of fun too. Will definitely be attending again and will take my fiancé along too!

I was bought a cookery day with Angela Malik as a gift and was in two minds whether I could be bothered to trapse all the way from Suffolk to West London and even more deterred when I discovered that the Stratford to Acton overhead line was not working — courtesy of the 2012 Olympics no doubt.
However — cutting a long story short, I Just returned from my «Delicious Indian» class and have to tell you that the title didn’t disappoint! Thought I had a rough idea about Indian flavours and how to cook, but my knowledge paled into insignificance against the amazing dishes we created under Angela’s guidance — the ensuing gastronomic surprises were awesome!
It was fun — it was interesting and I even got a take-​away to bring out. There was no hard sell on products sold in the deli-​store frontage which encouraged me to spend a lot more than I would have done if it had been shoved under my nose.
If only I lived closer. If you get a chance or want to give someone a truly memorable gift I would heartily recommend this course.

I’m very late putting this up: especially unforgiveable given that this was absolutely my favourite Qype event so far!
«Walk into the deli at the front of the shop, accept a very chilled glass of wine, decompress. Awake taste buds (which you’ll need shortly) by nibbling bread loaded with their signature pestos. Peer down the demo room lined with long stainless steel tables, stations awaiting chefs. Or Qypers, at any rate.»
Blogged here:

And I’ve added my photos to the gallery above. Thanks again Eamon for organising — it was a great event and somewhere I wouldn’t have discovered if Qype hadn’t introduced me to it.

Angela Malik is rarity in celebrity chefs, a part of the action rather than just a name. Angela’s recent excellent review by journalist (and winner of celeb Come Dine With Me) Toby Young who had Angela cater for his guests
has raised her profile just at the point she brings ‘New Favours of The East’ to the West (London).
I went along to her Dim Sum & Gyoza course organised by Qype to sample a flavour of a variety of Asian cuisines she prepares and teaches.
I left home in North London and headed to her school, I was there in 25 minutes. Other reviews have spoken of problems of their journey but the Acton Central on the Overground is literally next door so make a connection with the (almost) orbital route round Richmond-​Stratford, so take this path and you’ll be cooking in no time.
The school is combo shop fronted delicatessen that is a foodies paradise with the bold ANGELA MALIK sign that suggested to me that I was in for a treat.
I was greeted by samples of Angela’s tasty perception shifting fresh ‘pestos’ with crudités and crackers. I tasted the fragrant fresh dips made out of ginger, coriander and spices and realised if this was called a curry or chutney’s they’d be used with Indian curries only. However their association with Indian food is limited, these pestos are versatile, just like their Italian namesake. A multi-​use ‘pesto’ was a dip and can be used a crusty marinade for a pork loin (we tried this: delicious and succulent). Angela also cooked her coriander based pesto with tiger prawns (soaked in tamarind water) and coconut milk for an almost instant prawn green curry– this IS proper fast food!
I’d recommend heading to her Acton shop or foodie paradise Borough Market on Saturday to hunt out these versatile pestos.
I worked for an ad agency on a pitch for Heinz, I learnt that Heinz ketchup satisfies your 5 taste senses, however I’ve never thought about my cooking bringing in this flavour theory.
Other reviews have commented on Angela’s 5 taste senses theory– interesting and relevant. Without a doubt you’ll utilise what you’ll hear about your own cooking and replacing ingredients you don’t have with a flavour group food.
Darn! Got no tamarind?
Use a dash of vinegar! (they’re both sour flavours)
The main part of the teaching lesson was not Indian but Japanese (gyoza) and Chinese (dim sum).
During the creation of dim sum, (I made a dumpling that looked like an envelope) I hid it behind a bottle. Angela came over to me to check my skills and spotted the strange shape dumpling hiding and questioned whether this was a samosa-​dim sum? I commented, ‘yes, this is a nu-​fusion-​pan-​Asian creation’ and that I’d happily co-​brand these Eastern fusion accidents long as I get half the profits ;)
However, I went away full, happy and made my Sunday lunch guests some gyoza’s two days ago to test my skills. My guests were delighted, and so was I.
Highly Recommended.
N.B: Review with pictures on my blog:

Of all the things available just off the Uxbridge Road — cheap Chinese buffets, obscure bingo parlours and many a pizza joint, you don’t expect to find a place for gastronomes. But Angela Malik’s shop and cookery school seems to fit the bill.
The shop itself is stuffed full of intriguing titbits, yumsies and quirky ingredients all designed to persuade you to get out your wallet — and then there’s the kitchen just behind the shop, which simultaneously looks industrial and welcoming.
The chefs on hand — Angela, Geoff, George — were all incredibly friendly in guiding us through the mysteries of the kitchen, what goes into making the taste sensation of the tongue and of course top quick tips for cooking. Don’t overcook pork.
I was there thanks to Qype for a session on how to make dim sum — I’d had some prior experience from my Dad — but the expert knowledge and guidance from Angela’s team created much tastier dim sum while still somehow retaining that home-​cooked feel.
We also had some samples of her delicious range of Indian pestos — I haven’t been a huge fan of ‘Indian’ food up till now but I might just have to explore the true Indian palette in a bit more detail. Now I just need to pop back to get some more … groceries…

If ever there was a reason to head to deepest Acton on a rainy February night, it’s to learn Asian cookery from a Scottish-​Indian former fraud investigator Angela Malik –who really knows her onions.
I headed to her cookery school recently to try my hand at making dim sum. To be honest I was a little sceptical as I have done a raft of cookery classes while travelling through Asia, and they amounted to not much more than a demonstration, with fiddly, obscure ingredients.
So this cookery school was a revelation. First of all, we were welcomed with wine and homemade dips and chutneys. Then we heard from Leiths-​trained Angela about her ‘five tastes’ philosophy. She bases her creations around hot, sweet, salty, sour and umami flavours — and believes the combination of these make a balanced and delicious meal that ‘sings in the mouth’.
But there were many more revelations and insider tips we learnt about perfecting the art of Asian cooking. Angela urged us to venture beyond familiar mass-​market brands such as Pataks, for instance, saying: It’s never been east of Greece. She also reminded us about the origin of chilli; it’s nothing to do with Asian cuisine culture but from Mexico. Equally, for the hot element of your dish, you could use black pepper, ginger, garlic, wasabi or cumin.
Geoff, Angela’s lovely assistant, showed us how easy it is to make a fragrant and tender loin of pork by sealing it, smothering it in their own ‘pesto’ and roasting it for just 45 minutes. When it came to preparing and cooking our own dim sum and gyoza, instructions were clear, guidance plentiful and the resultssublime.

Like the other Qype Ninjas who’ve reviewed the Angela Malik Cookery School, I also attended the Qype Dim Sum Cookery Lesson event there this week. I work in West London so thought it would be a doddle to get to, but was proved wrong. I took a tube and bus to get to the School and then had to walk down a long, dark street to get there. On the way home I took the Overground, which is directly opposite the school, so if you decide to come to a class here, definitely try to work the Overground into your journey plan. Tube and bus routes are not exactly straightforward, and having lived in London for 15 years, I really can say that.
I arrived late, but so did several others, who, like me, had left work early to get to class, which started at 6pm. In truth, this is far too early for Day Job Qypers if we are to be there on time, and others at the event held the same opinion.
The shopfront was warm, welcoming and filled with shelves of familiar Asian ingredients, along with some Angela Malik brand goods, namely her pestos and chutneys. The teaching kitchen was down the back, a long room with plenty of light and a long, central work station. Everything looked clean and practical, and following an excellent introduction, taste discussion and demonstrations by Angela and her trusty resident chef, Geoff, we broke into groups to have a crack at making our own Dim Sum.
Well, I definitely need to practise; I won’t be opening a Ping Pong anytime soon, but I can say that the ingredients and instructions worked beautifully, and although Angela was visibly torn in all directions whilst trying to help us, advise us, stop us from ruining good food etc, Geoff was an able backstop for her, calm and courteous and emminently skilled in his own right. Meanwhile, George, also from the school, topped up our wine glasses with such subtletly throughout the evening that it seemed as if they refilled themselves by magic.
In spite of thoroughly enjoying my Angela Malik Cookery School experience, the location is too out of the way for me, so although I’d be more than interested in her market and foodie tours, I doubt I’ll be attending her school in Acton. Having said that, if she opened a second schoolroom somewhere closer to where I live or work, I would definitely consider taking one or two more of her classes, because the information and technique were imparted in such a positive manner.

I also attended last night’s QYPE event and really enjoyed discovering Angela’s lovely little cook school. As regards the location, I am inclined to agree with Toby Young (whom Angela cooked for recently: a celebration dinner for 11 people) that Acton Central is the Marylebone High Street equivalent in Acton. It is located away from the usual high street tat and is developing a more independent retail character of its own. Well worth checking out! The prescence of Angela’s cook school there is certainly key to this.
Fellow reviewers have said nearly all I want to say. However, I want to commend George especially who is sooo warm, friendly and solicitous. I would love to find out what he likes cooking and it would be nice if George shows us his «stuff»!!
One feeling I got during my first half an hour inside the shop/​school was that here is a concept fairly similar to Recipease where the shop combines food retail and cooking facilities for both the cook school and retail production. Unlike Recipease, where money was probably not an issue, Angela’s school is independently run by a passionate entrepreneur and although it is smaller and less impressively fitted out, I applaud her unreservedly and encourage others to support her business. It is so much more personal and attentive being taught by the chef patron herself!
Angela is a foodie of the world and presents a wide variety of world cuisine — hence it was «dim sum» for us last night. She is also influenced by Jean-​Geroges Vongerichten with whom she completed a «stage» while training to become a chef. Vongerichten’s «fusion» approach to French and South East Asian cookery has clearly made a big impression on Angela. Now, fusion cuisine is a tricky topic. To make it an art form, one necessarily needs to understand the intrinsic goodness of any ingredients from anywhere in the world and be able to use them to their best effects/​combination in order to create something magical. This Angela and Geoff did brilliantly when they demonstrated a tender, delicious fusion style roast loin of pork dish using one of Angela’s Indian pestos as the marinade (and primarily a flavouring paste) and accompanied by an inspired salsa verde-​type sauce made with coriander, mint, chillies and lemon juice. The dish of itself is not Indian, but more Southern European. However, the artful deployment of ingredients more typical in Indian cooking created something very special in its own right. That’s when fusion cuisine is done well.
Dim sum, or «yum cha» as it is more often called in Oz — both are Cantonese terms, is a passion at Angela’s cook school. «Dim sum» refers to the food items generically and «yum cha» literally means «drink tea» which is the act of drinking tea and eating dim sum. Angela demonstrated siu mai and Northern Chinese «gau xi»; both were really easy to make and Angela’s note on the five tastes and generosity of seasoning were helpful indeed. Our results tasted as good as restaurant products.
I am looking forward to checking out Angela’s Indian repertoire. Madhur Jaffrey may have a worthy successor: o)

a little gem of a shop indeed. i was happy from start to end. still having reminders of the night and having a pick on the indian pesto that angela gave me. her hospitality was excellent as well as her asst chef
was a pleasure to meet fellow Qypers for the first time and thought they were a friendly bunch so felt right in place straight away. ive taken away more knowledge and feel confident making dim sum. ive always loved dim sum but never had the opportunity to try and make it myself. angela was very passionate about what she does and you could see it in the way she delivered it. lovely place and will be visiting again to make a purchase and soon to do another lesson when i have the money! definetely a place to recommend esp to all west londoners out there who like to eat and cook at the same time!

I never suspected that good old Acton (my stomping ground a couple of years ago) would ever have a place so welcoming and delightful.
My previous memory of this end of Acton was a Police Warning sign on the street that told of assaults and a bar that was re-​furbished to look like a strip-​club, except I don’t think it was interesting concept.
Anyhow, while I wouldn’t suggest this is the start of the gentrification of this West London area it is certainly a step in the right direction.
So I was down there with some of the others here on a Qype night and it was a good introduction to the school.
Our lesson started with an introduction to Angela’s taste sensation approach to cooking. In a nutshell, making sure that a balance of the five tastes should be included in every meal, and the idea that slavishly sticking to ingredients is not so necessary as long as you replace what you don’t have with something from the same group.
Replace vinegar with citrus for sour or tamarind paste for sugar as examples. Not sure about replacing blue cheese with Marmite for umami but theoretically. There was a discussion about the fifth taste on BBC Breakfast as well last week forcing me to ponder if the time of mystique for the fifth taste is over. You can buy tubes of umami in Selfridges man
Any-​way. we were shown the two Pestos that they sell, here in the deli section of the shop and also at Borough Market, and the Fragrant variety was used to flavour a loin of Pork that chef Geoff sealed and then roasted for a quick 45 minutes.
The combination of Indian flavours with a traditional English dish worked exceptionally well and the pork was succulent and served with an awesome mint and coriander chutney.
The thrust of the evening, though, and where we were able to get our hands dirty, was making Dim Sum; first the Steamed Siu Mai Dumplings, allowing us to practice our crenellation (for the nation) skills, and then the fried and steamed Gyoza.
Both involved mixing the filling in a bowl and tasting (raw meat!) and generally adding more salt, then taking a dollop and wrapping and for the Siu Mai, steaming and eating.
The Gyoza were fried on one side in a wok and then taking cover, adding water and steaming the other side, resulting in a wonderful variation of texture that made them my favourite.
Angela, Geoff and George (who worked tirelessly and never let our glasses get empty) were friendly, informative and made the evening a lot of fun.
Who would have thought it in Acton baby?

I was lucky enough to go to the Qype event too. At first I was a little intimidated — Angela definitely knows her stuff, and I always though dimsum was difficult, but after a demonstration and a bit of practice, I got it down!
Her staff, especially Geoff, were absolutely brilliant.
The food was tasty, and I learned a lot. The big downside though is that the school is in Acton Central, and a total pain to get to. Not a big deal if you live nearby, though!

Chinese is my least favourite Asian cuisine, but I have always been intrigued by dim sum. Last night’s class offered a wonderful introduction, and so much more.
Angela Malik’s range of Indian pesto is actually a very good example of her philosophy. Based on tradtional North and South Indian spices, these delicious pastes can be used as dips or marinades for so much more than just Indian dishes.
I have come away determined to be more adventurous in my mixing of ingredients from different ethnic origins — fusion food for the home.
There’s nothing better to wind down after a busy day than to learn about and share food. The classes are a perfect mix of lecture and hands-​on cooking to take your mind of anything else. Fiddling with tiny sheets of noodle pastry can be particularly therapeutic :-)
I have already checked the website for future classes. I like the fact that they offer a wide range of cuisines, timings and prices. I will be back! I also like the idea of gastro tours to Wembley or Chinatown.
If you live in West London this is definitely a very good alternative to Books for Cooks whose workshops tend to book up far in advance.

Just back from the Qype event at the school, brilliant! Angela’s passion about food is contagious and she’s such a good teacher, makes cooking seem really easy, I’ll keep the 5 tastes and the importance of seasoning on my mind for now on, look forward to try some of her recipes, first one on my list is a a veggie masala pesto