cook club with Riya Patel [diwali edition]

​Welcome to cook club.

​A hundred food businesses cook out of this kitchen every day. Twice a month, we open the doors and you step inside. You cook at shared tables alongside the person who lives and breathes the cuisine, then everyone sits down together to eat. Drinks flow. Music plays. The table talks.

​On Thursday 5th November, we hand the pass to Riya Patel, founder of All the Aunties, once more. This time, we celebrate Diwali.

​The festival of lights is about gathering, feasting, dancing, and celebrating. So that’s exactly what we plan to do. You cook a vegetarian feast alongside Riya, then everyone sits down to eat it together.

​Come alone, come with others, we don’t mind. Everyone will be friends by the end.

​And of course, aunties come free.

​The night

​Garlands hang overhead, diyas light up the kitchen, and a cardamom-spiced Negroni is waiting for you as you come in. The dress code, if you fancy it, is festive flair: bright colours, sparkle, your favourite celebration outfit, as long as you can still get stuck into the cooking.

​With Indian tunes filling the room, you cook alongside Riya. To start, there’s salt ’n’ pepper paneer, crisp and fiery with garlic and chilli. For mains, it’s paneer butter masala, velvety with tomato and butter, served with rice and naan. On the side, a kachumber salad of cucumber, tomato and onion cuts through the richness. Vinca’s organic Sicilian wine and Botivo’s non-alcoholic spritz keep you going while you cook, with plenty of other options at the honesty bar.

​Then everyone pulls up a seat and the feast begins. To finish, mithai, Indian sweets, are heaped across the table, because a true Diwali party doesn’t end without something sweet. And if the aunties have anything to do with it, chances are the night ends with dancing.

​*Bring aunty/mum/grandma for free*

​All The Aunties is inspired by the women Riya grew up cooking with, so naturally, her mum’s coming along for the night.

​We think yours should too.

​Bring your aunty, mum or grandma with you, and their ticket is on us.

​Just drop an email to cookclub@missionkitchen.org with your name and theirs, and we’ll send you a special code for their free spot.

​While spots last.

​What's included

• ​Welcome drink: a cardamom spiced negroni, or a non-alcoholic alternative

• ​Dinner: a vegetarian Diwali feast

• ​Organic Sicilian wine from Vinca and Botivo’s non-alcoholic spritz

• ​A recipe card to take home

​Good to know

• ​Please arrive at 6pm to sign in (we'll start promptly at 6.30pm)

• ​Ages 18+

• ​The menu for this cook club is vegetarian

• ​Dress code, if you fancy it: festive flair. Think bright colours, sparkle, your favourite celebration outfit

• ​We’re really excited to have Vinca and Botivo sponsoring the night. Any other drinks are at the self-serve honesty bar

• ​We’ll have a photographer at the event, so if there’s anything we should be aware of, let us know when you book

​About Riya

​Born into a British Indian family, Riya grew up on cooking that pulled from everywhere her relatives have lived. Obsessed with paneer, she started hosting supper clubs built around her own homemade dishes. Seeing others love them as much as she does, she went on to found All The Aunties, the brand on a mission to get good, fresh paneer into people's everyday cooking. She's now about to launch her own cookbook, sharing the family recipes that started it all.

​Tonight, you cook with her.

​Allergens

​Mission Kitchen is a shared commercial kitchen. A hundred food businesses cook here every day and all 14 named allergens are handled on site, so we can't guarantee any dish is free from traces of them.