Have you come across a chef who loves his ingredients and talks about their emotions besides their taste? If you haven't, sign up with Doha Marriott Hotel and attend maverick Executive Sous Chef Ajay Pant's cookery class every Monday.

Pant, an Indian cuisine specialist, has a unique style of preparing his exotic dishes and teaching aspiring amateur cooks. He talked about shrimps being 'shy' and they being 'comfortable' when he covered them with mashed potatoes and applied a batter of chick peas while shaping them into dumplings.

"I believe in love at first sight and that is what I strive to present on my plates," said Pant who hails from Haridwar, located in the foot hills of Himalayas in the north Indian state of Uttaranchal.

"My aim is to have my guests fall in love with my food and enjoy the tasteful journey from the start to the end." Pant who has culinary experiences in South East Asia, the Caribbean and the Middle East, held a demonstration class for a dozen amateur students yesterday at Doha Marriott's Salsa Restaurant as part of Doha Marriott's 'hot and spicy' experience while offering Cooking Classes at just QR100 per wanna be cook.

Pant taught how to prepare Dum Biryani (oven baked) and also gave a history lesson on its origins. Besides the main course, he showed the class two welcome sweet drinks — a Mint Lemonade and Mango Lassi.

Moreover, he displayed how to make Shrimp Dumplings, inspired by Bombay's popular Vada Pav. Besides this he taught how to make raita (yoghurt salad). Most interesting was giving cup shape to a slice of bread by putting it in a cup and baking in an oven.