Travellers to India traditionally come home laden with a rainbow array of exotic spices, from the vibrant ochre of turmeric, to the terracotta hues of the pungent chilli powders that lace most of the subcontinent's classic cuisines.

Yet, what to do when you get home with your prize loot of turmeric and chilli, star anise and fenugreek? Often, the answer is to sling the pungent articles straight to the back of the kitchen cupboard and speed-dial the trusty local Indian takeaway. To some, the inscrutable processes involved in Indian cooking provoke fear: what of the mysterious garam masala spice mixes? Or the eyebrow sizzling heats beloved of the best curry chefs?

In answer to these and other such culinary quandaries, cookery holidays to India have mushroomed over the past couple of years, offering tourists the chance to have their gourmet break and eat it (back at home). Goa and Kerala, the most popular Indian sunshine-break states, are also the top spots for cookery courses; the former celebrated for its textured marriage of Portuguese and South Indian culinary traditions. And, as Indian city-breaks begin to take off (buoyed by new flight routes and glitzy hotel launches), Mumbai and Delhi are jumping into the cookery holiday pot too.

Cooking courses can be organised informally through hotels or as part of a holiday package with boutique operators such as the excellent On The Menu. The pet project of a group of Brits who were passionate about Indian food, On the Menu was a pioneer in the Indian cookery break market. They have since expanded to other countries but for the Indian trips, they offer holidays in locations including Goa. The setting is golden sands, lazily swaying coconut palms and an attitude to living the Goans term “susegad”, which roughly translates as “stuff that malarkey, let’s chill man”. Watch the fishing boats sweeping along the river from your Mandovi-riverside kitchen. Shop for ingredients in the chaotic Mapusa market and learn how to make the food of Southern India - rustle up the coconut-laced Goan fish curry, as well as international classics such as chicken tikka.

www.holidayonthemenu.com.

Cooking in Kerala is an eight-day residential cookery course in the Indian state that’s scribbled over with picturesque backwaters (and is aptly dubbed God’s Own Country). The setting is in a traditional Keralan home set on the grounds of a working, bio-organic spice garden. There are intriguing visits to local masala and curry powder production units. A focus on Keralan cuisine, the course culminates in the preparation of a Keralan festive lunch or dinner (known as a Sadya).

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The Hospitality Training Institute in Matuga, Mumbai runs a street food course. Take an afternoon class in the art of constructing the traditional street snacks that fuel this fast-paced city at the HT institute, which is famous for training India’s culinary elite.

The course takes place in a high-tech kitchen in an affluent suburb in northern Mumbai where attendees are taken through dishes, including local favourites pav bhaji - a delicious stew of coriander and cumin-spiced vegetables accompanied by a hot buttered bun; and pani-puri, crispy gram-flour spheres filled with coriander and veg. There’s an optional additional tour of Mumbai’s vast Crawford market, with over 1,000 stalls plying their aromatic wares, from masala mixes to mangoes.

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If you don’t fancy the heat of a city kitchen, there are plenty of options for rural locations, including a Awadhi and Rajasthani cuisine tour. The operator Indus specialises in tours that combine heritage and cuisine, and this is one of their best, beginning with a tour of classic North Indian tourist meccas: the Taj Mahal, Amber Fort and Lucknow and ending with a laidback cookery course. The cooking course is undertaken in the heart of mountainous Rajasthan, north-east India where you can learn to make Rajasthani favourites, such as Aloo ka Bharta (spiced potatoes) and Rajasthani Gatta (Indian dumplings with gravy).

www.industours.co.uk

For those who want to not only taste Indian food, but taste Indian life then this is the holiday for you. A Delhi local offers up their home and kitchen to guests to teach them how to make food eaten in Northern Indian homes every day. This is also a very quick way of getting the measure of Indian cooking – the lesson lasts for just two to three hours. The session involves whatever the hostess-cook fancies rustling up - from local dishes to Indian staples. Take your (hopefully edible) effort away with you.

www.delhibedandbreakfast.com

For those who want to learn more about cooking with fish, then a four-day Indian food immersion course in Cochin, Kerala is just the thing. The course is set in the picturesque Cochin harbour-front, aromatic spice markets and lakes. Buy fresh seafood and local produce daily, and learn to cook them expertly. Keralan seafood dishes really make use of fresh local spices, such as pomfreet fish wrapped in banana leaf.

www.indianholiday.com

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