After my first enthusiastic attempt at cooking, the kitchen dint seem to excite me any more – especially during my teenage years. I was a highly rebellious person. Like all rebels who love their independence I seemed to follow the law of every action has an equal and opposite reaction! So when I was nine and not allowed into the kitchen, I wanted to cook. But at 14 when I was expected to help in the kitchen, I wanted to be miles away from cooking. Tch, tch….Not something desirable in a “brahmana ponnu” (Brahmin girl). Predictably my amma (mother) and patti (grandma) were highly unhappy and would wait for an opportunity to lament on how I was failing miserably on an “oh so crucial” front – women of the Ranganathan household were known for their delicious preparations. Adding to their misery was the fact that my cousins were becoming experts in the kitchen.
Obviously no amount of nagging, lamenting and authority could counter my fiercely independent nature spiced up by generous amounts of feminism, though I did have my spurts of dabbling with food. Obviously amma and patti dint have the energy to nag me all the time :).
Once on a lazy afternoon on the rare occasion when I was not being pestered (amma was taking her afternoon nap), my brother and I made some Kesari Bath – a delicious sweet made of rava, sugar, milk and generous amounts of ghee. Amma wasn’t that easy to please though, she complained that both of us had wasted all the ghee in the house – she could hear the ladle clattering against the ghee vessel. The truth however was that there was very little ghee in the house and my brother and I took to scraping whatever little was left. I thought we did quite well, given the strained resources at hand :).
My amma is a typical Brahmin lady with her “as shiny as marble” skin, big red pottu, “vaira thoodu” (diamond studs), “vaira mookutthi” (diamond nose ring) and nine yard podavai (saree). Her expertise in the kitchen is legendary. She’s never had good eyesight, with one blind eye and a high power that no technology can counter in the other. Her culinary skills are so highly developed that she cooks with the aid of an impeccable sense of smell. So you can imagine how difficult it is to beat her standards.
This cacophony of “oh my, how will she manage cooking” reached obsessive heights once my marriage had been arranged. Great lengths of time were devoted to voluminous discourses on “How will Latha manage cooking after marriage?” – and as with typical Indian festivities, my large family of dozens of uncles, aunts, grand uncles, grand aunts and cousins soon joined in this never ending conversation.
Finally the great and grand Ranganathan family decided that I should stay with each of my aunts for week and learn new recipes. Besides I was the “chella penn” (favourite daughter) of the household and I could spend time with family.
Well, I definitely did end up having a great time, pampered with all the yummy delicacies my aunts cooked up. The only work I was allowed to do as a “to be” bride was to scribble notes. I did end up experimenting most of the stuff I wrote down in the first year of my marriage – with little intervention from my husband (though my husband insists that he taught me cooking to this date). Ah but to match my amma’s legacy….now that’s another story…
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[…] amma whose cooking skills are legendary would go great lengths to fulfill her chella pethi’s (granddaughter) demands. From mouth […]
aahh that really sent me back to my teenage times. None of these are enjoyed by children of these days. Leave alone attemtping. As i read along your blog on your childhood attempts.. its was like “nyabhagam varudhe, nyabhagam varudhe..”
truly our times were much better than children of this era.. what do you say ?
Shoba.
[…] slightly ancient times I would invoke “great conversations” in my family for being ‘a girl who dint know cooking’. As a result of those great conversations, a few weeks before my marriage I stayed with many of my […]
wonderful! reminded me of the days when pati or amma would cook the aroma would waft around the house. as any other iyengar ponnu, I was brought up,but went to become a doctor in the army, married a telugu brahmin as arranged, and i live my life lugging around whole of north india. my children speak hindi. My son though manages kannada, tamil is greek to him. I oved your blog.
I know i am late in reading the post, but then it is never too late to do something as you know.
Loved reading the post. It reminded me of myself when i was at home.
My mom used to say learn cooking and my reply would be i have two elder sisters when they get married i will learn. But i didn’t learn at all. I leaned cooking after marriage.
[…] right consistency, for serving with lot of love and for savouring good food. To quote from one of Amma’s (Latha – to save the confusion) first posts: My amma is a typical Brahmin lady with her “as shiny as marble” skin, big red pottu, “vaira […]
This was a beautiful sweet story! Reminded me of Sridevi’s character from Meendum Kokila.
–Deepa
What a sweet story!
A well articulated piece. Blogs that tell of south Indian sentimentalities are rare to find these days. Makes me nostalgic . Very sweet indeed . Reminds me of those books by R K Narayanan, though he is famous for his non-culinary achievements -brings out that south indian way of life . Thank you.