Food Fun at Dhamayanthi Household

It's amazing when one thinks of the food served everyday in this large household. As already mentioned, the dining hall was a bright, airy space, well ventilated and had two massive square tables, plain red formica sheet topped.

Before breakfast, the table would be free of all paraphernalia, but come dining time and all kinds of goodies came out and spread themselves on the table. The salt cellar was the first.Then came the ghee container. Slowly, the table center would fill up with platters of hot, steaming, soft idlies. These would be followed by the idli kolambu and chutney. The idli kolambu would have an appetising red or creamy colour and would have the softest potatoes in them. My abiding memory is of the kolambu doing the rounds, immediately followed by the ghee container. The ghee, incidentally, is something I've never seen since. Thick, granular and smelling of roasted drumstick leaves and garlic,mmmm...that was the elixir of heavens. Not to forget, I remember all the chithis, invariably, helping themselves to a karandi ( ladle)  of kolambu and two spoonsful of ghee. The two would be mixed in discreet measures on the banana leaf or plate and over endless gosspis and laughter, justice would be done to the three items - idli, kolambu and chutney. 

Lunch was a table-full affair. There'd be white, hot steaming rice. There'd be some greens, either with onions and lots of coconut shavings or in a beautiful emerald green fragrant paste filled with the smells of jeeragam, mustard seeds and green chillies. Topped with ghee, this was an amazing dish. There'd also be a porial, an avial, a kootu, rasam and thick, creamy curd. Lunch ususally lasted for an hour if all were served together. Those who finished fast, stood up to pass the containers around. I loved this part, especially. Then came the clearing of the vessels, which were taken to the mid-yard wash stand near the bathrooms. Under copious flow of water heated by the sun, the vessels would be cleaned by willing and unwilling volunteers and would lie sparkling clean in the mid-day sun. 

Post lunch, some fruits would be set out. Thaatha was always the favourite person at this time, because he'd have the best helpings and if we were around, we always got a share of it. It would be red bananas, nungu sprinkled with elaichi powder and chilled in the fridge, some cooked kuchi kilangu with generous allowances of sugar, or panankilangu, or papaya and pineapple slices. Hot bhajjis or sundal or sprouts were offered with the tea, coffee or milk. I remember, especially, the duty of little ones to go around and find out how many cups of tea, coffee or milk were to be prepared. Woe betide the one who forgot the numbers. A tongue lashing about the ineptitude of a lass who would have to manage a household not being able to remember a simple thing was enough to force one to be careful about it. Not to forget, the chithis and maamas returning the cups saying that was not what they wanted. To avoid the endless trips from the kitchen to the hall, courtyard, backyard, upstairs and the other rooms, we would do it carefully. All tumblers would have to be collected and put into the sink in the mid yard.  

Dinner was also a spread for the taste buds. From evening, preparations would begin if there was iddiappam with coconut milk, aappam with coconut milk, and  pooris with potato masala.

Come to think of it, there was hardly any fried food, except Ilaveni maami's special potato fries, homemade butter murukkus and ribbon murukkus.

On some days, when a lot of food remained, aaya would boil all leftovers together into a fantastic mixture, mix it with rice, make huge palmsized balls and toss them into out stretched out hands and in addition, tell us a tale under the moonshine. I particularly remember the pickle pressed onto the ball at the top, like some cherry topping on an icecream. Huge vessels of leftover food thus became memories of moonlit nights and raucous shouts of children gathered around their aaya. 

The magic of sustenance and nutrition happened in the most practical way here. Love was central to all of the food served here. Perhaps, that is why, I respect food and enjoy every morsel, however well or badly prepared. But then, my chithis and maamas would disagree..for them, food was meant to taste like it did at home and anything less was given the disapproval and dislike that it deserved. They are all culinary experts, none to be debated with or argued against. After all, they were central to all that happened at the Dhamayanthi household, breakfast, lunch, dinner et all.