Come into my kitchen
Tanjore on a Thali
It’s a well-appointed kitchen that Preethi Ganesh can be justly proud of. Of Tanjore origin, Preethi, who grew up in Bombay, is passionate about cooking and is a fabulous host
Text & Photographs: Farzana Contractor
Preethi Ganesh is quite a woman. In the kitchen and out of it. Her expressive eyes speak volumes even before she utters a word! She is generally enthusiastic and confident about herself, and doesn’t shy away from speaking her mind. A mind that is brilliant and adaptive to everything. Especially all things food; kitchen, cooking, eating, serving, eating out…
Preethi is a very good cook. She is also very, very particular about who enters her kitchen. In fact, she will rather not have anyone around her when she cooks. Not even someone to help her wash or chop, cut up vegetables, do the dishes, clean up, while she is at the stove, cooking. She does it all, by herself. Which in India is something quite admirable considering most home-makers will have two or three kitchen maids and cooks to do their bidding.
When I complimented her on her level of passion, this was Preethi’s reply. “Oh I do have a weakness for my kitchen, it’s my sacred space. I don’t like anyone coming in here, not my son, not Ganesh, not even my mum! Look, if I am perfectly alright on my own, why do I want anyone coming in the way. I know what is where, exactly, because I am the only one in charge, so that’s fine, right?” Yes, right Preethi, we understand.
This has to be the reason why her kitchen was so perfect. I was privileged enough to be given a kitchen tour and thought this was among the most amazing kitchens I had set my eyes on. Everything was spotlessly clean. And in its place. The brass was shining, the iron utensils were seasoned. All the soapstone cookware was carefully kept in place, washed and dried thoroughly. It was incredulous, to see so many different kinds of kitchenware packed in that kitchen and used daily! A beaming Preethi at hand to offer me details, was for me a learning curve.
I got to know about a metal I didn’t know earlier, eeyam, a tin alloy especially used to make rasam. The kitchen even had a blackboard on one wall, which today had the entire menu for UpperCrust, written down neatly. As you can see, lunch was rather elaborate. A whole lot of little, little things made up the thali, “It’s what we would make at festival times or if we are celebrating,” says Preethi. Let me name some of the dishes. Vazhapoo Parupu Usili, Thavala Vadai, Coconut Rice, Lemon Rice, Ner Mor, and filter coffee and betel leaf with condiments is served, too.
Coffee, filter coffee is what the family drinks. And both husband and son want it perfectly made. And Preethi who wakes up at 5 am has coffee ready for both, right on time. “I have mastered the art of making sure the last drop of coffee has decocted right in time with the exact moment when the milk has come to a boil. The sugar content also has to be just right. Ganesh is very fussy about his coffee!”
Apart from being a hands-on cook, Preethi is famous among her friends not just for cooking South Indian meals, but also other Indian cuisines. “We like our South Indian food, yes, but I end up cooking more Punjabi, Guajarati and Maharashtrian food. Ganesh is not fond of eating greasy, heavy, creamy food but a chola bhatura or paneer paratha with lots of green chillies, he loves! As also handvo, fafda, patra, dhokla, khandvi, all of which I have pretty much mastered.”
Preethi is particular about sourcing her ingredients. She buys only organic food. And has located vendors all over Bombay. Matunga, Goregaon, Mulund… Satvyk is one brand and Two Brothers Organic Farm, another. Not just fresh produce, but also the grains have to be organic, including oil, which is cold pressed. There is also Bombay Sparrow for fresh fruits and vegetables who she swears by. All these vendors deliver at home.
Preethi’s smile broadens as she talks about food, “I get my hand-pounded rasam powder and other dry ingredients from my hometown, Kumbakonam where Bharatnatyam originated,” says Preethi. Preethi, a Brahmin Iyer, whose maiden name came from her father’s name which is Rajaram, hails from an aristocratic background, both maternal and paternal. Her grandfather, who passed away only two years ago at age 104, was a zamindar with hundreds and hundreds of acres of agricultural land, to his name. Going backwards from her great grandfather, all the men of the family served in the court of Tanjore, in the royal palace.
But Preethi wears her heritage rather lightly, “I am known for who I am, my own identity and my talents,” she says with a large smile. And what could those be? “Anything creative appeals to me. I learnt Bharatnatyam for 14 years from Rajarajeshwari, the famous institution at Matunga, Carnatic music for 17 years, and played the veena for two years, all part of my growing years. I paint, embroider and also create my own patterns for mehendi application!”
Indian art appeals very much to Preethi. She points to the Butter Krishna, a Tanjore painting adorning one of the walls of her extremely well-appointed apartment in central Bombay and talks about it, in-depth. It was given to her at the time of her wedding, that’s a custom. It’s a gold leaf and silver foil work. “You won’t believe how times change. My mother’s Vennai (butter) Krishna is made of pure gold and my grandmother’s had beautiful and rare precious gems inlaid into it. It is still there in our puja room in my village home inside an Agraharam in Govindapuram.
It was fascinating to learn that everyone in Preethi’s village is related to each other. If I were to ever visit it and mention Preethi’s mum’s name or even her own, doors would open wide and I would be welcomed warmly. This can only happen in India and is reason enough for me to go there in future. The ancient district after all has a 1000 temples, as also a temple for each of the nine planets, all in a vicinity of just 30 kms. It’s where the Maha Mangam takes place every 12 years.
Husband, Ganesh, a banker, who has made a career in wholesale marketing across a few well-known banks is a foodie. Apart from his job, his big passion is to eat all kinds of food, in all kinds of restaurants, in all kinds of places. Big cities, to small towns, even dusty villages. From fine-dining in 5- star hotels to the roadside dhabas. He says, “My job takes me across all the six metros of India, the 15 B cities as also smaller towns, to meet clients. Thankfully that gives me the opportunity to be in touch with food all over India, Poona, Kolhapur, Indore, Coimbatore, Baroda, Amritsar… And I make it a point to eat at as many places as possible.
So while he will eat at all the famous restaurants one associates with particular places, such as Vishalla in Ahmedabad or Haveli in Chandigarh, or indulge in Bedekar Misal in Poona, he will also discover new ones. However, he remains a fan of Dakshin at ITC hotels, pan India. He has been eating at Dakshin since it was first housed in Park Sheraton in Chennai and loves everything on their menu. Grand Chola with its multiple restaurants is also a favourite with Ganesh.
What both, Preethi and Ganesh, like to do is talk to people while eating out at restaurants. Right from the manager to the servers, and particularly with chefs. This not only helps them gain more food knowledge and deeper insights into the cultural aspects of food but also helps make new friends. “We find this a respectful way of dealing with a subject as important as food,” says Ganesh. Preethi concludes by adding, “For example, there is this small, modest and wonderful place, Grand Café in Coimbatore, which serves home-style South Indian food on banana leaf, where the proprietor has become such good friends with Ganesh, he will personally be there and serve him!” Another discovery by the couple who keep looking for new places to eat, is in Nashik, Sadhana’s Misal.
Says Ganesh, “We went there especially so we could get that experience, the crowd, the way they serve it.” “Oh that is simply out of this world, it’s called Sadhana Chula chi Misal. Chula chi meaning wood-fired. It is situated right opposite Sula’s winery. It started as a cart on the street serving this missal pav but today they serve over a thousand people who are seated on charpoys spread over a large open area, as if at a mela. With camel and bullock cart rides, etc. Like Jaipur’s Chokhi Dhani,” says Preethi.Another unforgettable experience Preethi and Ganesh had, ages ago, was in Rajkot, at Patel Ice-Cream. It is hand-churned with very unique flavours including ingredients like ginger and chilli. “We took a bottle of water with us,” says Ganesh, “because it is said you should rinse your mouth, moisten your throat before eating ice-cream, to keep the cold at bay. Well, we tried as many as six different flavours, one scoop after another!”
“What we also try everywhere we go, is paan (betel leaf),” the couple laughs and elaborates, “We have fond memories of trying paan everywhere; Calcutta sada and meetha paans. Baroda’s singoda paan is really good. Delhi, too, has great paan joints, like our Bombay ones where there will not be a single well-known paan shop that we have not been to!” says Ganesh. For Preethi, eating a paan at the end of the meal just completes the meal. “Often we substitute a meetha paan for a dessert,” she rounds up, “with cardamom and cloves in there, it has super health properties and is also a digestive, so it works well!”
A tip, the Sankarans always have fresh paan leaves in their home. The best are available at Matunga, opposite Lakshmi Jewellers, from where they purchase it. As also the filter coffee – Preethi was born and brought up in Matunga, so she knows it like the back of her hand! “Not just I, but we are a fourth generation family of Matunga!” she says.
Ganesh seems to follow a lot of rules, he is a disciplined sort, “He should have been in the army instead of the bank, food-wise and time-wise, totally punctual,” laughs Preethi. Ganesh retorts, “Look, I want to continue to be a foodie all my life, so it follows that I should have food rules. Like yes, I will have only one paan, or never more than two glasses of wine, or when having ice-cream it will be just one scoop, unless when I am doing a tasting, then it will be a spoonful of each. And yes, I hate it when people or things don’t come on time.” Like the morning cup of perfect filter coffee, don’t we know!
The Sankarans have been married for 26 years now. Preethi was just 21 when they wed. Was it a love marriage? “Oh, no, no, it was purely an arranged marriage,” enlightens Preethi. It was a good fix, apparently because astrologers from both sides gave 7 and ½ points out of 10. What did that mean, I needed to understand about kundlis and how it works. Ganesh comes to the rescue. “Look, when they say, it’s a good match, they mean your stars match. They study the constellations when you were born. The alignment of the respective planets according to the date of birth are mapped. In our case 75% matched.” “I was told, don’t let this man go!” concludes Preethi.
I don’t know who is more fortunate, Preethi or Ganesh. But viewing it through the UpperCrust prism I can say they are made for each other; Preethi loves to cook, Ganesh loves to eat!
The routine in the household is simple. They are all early risers, varying between 4.30 am to 5 am. And they go to sleep early too. Father and son at 9.30 pm and Preethi at 10.30. “That one hour is my ‘me time’, when I catch up with friends’ chats and social media on my Ipad,” says Preethi.
For the rest of the time, it’s yoga three times a week for Preethi and swimming at a club for Ganesh. She makes breakfast – all healthy options like millet idli and nachni dosas or poha or porridge. She informs me, “Basically, I cook three hot meals a day. And love doing so. We eat a light lunch and an early dinner. We are done by 7.30 pm. Also, we never eat rice, curd or butter milk at dinner time.” Preethi does not have a microwave oven or even an OTG! Almost everything they eat at home is home-made. Except Sunday lunch. Which religiously comes from Rama Nayak at Matunga. That’s a ritual.
But dinners on weekends are for eating out. New places for sure but also visiting old favourites. Such as Golden Dragon, Soam and Swati. They like Burma Burma as well as Kala Ghoda’s newest, Folk and the relocated Copper Chimney. Shree Thaker Bhojanalaya at Kalbadevi is also an old haunt and the restaurant at Wellington Mews, which many don’t even know about, is like a second home to them. All very good-going, I would think.
Which really brings us to the last and most important aspect on any foodie’s agenda. Travelling. Yes, they both love travelling! “True, we both enjoy travelling and have done a fair amount of it. In India and outside. Before COVID, we used to go on one holiday abroad in summer and one in winter in India. Now of course with connectivity being so convenient we travel a lot in India, we have such good hotels and even better restaurants, that makes it very alluring. As for Goa, I can go there every month. It’s such a relaxing place,” says Ganesh.
Internationally, the couple has been all over the UK and Europe. Also South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka. They particularly like Greece and Turkey. But outlining all their travels are good places to eat. Mediterranean cuisine being a favourite with both.