Karuppaiya, a seasoned chef who was with Meenakshi Meyyappan’s luxury property The Bangala for 58 years, has now retired. But whenever he visits them from his village, 15 kilometres from Karaikudi, he makes the dangar, a thick curry with shallots and tamarind. It is people such as him who carry forward the recipes and cooking techniques handed down by Meyyappan’s ancestors.
“We trained our chefs to cook the original recipes of my mother-in-law and mother,” says the 89-year-old ‘aachi’, as she is fondly called. Meyyappan, who has co-authored the cookbook The Bangala Table, featuring vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes from Chettinad, can be credited with preserving the region’s cuisine in its purest form.
