“I never felt the need to put up a sign or go commercial. I cook to earn a simple living and serve the hungry,” says Ahalya Bai.
The catering unit near Veeranjaneya Temple bears no sign board, but people direct us to a gated cluster of houses where Ahalya Bai cooks in one of them on the first floor. Over the past four decades, Ahalya has earned a name for herself in Srirampuram and Malleswaram, by providing top quality meals at affordable prices. And during Deepavali and other festivals, her sweets, snacks and savouries are highly sought after.
“In this part of the town, our food is popular; we make around 50 portions of breakfast, lunch and supper a day. Festive savories and sweets as well as traditional South Indian masala powders and evening tiffin items are also in demand,” says the 71-year-old, affectionately called Doddamma by all around.
It is educational to observe Ahalya dish out homespun wisdom with cooking directions to her assistants — Bharathi, Manjula, Sadhana and Prakasha — seated on the floor amidst kitchen stoves, learning from their ‘head chef’.
Ahalya has always believed in preparing native ‘shudda food’ and her adherence to quality has garnered her more takers, as her specifications are not compromised. “My food is prepared with pure ghee and oil, no soda or artificial colouring has entered my kitchen ever since I started my food services in 1982. Even our rice dishes, savouries, sweets, idli or bonda, are prepared without the use of soda.”
She says the purpose behind this eatery was to help people in distress while “being meaningful and productive” in easing her own financial shortcomings. “The quality of food equals quality of health, so my motto has been to keep food as natural as possible so people come back regularly for ‘healthy takeaways’.”
Food champion
Regular customers are grateful that Ahalya Bai’s food is available to those residing near Srirampuram and Malleswaram, believing she is their equivalent of South Bengaluru’s Subbamma with her culinary legacy near DVG Road. Ahalya’s traditional food sans onion and garlic, is an inheritance she has been taking forward for two generations now.
“Doddamma is humble and happy to share her recipes; however, it is her knack and unorthodox “measure of the eye” that elevates her cooking to a different level. The chaklis, which are one of her signature items, has remained the same in taste and texture for 42 years!” says Ramachandra, a retired government employee who is one of her regular customers.
Ahalya’s meals have reached many a factory, institution and software company apart from catered office lunches, even though many may not even know the humble origins of their spread. “So many people appreciate our food, it gets a bit difficult to keep track of them all.”
Ahalya also prepares prasada for temples and cooks for religious gatherings and children’s hostels too. “I supply chitranna (lime rice) and mosaranna (curd rice), bisibelebath and kesari bath during poojas. We charge nominal rates as it has always been our aim to help causes.”
Stamp of identity
Born and brought up in Gandhi Bazaar, Ahalya remembers poet and writer DV Gundappa being her grandmother Laxmi Bai’s neighbour. Ahalya completed her high school education at APS School but her dream of graduating from Home Science College after 1972 remained unrealized after she got married. Her husband, M Sitaram Rao, worked at the Corporation Tax Office. “That’s when I came to Malleswaram, and later settled in Srirampura. In 1982, we started this catering service, serving exactly the same breakfast, lunch and evening snacks and chapatis for dinner, with my husband helping me.”
Sadly, tragedy seemed to be in her cards. Ahalya’s daughter died of a heart attack in 2014, and she lost her husband in 2021 during the pandemic.
Crediting her mother’s entrepreneurial spirit to help her flag off the catering business, to do something more to help society, Ahalya says, “My mother Susheela Bai not only trained me in the making of different kinds of sambar, tovve (daal) or simple sweets from the age of 10, but constantly fed me with tips that have stood by me till date. She wasn’t just inspirational, but schooled and guided me into cooking the right way.”
She recalls some of her mother’s simple tips: ‘Only when bubbles develop all over while stirring the Mysore pak mix on the stove is it ready to be spread on a greased plate. An extra blink and it will harden’. Or ‘Mango gojju gets its taste from urad dal, red chilli and coconut paste that is continuously stirred in oil so it doesn’t burn.’
The secret to Ahalya’s sakkre holige is the addition of sugar to dry coconut, khas-khas, cardamom and dry fruits powdered and fried with ghee. These sweet dumplings are dipped in chiroti rava and maida, and then rolled out to create one of her signature dishes that melt in your mouth.
Ahalya Bai’s specials
Published - October 30, 2024 10:44 am IST