M Ramachandran Iyer is busy serving customers although it’s barely even lunch time. While some ask for payasam, others want boli. Elderly people carrying their own containers buy side dishes to go with the rice they have prepared at home. Most youngsters want vegetable biriyani. Soon, some of the regulars on the menu like the vegetable biriyani, sambar and erriserry are sold out. Even the boli. It’s only when his assistant arrives that Iyer stops for a breather and starts talking about the two pictures that hang on his shop, Mookambika Navarasa Payasam Stall at West Fort. The photographs show him dressed in a black suit greeting the former President of India - Pratibha Patil.
A former chef at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Iyer was one of Patil’s chefs. “There were three of us heading the Rashtrapati Bhavan Kitchen - Roy from Jaipur, Panditji from Himachel Pradesh and myself. The three of us decide the daily menu for the President, her family and any visiting dignitaries.”
Daily meals served at the Rashtrapathi had to have a dish or two from Kerala. “Pratibha
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The menu for the dignitaries is usually a mix of Indian dishes and what the guests are familiar with. Fruits, vegetables and herbs are fresh from the vegetable garden at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Pouring me a warm glass of Navarasa payasam, Iyer says it was a sugar-free payasam he served to the former President during her visit to Thiruvananthapuram in 2007, that led him to the Rashthapati Bhavan. “It was during a party at Mascot Hotel; I made a pal payasam. She was impressed with the payasam and asked how I lent the dish sweetness sans any sugar. Soon after the party, I was invited to the post of chef at the Rasthrapati Bhavan. I served as chef and then as kitchen consultant during her tenure in office,” says Iyer, who worked at Hotel Chaitram, Thampanoor, before his stint at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.
Born to a family of cooks, it is no wonder Iyer knows his way around the kitchen. The 67-year-old recalls helping out in the kitchen from the age of 14. “My brother, Sitaram Iyer, a well-known cook, took me under his wing and trained me.” Iyer joined Hotel Chaitram as a vegetarian chef in 1971.
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Pausing to ask if I am enjoying the payasam, Iyer says the sweet treat is his own creation. “I was the first to serve this to customers. It’s my Navarasa paysam recipe that the chefs at Chaithram continue use. It has green gram, Bengal gram, jackfruit, banana... I introduced it at the city’s first Payasam mela and it has been a regular ever since.”
Mookambika Navarasa Payasam Stall, which is just a few months old, is doing brisk business. The stall, which opens at 10 am, serves food prepared by Iyer and his wife, Lalitha. The couple, who live near West Fort, wake up at 4 a.m. to prepare the dishes on the menu.
While varieties of payasams are the speciality at Mookambika Navarasa Payasam Stall, vegetarian side dishes that go with rice, and soups that are served in the evening are popular too. “There are a lot of elderly people living around the area. Many of them have lost their spouses. As they are lazy to cook for one, they make a bit of rice and buy side dishes to go with it. Youngsters too pack lunch from here as many either don’t have the time or don’t know how to prepare traditional dishes. I serve everything from potato poriyal to rasam here.” ‘Chitra anam’, which serves tiny helpings of different rice dishes such as coconut rice, curd rice and vegetable biriyani, is in demand too.
Adding a pinch of love in all his dishes is what brings him repeat customers, says Iyer. “I enjoy my time in the kitchen. I like serving good, tasty food to my customers. The smiles on their faces brings me a sense of satisfaction. I hope to continue serving people for as long as possible.”