Comments on: Cooking it up – Meenakshi Style http://www.withinandwithout.com/2006/05/cooking-it-up-meenakshi-style/ Arbitrary Obsessions. Cities. History. Music. Feminism. Maami-isms. Patterns. Halwa. Identities. Free Verse. The Internets. Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:58:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Look Ma - We made Kozhakattai at Within / Without http://www.withinandwithout.com/2006/05/cooking-it-up-meenakshi-style/comment-page-1/#comment-3987 Look Ma - We made Kozhakattai at Within / Without Sun, 27 Aug 2006 10:35:16 +0000 http://www.withinandwithout.com/?p=724#comment-3987 [...] With Samaithu Par and one phone call to Ma as guides, we successfully converted rice flour, jaggery, coconut, gingelly oil and cardamom into kozhakattais. And what magnificent ones they were. We didn’t even have our usual flare-ups while making them. Cooking as we know, is a sensitive matter when both people think are somewhat brilliant. Just finished eating half of them. Stomach very full and homesickness slightly taken care of. Ganesha, that iconic, cult status pantheon member creates quite a ruckus in Mumbai around this time. You dare not step in the way of LalBaugCha Raja (The King of LalBaug). How can you not be fond of a person with a really fine pot belly and an elephant’s head? And this, was my post last year. [...] [...] With Samaithu Par and one phone call to Ma as guides, we successfully converted rice flour, jaggery, coconut, gingelly oil and cardamom into kozhakattais. And what magnificent ones they were. We didn’t even have our usual flare-ups while making them. Cooking as we know, is a sensitive matter when both people think are somewhat brilliant. Just finished eating half of them. Stomach very full and homesickness slightly taken care of. Ganesha, that iconic, cult status pantheon member creates quite a ruckus in Mumbai around this time. You dare not step in the way of LalBaugCha Raja (The King of LalBaug). How can you not be fond of a person with a really fine pot belly and an elephant’s head? And this, was my post last year. [...]

]]> By: Neha Viswanathan http://www.withinandwithout.com/2006/05/cooking-it-up-meenakshi-style/comment-page-1/#comment-1431 Neha Viswanathan Mon, 22 May 2006 07:33:49 +0000 http://www.withinandwithout.com/?p=724#comment-1431 Binesh: I didn't know how to respond, but looks like Ram did the trick! Ram: Always ready to link individuals. :) Commercial or otherwise. Someone needs something - somebody else has it - can't think of a better way to connect them. Binesh: I didn’t know how to respond, but looks like Ram did the trick!

Ram: Always ready to link individuals. :) Commercial or otherwise. Someone needs something – somebody else has it – can’t think of a better way to connect them.

]]> By: Ram http://www.withinandwithout.com/2006/05/cooking-it-up-meenakshi-style/comment-page-1/#comment-1430 Ram Mon, 22 May 2006 07:28:37 +0000 http://www.withinandwithout.com/?p=724#comment-1430 Binesh, I'm not sure Neha would be too happy if we start using her blog for commercial transactions. I wouldn't be too comfortable doing that either. Why don't you mail me at rks2806@yahoo.com, and I will send you the details then? Sorry Neha. This definitely wasn't the purpose of my post on your blog :-). Ram. Binesh,

I’m not sure Neha would be too happy if we start using her blog for commercial transactions. I wouldn’t be too comfortable doing that either. Why don’t you mail me at rks2806@yahoo.com, and I will send you the details then?
Sorry Neha. This definitely wasn’t the purpose of my post on your blog :-). Ram.

]]> By: binesh http://www.withinandwithout.com/2006/05/cooking-it-up-meenakshi-style/comment-page-1/#comment-1420 binesh Sat, 20 May 2006 10:46:08 +0000 http://www.withinandwithout.com/?p=724#comment-1420 sir\mam where can i get a copy of the book samaithu par. iam staying in cochin and iam unable 2 get it here. can u send a copy by vpp? i shall pay the amount. pl reply regards binesh sir\mam
where can i get a copy of the book samaithu par. iam staying in cochin and iam unable 2 get it here. can u send a copy by vpp? i shall pay the amount. pl reply
regards
binesh

]]> By: Neha Viswanathan http://www.withinandwithout.com/2006/05/cooking-it-up-meenakshi-style/comment-page-1/#comment-1383 Neha Viswanathan Wed, 17 May 2006 10:33:55 +0000 http://www.withinandwithout.com/?p=724#comment-1383 Ram: Amazing. Meenakshi Ammal's grandson! I am grinning! Really! I did know something about her background. I think my grandmother once filled me in on the stories about your grandmother. Not that she knew her or anything like that, but Madras air is ripe with gossip and stories. And this was one such story. I think Meenakshi Ammal broke a few barriers with her recipe books. The one thing I really liked about her recipes is that she never assumed that a woman was doing the cooking. You'd be surprised how many recipe books make that assumption. The "Samaithupar House". :) Are people who hop into Madras casually invited for food? Actually I have great faith in the maamis. I have seen my own grandmother change considerably. She used to come across as a very conservative person, but she's far more progressive in her thought than the Sun-TV influenced generation. Your comment wasn't boring at all Ram. Delightful is the word for it! Thanks so much for coming by and getting carried away! Ram: Amazing. Meenakshi Ammal’s grandson! I am grinning! Really!

I did know something about her background. I think my grandmother once filled me in on the stories about your grandmother. Not that she knew her or anything like that, but Madras air is ripe with gossip and stories. And this was one such story.

I think Meenakshi Ammal broke a few barriers with her recipe books. The one thing I really liked about her recipes is that she never assumed that a woman was doing the cooking. You’d be surprised how many recipe books make that assumption. The “Samaithupar House”. :) Are people who hop into Madras casually invited for food?

Actually I have great faith in the maamis. I have seen my own grandmother change considerably. She used to come across as a very conservative person, but she’s far more progressive in her thought than the Sun-TV influenced generation. Your comment wasn’t boring at all Ram. Delightful is the word for it! Thanks so much for coming by and getting carried away!

]]> By: Ram http://www.withinandwithout.com/2006/05/cooking-it-up-meenakshi-style/comment-page-1/#comment-1382 Ram Wed, 17 May 2006 10:24:48 +0000 http://www.withinandwithout.com/?p=724#comment-1382 Neha, Thanks for the post. It was nostalgic reading for me - for Meenakshi Ammal is my grandmother (though she passed away much before I was born). Once in a while, I do some googling on her name - and that was how I chanced upon your blog. Just some details, may interest you - she was a very traditional Tam Bram who was widowed at a very early age - had to look after a two year old son (my father), a seven year old brother-in-law, and a forty/fifty year old mother in law. Believe she started writing out recipes for her relatives when they started getting married - found that she was doing a lot of repetitive work and decided to put down all the recipes as a book (maybe one of the earlier examples of a productivity study :-)). That really was the genesis of the book. In fact, even today, the house I live in is called "Samaithupar House" (the ribbing I had to undergo because of this when I was in school....) - because she bought this house out of the proceeds of the book. Interesting that the book was once reviewed in Cosmopolitan magazine - given what she was, she probably would have had a massive heart attack if she had ever set eyes on the magazine!! Anyways, apologies for boring you. Was nice to read what you'd written about my paatti, and got a bit carried away, I guess. Neha,
Thanks for the post. It was nostalgic reading for me – for Meenakshi Ammal is my grandmother (though she passed away much before I was born). Once in a while, I do some googling on her name – and that was how I chanced upon your blog. Just some details, may interest you – she was a very traditional Tam Bram who was widowed at a very early age – had to look after a two year old son (my father), a seven year old brother-in-law, and a forty/fifty year old mother in law. Believe she started writing out recipes for her relatives when they started getting married – found that she was doing a lot of repetitive work and decided to put down all the recipes as a book (maybe one of the earlier examples of a productivity study :-)). That really was the genesis of the book. In fact, even today, the house I live in is called “Samaithupar House” (the ribbing I had to undergo because of this when I was in school….) – because she bought this house out of the proceeds of the book.

Interesting that the book was once reviewed in Cosmopolitan magazine – given what she was, she probably would have had a massive heart attack if she had ever set eyes on the magazine!!

Anyways, apologies for boring you. Was nice to read what you’d written about my paatti, and got a bit carried away, I guess.

]]> By: Neha Viswanathan http://www.withinandwithout.com/2006/05/cooking-it-up-meenakshi-style/comment-page-1/#comment-1304 Neha Viswanathan Wed, 10 May 2006 09:02:20 +0000 http://www.withinandwithout.com/?p=724#comment-1304 srujan: I so relate to your comment! Word! srujan: I so relate to your comment! Word!

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