BIBLIOASIA JAN - MAR 2019 VOL. 14 ISSUE 04 FEATURE

(Facing page) The writer’s mother Madam Devaki Nair (left) and grandaunt Madam Salachi Retnam in LIFE 1991, with some of the Indian Peranakan dishes they had prepared using recipes that were passed down through oral tradition. Pegang tangan, or touch of LESSONS hand, ensured that the right quantities of ingredients were used and nothing was wasted. Image­ source: © Press Holdings Limited. IN A Reprinted with permission. (Right) Group photo of Indian Peranakan girls, some wearing the baju panjang, 1910–1925. Lee Brothers Studio Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. (Below right) A typical Indian Peranakan house in Kampung Chetti, or Chetty Village, at Jalan Gajah Berang in . The front porch of the house is called thinnai, where strangers are allowed to rest or spend the night. This tradition is not practised by other South Indians in Singapore and . Image reproduced from Dhoraisingam, S.S. (2006). Peranakan Indians of Singapore and Melaka: Indian Melaka Babas and Nonyas – Chitty Melaka (p. 23). Singapore. (Call no.: RSING 305.8950595 SAM).

greatly reducing wastage – from the food ­preparation stage right through to the quantity served. KitchenThrift, hard work and resilience It was anathema in our family to are qualities that can be nurtured write down recipes. Everything was through food. Chantal Sajan passed down through the generations recalls the legacy of her grandaunt. by agak-agak (guesswork). If you got it wrong, you had to finish your mess yourself – and God forbid any chucking Chantal Sajan is a sub-editor with Singapore of food down the rubbish chute. Press Holdings. She currently works in the Food wastage is such a cardinal sin newsroom of The Business Times. in Chetty Melaka kitchens that – even to this day – the matriarchs would consume the leftover food themselves rather guru in everything fragrant, aromatic and According to her granddaughter (and than invoke the wrath of Annapurni, the downright mouth-watering relating to my cousin) Madam Susheela, Achi Atha There was a time – before the invention of resident kitchen deity of Chetty Melaka food after my grandmother had passed would wake up at the crack of dawn to modern kitchen miracles such as electric families, who although dress and speak on in the 1980s. make sure breakfast, lunch and dinner blenders and KitchenAid – when Chetty like Malays, are staunch Hindus. The In 1991, she was the subject of were taken care of, and then she would Melaka1 families in Singapore plated up a goddess, we were all taught even before a cover story by food writer Violet Oon prepare the “kueh menu” for the day. tveritable cornucopia of Indian Peranakan we grew our front teeth, presides over for her culinary magazine, The Food “Atha would gather bunga telang dishes on a very tight budget, using the the making of food, so every precious Paper. Ms Oon interviewed my grand- (butterfly pea flowers) to extract its blue simplest of kitchen utensils. morsel wasted is an insult to her. aunt and my mother on the fading art of dye for popular like pulut inti and There were the lesung (granite mor- Because of this, we grew up valuing Indian , together with kueh dadah, and then she would prepare tar, usually sold with a matching granite money even more – that by cleaning our photographer-turned-food writer K.F. inti (grated coconut cooked with gula pestle) – the “eclectic blenders” of the plates, we were building up our store of Seetoh, who also shot a few photos for melaka and pandan leaves) to be used era – which could pulverise, mash up and merit by honouring the work of those our family album. as fillings for these desserts, all of which liquefy almost any ingredient known to who had slaved in the kitchen all day to Achi Atha, as we called our grand- were usually made “a la minute” when an man. With such simple but sturdy early- put food on the table and also to those aunt (atha is the Tamil word for “grand- unexpected guest dropped by,” she said. day “appliances”, one hardly needed who worked all day to make it possible mother”, making no distinction between Even in such frugal times as between the KitchenAid either. And there was no to buy the produce and the ingredients grandmother and grandaunt), was born the two world wars, Achi Atha always had need to go to the gym too: the arduous in the first place. at the turn of the century in 1903, a something homemade and sweet on hand pounding made sure one had quite a This deeply ingrained value would, British subject who lived with her uncle for guests. “No one was allowed to leave workout – to say nothing of toned arms. in our later lives, hold us in good stead in Katong after her parents passed on without a drink or a ,” said Madam Through skilful time management, when we procured ingredients from the early in her life. Susheela. “That was the custom in our the freshest produce and a system of supermarket, mentally calculating how Achi Atha came under the care of her ancestors’ homes, which has continued cooking that entailed pegang ­tangan much we needed to prepare our dishes unmarried uncle and his sisters, and was in our lives until this present day.” (touch of hand), the matriarchs of without buying in excess – so that food taught the intricacies of Chetty Melaka For Hindus, the mantra “the guest Chetty Melaka kitchens prepared food did not sit in the fridge and spoil. traditions. She lived through World War I is God” – from the Sanskrit Atithi devo that hardly needed refrigeration, with I can still remember my grandaunt as well as the Japanese Occupation of Bhavah – has manifested in the age-old their uncanny sense of pegang tangan Salachi Retnam, who became my mother’s Singapore during World War II. Chetty Melaka practice of honouring any 32 33 BIBLIOASIA JAN - MAR 2019

afternoon. Their shoes, which matched kitchen Zen, on a level beyond the abilities their kebaya outfits, were embellished of lesser neophytes, who can only pore with indigenous beaded designs in a over recipe books, trying to cook by rote. recurring leitmotif. For the interview with Violet Oon, in Even when she was well into her just one morning, my mother had whipped mid-90s, when she turned up early in the up a chicken , a dry-fry mutton morning to advise my mother on the finer Mysore dish, a fish , ikan panggang points of cooking ayam buah keluak,3 my (grilled fish), stir-fried vegetables, Indian grandaunt parlayed raw produce, fowl Peranakan chap chye (braised mixed veg- and grains into scented , rich, etables), fragrant basmati rice, a range of and melt-in-the-mouth desserts without yogurt accompaniments made with mint breaking a sweat. and pomegranates, and desserts – rich, The perfume du jour since the early chocolate and Malay-style coconut 1900s among Chetty Melaka women was candy. My grandaunt’s disciple had truly none other than that must-have curio of come into her own. scents, the 4711 Eau de Cologne – and Nothing goes to waste, true to the my grandaunt literally bathed in it. She teachings of my grandaunt – as after Good books and great coffee share something in common: they keep you wide also swore that it fended off almost every the photo shoot, there were takeaway awake at night. Flow: The Psychology of malady known to man– from cooling the boxes on hand for everyone as well Optimal Experience Artist Kwan Boon Choon pairs his love for reading and caffeine by creating art by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi body down to curing insomnia and even as another round of guests in the eve- out of coffee and inspired by books. An advertisement for the 4711 Eau de Cologne. the common cold. Now, how many of us ning that my mother had scheduled The Happiness Project Chetty Melaka women swore by this cologne which can boast that our French perfume can earlier that day – to finish up every last The National Reading Movement unveils eight of Kwan’s unique coffee by Gretchen Rubin they used to treat almost every malady. Image multitask like that in the sweltering Asian grain of pandan-infused and cardamom- artworks – based on books available for loan using the NLB Mobile App. The Intelligent Investor reproduced from The Straits Times Annual, 1936, heat? That tiny bottle of Eau de Cologne, and cinnamon-enhanced basmati rice p. 11. by Benjamin Graham conceived in 1792 in Germany, certainly and curries. Kwan’s coffee artworks are on display at selected Kith outlets punched way above its weight. Achi Atha passed on two years Kiss That Frog!: 12 Great Ways to guest with warm hospitality and food By the early 1980s, my mother had after that great repast, followed by my (kith.com.sg) from now until 12 February 2019. Turn Negatives into Positives in and drink, even if they visit our homes already become quite the exponent of mother six years later. But their teach- Your Life and Work 2 by Brian Tracy & Christina Stein unannounced. Chetty Melaka women this Indian sub-culture’s cuisine. She had ings and their culinary values have gone Visit any Kith outlet during this period, download are known not only for their Malay-Indian learnt how to prepare curry powder – not on to inspire every other aspect of their an ebook on the NLB Mobile app and receive a The Little Book of Skin Care dishes but also for their Straits-influenced from store-bought packets – by manually children’s, grandchildren’s and great- by Charlotte Cho grooming and attire. Like the Chinese drying the raw ingredients under the sun grandchildren’s lives. complimentary coffee voucher in return. The New Retirementality: Planning Peranakan (Straits Chinese), they were and then getting them milled in Little The lessons in the kitchen taught us Your Life and Living Your Dreams… resourceful in every aspect of their culture. India in big batches that could last for up to be prudent, resourceful, hardworking at Any Age You Want My grandaunts and grandmother to three months when kept in the fridge. and frugal, and yet to always seek a rich- by Mitch Anthony would frequent Geylang Serai or Arab Coriander seeds were dried in the ness in our lives through well-prepared Gretchen Rubin’s The Street to buy kain lepas (sarong kebaya, sun on flat baskets, which also acted as dishes made from the freshest, and Happiness Project Think Like Zuck: The Five Business which were sold in 4–5-metre lengths), sieves to drain out excess water. So were not necessarily, the most expensive inspired Kwan to create Secrets of Facebook’s Improbably and they would tie these wraps in such cumin, fennel, dried chillies and fenugreek of ingredients. this artwork using liquid Brilliant CEO Mark Zuckerberg coffee as his “paint”. a way that would allow them free move- seeds. These were later combined to by Ekaterina Walter ment to do their housework – from squat- make curry powder for vegetable curries, The Worry Cure: Seven Steps to Stop ting over a charcoal stove to climbing the meat and fish dishes. This article was first published in Worry from Stopping You jackfruit tree to slice off ripe backyard The homemade curry powder, if done The Sunday Times on 5 August by Robert L. Leahy produce to even bedtime, with a change according to matriarchal dictates, never 2018. © Singapore Press Holdings of their very diaphanous blouses that stuck to the pan when it hit the oil, as Limited. Reprinted with permission. showed a plain chemise underneath. no flour or fillers were allowed. And that No nighties needed – why allow that meant that one needed to use less of extra expense? these spice mixes, as they were potent Notes Even their hair had to be neatly dish enhancers. 1 Also spelled as Chetti Melaka or Chitty Melaka. The Chetty Melaka are descendants of South Tamil Indian combed with scented oil to make sure This is also where the pegang tangan traders who settled in Malacca during the Malaccan not a strand was out of place. To achieve approach comes in handy during the cook- Sultanate (1400–1511) and married local women who this, the matriarchs used a single thread ing process – the touch of hand that allows included Malays, Javanese, Bataks and Chinese. Chetty Melaka are mostly Hindu, and speak a patois of Malay, that they held tightly around the hair the cook to use the spices judiciously with Tamil and Chinese. The community of some 500,000 starting from the crown and down to the no wastage; just by the touch of the hand, in Singapore traces its roots to Kampung Chetti at Jalan Gajah Berang, Malacca. Books to Go ends of their tresses – to catch every one can intuitively gauge how much chilli 2 This is extended only to those we are accustomed with, with That stray, non-compliant strand. This was all powder to add for heat, and how much and not to rank strangers. The rule was that when in Perfect Cuppa neatly coiffed into a cucuk sanggul – or curry mix to put in the ayam buah keluak doubt about a guest, never allow them to enter but apologise a few days later after you have established chignon bun. so that it does not overpower the distinc- their relationship to the family. Hairdressers and hair salons hardly tive taste of the buah keluak. 3 Buah keluak is a poisonous seed from the kepayang did any brisk business with these tight- It is an alchemical moment when tree, native to Malaysia and , which is “cured” of its cyanide content by a careful process of boiling, wadded, chignon-sporting women looking cook, spice and ingredients are almost immersion in ash and followed by burial in the earth for their best, even on a windy, bad-hair-day immersed in some sort of inexplicable a certain period of time. 34