CHENNAI: In the 1940s, while India was still under the British Raj and women’s freedom was seldom acknowledged, a young girl made her way to four different States breaking stereotypes and whipping magic in her wake. Almost 70 years later, Kitty May Kurian surveys the crowd of hooting youngsters and excited relatives, waiting to launch a book that has been over 30 years in the making. Cooking with Kitty is an idea that has travelled generations, fed stomachs of all ages and garnered widespread positive reviews. Her father encouraged her to travel and get educated.
With a degree in Economics and Political Science, she later moved to New Delhi’s Lady Erwin’s College where she did a course in Home Science. “My mother told me to go to a finishing school and take up the course and I did. In those days, young women were sent to finishing schools before they got married,” she recollects. Her love and passion for culinary arts took her to the Canadian Institute in Indore where she taught Home Science.
Later, she continued her mission at the Vinalalayam Institute in Kochi where she spread her knowledge and experiences to students, flavoured with a genuine passion for 20 years. The love never dimmed though, and as the years passed and memories waned, her family collectively put in their efforts to preserve and spread the magic that she had created, into a solid form.
At 89, Kitty’s cookbook isn’t just finger-licking food and easy to cook but comes with recommendations from an entire extended family, all of whom have polished the food and attest to it on several occasions. Categorised smartly into ‘Kids’, ‘Young Adults’ and ‘As You Grow Older’, Cooking with Kitty brings you flavours that will have you floored. “Kitty Kochamma’s food is something most of the family has grown up tasting. Her passion for cooking resonates in her food and the fact that she’s done this so many years later is nothing short of impressive,” says a relative.
The book has been collated and edited by her daughters-in-law Rupa and Minu Kurian with other help from her elder son Sunil Kurian. Cooking with Kitty brings an array of foods including puddings, apple tarts marzipan and khoa pak to apple kheer, mango kheer and mixed fruit rabrisweet tooth can dig in and not worry about their hearts or health. The recipes are truly diverse, from momos and dumplings to Shepherds pie and even unique combos lie banana, apple and peanut salad. Kitty is anything but tired. A second book may soon hit the stands, but until then, we recommend you grab your copy now and start whipping.
Flower power
She is the only president of the YWCA to have retained two consecutive terms till date. “Can you imagine being encouraged and given the opportunity to travel and learn those times? She had a lot of support from both her parents,” Prasanna Mammen. The first draft of the book was created almost 10 years ago and sent to select relatives. “I was asked to collate and bring together all her recipes by my fatherin- law, who is the real push behind this move. That’s when it went from being a passion to a profession-of-sorts,” Minu Kurian.