CI was surprised to see a big house with deep verandahs and a courtyard, converted into a sweetmeat shop. Ladies in fenugreek-coloured sarees were busy packing sweets and savories and handing out tokens. The absence of a fancy décor did not deter maamas, maamis and children (accompanied by their mothers), from feasting on the immensely popular sambhar-vadai, kuzhi paniyaaram and freshly fried bright yellow coloured jangris. I noticed a group of madisaru clad maamis gossiping over a plate of adai-avial and a mouthful of halwa, beneath a huge mango tree, the branches of which span the whole courtyard and even jut out of the tin awning.
The air brimmed with festivity, what with the ladies sharing light-hearted banter, while serving and the kitchen reminded me of the ones in wedding halls. I sat down to talk to Latha, who sits at the ‘orders’ desk. “I came here as a fifteen year old girl. Ayya (the founder Late Mr. Nataraja Reddiar) adopted all of us like his own daughters and gave us odd jobs to do. I have been working here for the past 23 years and this place feels like home,” she said. About 250 people belong to this ‘Grand’ family and it includes Mixture Ramaraj, Thokku Calcutta Subramanian, Rukmani maami (fondly known as Poli maami, after the thenga polis that she is famous for), milk sweet Krishnamurthy, Paneer jalebi Mahavir Singh and Halwa Rajendran. These people head a team of ten and conjure ambrosial dishes. As I settled down to talk to Paruppu thenga and podi master Sivalingam, I noticed a group of people huddling around a lady. Jothi, the sales representative, jumped into the conversation and said “We give out pongal, kesari, ksheerannam and puliogare as prasaadham to people every evening at around 4.30. This has been a ritual, that we have been following for the past 18 years. We also give away religious books for free, with a purchase of Rs 1000 and above”. Sivalingam, the man behind the spicy thokkus and rice mixes said “I started working here as a cleaner in 1988 and Mohana maami used to teach me the art of paruppu thenga and thokku making. The oil and ghee that we use for preparing our dishes, are never re-used. Our sweets are non-synthetic and are devoid of preservatives. By the end of the day, the sweetmeats are sold at half the price.”. Chips Subramanian also had a similar story to share. He mentioned that the dash of asafoetida in the chips that they make, has made a huge difference and that makes people want to buy them. Special packaging for sweets and savories, that are being sent across the country, is done with utmost care. Marriage oriented delicacies like murukkus, thenkuzhal, adhirasam, pakodam, laddoo and poli are generally in demand. If home-made sweetmeats are all that you crave for, head to Grand Sweets for dishes which assuredly have in them your grandmother’s touch.