CHENNAI: Sweating an onion, sauteeing a meat curry on the side and whisking eggs in a large bowl — Cooking is serious business in Vahita Jeeva’s kitchen, which is almost always filled with rich aromas that would make you long for a siesta even before the fiesta. But this was not so until 2012 when she quit her job as an assistant professor in computer science at DG Vaishnav College to start Sam’s Culinary Art of Cooking and Baking in April of that year. “I was beginning to feel dissatisfied. I studied computers only because my father wanted me to. He often told me, ‘You will have to man the kitchen once you get married, in any case. Why do you want to study culinary arts?’ I did not question him then. But I felt restricted in my job. I took six months of unpaid leave,” she recalls.
Based in Kodambakkam, through her venture, Vahita has taught people from across 20 countries to cook. It all started with a person who came to her through a mutual friend. “Through my contacts and by using my skill in social media marketing, I could reach out to people easily,” says Vahita, who teaches north Indian and south Indian cuisine, and baking. Even as a little girl, Vahita had an intimate relationship with food. “I have done some bizarre things. Once I bought a live chicken. Not knowing what to do with it, I made a mess of it. After that, my mother made a thokku of the chicken. I learned all my cooking by making a mess and having my mother help me out,” shares Vahita. Her love for non-vegetarian food is quite evident from her daily menu which often features some meat-based dish. Eggs, too, are a favourite. “My family loves the shark puttu, pasta beetroot pepper fry and mutton fry that I make,” she says.
For a teacher, discipline is first nature. That is an unsaid rule in Vahita’s kitchen, too. A stickler for time, she expects her students to be punctual for class. “I do not like anyone to wait for me. It is disrespectful if I make them wait. In the same way, I also do not like to wait. I will wait only for God who is my creator. I will not wait for anybody else,” says Vahita, who expects her students to clean up after the class.
Vahita cooks simple dishes at home, and usually with a lot of vegetables. She conducts classes daily and the number of hours she spends wielding the ladle depends on the dish she plans to teach her pupils. She takes a break for an hour or two in the afternoon.
With food being such an intrinsic part of her life, she gives back to society in simple ways. For instance, she conducts classes for transgenders too. But she doesn’t charge them. She also believes that if you want to learn then you must approach your teacher and not vice versa. “I get requests from celebrities and politicians to teach their children. They want me to go to their place and teach their children. I will not do that,” asserts Vahita. Vahita’s classes are incomplete without her nuggets of history on the dishes of the day and the ingredients that go in them. After all, aren’t these the small pleasures that make food interesting?
Shark Puttu Ingredients
Shark: ½ kg, Onion: two large, chopped, Ginger and garlic: 1 tsp each, Turmeric: ½ tsp, Chilli powder: ¼ tsp, Peppercorn: ½ tsp, Cumin: ½ tsp, Ground coconut: 2 tsp, Green chilli: as per taste, Mustard: ½ tsp, Curry leaves: ½ tsp, White lentil: ½ tsp
Methods
Fish Podimas Ingredients
Baracuda fish: 1 kg, Onion: 2 big, Garlic and ginger chopped: 1 tsp each, Turmeric powder: ½ tsp, Green chilli: as per taste, Chilli powder: ¼ tsp, Tomato: ½,
For tempering
Mustard seeds: ½ tsp, Curry leaves: ½ tsp, White lentil: ½ tsp
Method