Mohan (centre, standing) is a fabulously talented home cook who enjoys whipping up a range of dishes for his family and friends every Deepavali. From left: friends Hema, Mangai Radhakrishnan, Mohan, Sushila Subhas and Vasuki Thiruchittampalam. — Photos: ART CHEN/The Star
In a little apartment in Brickfields, a group of friends have gathered for a meal. At the helm in his tiny kitchen is 70-year-old Mohan Narayanan, who is huddled over a large pan, rapidly stirring the contents. Plating it up, he says – “It is a joy doing all these things. When I feed people, I feel so happy.”
The coterie gathered at the table all nod in approval, as oohs and aahs of pleasure are expressed every time a dish is brought out. For lunch on a random Tuesday afternoon, Mohan has whipped up approximately 10 different vegetarian dishes, including two different kinds of rice!
“I can’t wait to eat! Everything that comes out of that kitchen is always sooo good,” says Hemavathi Sivanesan.
Hemavathi is one of the many young people who form part of Mohan’s large fan club; she says she grew up eating Mohan’s food as she is friends with his adult children – daughter Malavika Narayanan and son Madangopal Narayanan and frequently got to indulge in Mohan’s home-cooked fare.
Mohan is a retired chartered accountant who originally hails from Coimbatore, India. He moved to Malaysia in his twenties and married his late wife, Shyamala Narayanan, a Malaysian and has lived here ever since.
The ever-smiling, genial Mohan is also a very talented home cook – a passion he inherited from his mother in India, who taught him an arsenal of recipes in a very unconventional way.
Mohan learnt to cook from his mother as a child in Coimbatore, India, and her recipes continue to be close to his heart.
“When I was in school, I had a habit of getting up early to study. I always felt that my mind was very fresh early in the mornings, so I would spend 30 minutes to an hour studying and getting a grasp on different subjects.
“And Mother would also get up early and start cooking. And she would tell me, ‘Can you look after this? I will come back and do this part.’ Or she would say, ‘Can you do this step for me?’ So little by little, that is how I picked up her recipes – while studying,” he says, laughing.
After moving to Malaysia, Mohan continued churning out a panoply of family recipes for his own little family.
He eventually ended up working full-time for non-profit organisation Temple of Fine Arts in Brickfields (which owns and operates successful Indian vegetarian restaurant Annalakshmi) and was instrumental in managing their accounts.
At the time, his mother and sisters in India had started a business selling murukku and pickles and eventually those recipes were utilised and absorbed into the fold of Annalakshmi where Mohan and his late wife enjoyed volunteering their time by helping out in the kitchen.
His strong bond with his mother has continued to inform Mohan’s cooking, especially during Deepavali when he pulls out all the stops with a range of vegetarian dishes (he is completely vegetarian) designed to satiate his family and friends.
This Deepavali, he will be headed to Singapore to be with his daughter (his son lives in the UK now) – and he fully intends to cook up a feast.
One of his dishes is pavakkai pitlay, which is essentially a bitter gourd and chickpea infused gravy that has peppery undertones and a deliciously spice-riddled overlay. It is a soul-warming, nourishing dish that is absolutely sublime from start to finish.
“This is a dish that is not very common in Malaysia. It is similar to sambar (a south Indian dal loaded with vegetables) but the ingredients we use are slightly different. We use less dried chilli, and add more pepper and chana dhal (Bengal gram). We also don’t use urad dhal (black gram).
“And also my children like that very much, whenever my son comes back from the UK, he will say, ‘Appa, make that for me, please,’” says Mohan.
Mohan’s Deepavali meals are also designed around balance and nutrition. He incorporates a lot of pepper, which is good for the constitution as well as ingredients like chickpeas and moringa, which is excellent for regulating blood sugar levels.
His French beans and carrot thoran for instance, features just a few key ingredients cooked with thought and care. The result is a light, crunchy offering where you can really taste the freshness of the vegetables. The grated coconut in the mix adds a lovely tropical underbelly to the meal and ties it together beautifully.
Mohan says Indian meals must be balanced, which is why even though he cooks up a large spread for Deepavali, he puts a lot of thought into what goes on his table.
“The thoran is basically fresh vegetables cooked a little bit. I steam it until it is 50% cooked and stir-fry with a little bit of urad dhal and coconut, so it is very fresh,” he says.
Then there is Mohan’s potato hot curry, a lovely nod to the Indian sub-continent that heralds and champions potatoes (incidentally introduced to India by the British) against a backdrop of an undulating fiery landscape – although not too much to overwhelm the palate. It is simple, intensely pleasurable and very, very memorable.
“In our family, everybody loves this dish, so it is a must-have during Deepavali,” says Mohan.
His drumstick poricha kootu meanwhile is another delightful dish that makes use of moringa drumsticks and is packed with both flavour and nutrition. It’s the perfect accompaniment with steaming hot rice.
“My mother’s trick is to add a small piece of tomato in the grinding process – it’s a small thing that makes a big difference in the final dish,” says Mohan.
Mohan says he puts a lot of thought into his meals and makes sure each dish complements the others on the table. He has learnt over the years that even the best dishes can be desecrated by the presence of something else that may overwhelm its attributes.
“In general, food will taste better when the combinations are right. You can make fantastic food, but if the combination is not right, it won’t taste nice and you cannot relish it,” he says, smiling.
POTATO HOT CURRY
5 to 6 potatoes, boiled, peeled and cut into pieces
1 tsp mustard seeds
4 dried red chillies
2 tbsp chana dal (split Bengal gram)
3 onions, finely chopped
a handful curry leaves
a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
2 tsp red chilli powder
To make
Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and dried red chilies.
After the mustard seeds crackle, stir in chana dal. When the dal turns golden brown, add the chopped onions and a handful of curry leaves. You can also add a pinch of asafoetida for extra flavour.
Sauté the onions until they become golden brown.
Add the boiled potatoes and stir-fry for about 2 minutes. Season with salt and red chilli powder according to your taste.
Continue to stir-fry the potatoes for around 5 minutes until well combined.
Your potato curry is ready! For extra flavour, drizzle 2 tablespoons of ghee on top and garnish with additional red chilies if desired.
FRENCH BEANS AND CARROT THORAN
3 medium-sized carrots, finely chopped
250g French beans, finely chopped
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp broken urad dal (split black gram)
a handful of curry leaves
50g grated coconut
To make the thoran
Steam the vegetables until half cooked, then drain and set them aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds start popping, add broken urad dal and curry leaves. Sauté until the dal turns light brown.
Add the partially cooked vegetables and sauté for about 5 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
When the vegetables are about 80% cooked, add grated coconut and stir it in. Sauté for a few more minutes until fully cooked. Serve hot.
DRUMSTICK PORICHA KOOTU
For the paste
a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
2 tbsp urad dal (split black gram)
3 dried red chillies
4 tbsp black pepper
100g grated coconut
¼ of a tomato
To make the paste
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan. Add asafoetida, urad dal, dried red chillies and black pepper. Sauté for about 3 to 4 minutes.
After sautéing, add grated coconut and continue to fry until it turns golden brown.
Let the mixture cool and transfer it to a grinder. Add tomato and grind into a semi-dry paste.
Set the paste aside for later use.
For the poricha kootu
3 drumsticks
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp broken urad dal
A handful of curry leaves
50g moong dal (green gram) or toor dal (pigeon pea), cooked
200ml water
salt to taste
To make
Cut the drumsticks into 5cm pieces and keep them aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, broken urad dal and curry leaves. Sauté until they turn golden brown.
Add the cut drumsticks and sauté for about 2 minutes. Pour in water, add salt and allow the drumsticks to cook.
Once the drumsticks are tender, stir in the cooked dal and let it simmer for another 2 minutes.
Add the prepared paste, adjust the salt to taste, and let it boil.
Serve hot with rice.
