Goodwill and gumption: Ahalya Bai and her legacy of good food in Bengaluru’s Srirampuram

Ahalya Bai, known for supplying food, savouries and sweets for more than four decades, recollects her journey into the catering world

“I never felt the need to put up a sign or go commercial. I cook to earn a simple living and serve the hungry,” says Ahalya Bai.

The catering unit near Veeranjaneya Temple bears no sign board, but people direct us to a gated cluster of houses where Ahalya Bai cooks in one of them on the first floor. Over the past four decades, Ahalya has earned a name for herself in Srirampuram and Malleswaram, by providing top quality meals at affordable prices. And during Deepavali and other festivals, her sweets, snacks and savouries are highly sought after.

“In this part of the town, our food is popular; we make around 50 portions of breakfast, lunch and supper a day. Festive savories and sweets as well as traditional South Indian masala powders and evening tiffin items are also in demand,” says the 71-year-old, affectionately called Doddamma by all around.

It is educational to observe Ahalya dish out homespun wisdom with cooking directions to her assistants — Bharathi, Manjula, Sadhana and Prakasha — seated on the floor amidst kitchen stoves, learning from their ‘head chef’.

Ahalya has always believed in preparing native ‘shudda food’ and her adherence to quality has garnered her more takers, as her specifications are not compromised. “My food is prepared with pure ghee and oil, no soda or artificial colouring has entered my kitchen ever since I started my food services in 1982. Even our rice dishes, savouries, sweets, idli or bonda, are prepared without the use of soda.”

She says the purpose behind this eatery was to help people in distress while “being meaningful and productive” in easing her own financial shortcomings. “The quality of food equals quality of health, so my motto has been to keep food as natural as possible so people come back regularly for ‘healthy takeaways’.”

Regular customers are grateful that Ahalya Bai’s food is available to those residing near Srirampuram and Malleswaram, believing she is their equivalent of South Bengaluru’s Subbamma with her culinary legacy near DVG Road. Ahalya’s traditional food sans onion and garlic, is an inheritance she has been taking forward for two generations now.