Kerala-based Jesudas Puthamana makes 13 kinds of personalised Japanese kitchen knives

Hankotsu, usuba, nakiri... Jesudas Puthumana of Chendamangalam, Kerala, makes 13 kinds of personalised Japanese kitchen knives

Nirvana 2019, the house Jesudas Puthmana built on Valiya Pazhampilly Thuruth — one of the tiny islands that dot the Periyar and make up Chendamangalam, Kochi — looks especially Marquezian on a rain-drenched day.

Fashioned in such a way that it seems like an extension of the scenery, it is a labour of love, and a passion project, for which he drew the plan, sourced the material, designed the floor tiles and even calculated the angle of the sun’s shade on the roof. He built a wood-fired masonry oven for its kitchen, where he bakes pizza, bread, cake and naan. Jesudas also makes artisanal Japanese kitchen knives under Urukk Blades. 

He brings out five handmade knives, in different stages of completion, and lovingly explains each. For use in the kitchen and by chefs, the knives are personalised with the name stamped on one side of the blade and a unique serial number on the other. Japanese kitchen knives are varied, each with a different purpose, for example, usuba, a traditional knife used for vegetables and intricate cutting, hankotsu, a boning knife, nakiri, a vegetable cleaver for up and down chopping. Jesudas makes 13 types of knives, with a choice of four finishes and three types of wood handles.  

Since March 2022, when he started, he has delivered 45 knives, to a clientele that includes chefs Thomas Zachariah of The Locavore, Hussain Shahzad of The Bombay Canteen, and Avin Thaliath, co-founder and director, Lavonne Academy of Baking Science and Pastry Arts.

“I want my knives to be used, and chefs who understand a good knife because it is their primary tool,” says the 44-year-old mechanical engineer. The Serbian meat cleaver among the Japanese kitchen knives proves he is up for a challenge. Next, he plans to make a bread knife for a Mumbai-based baker by adapting a serrated type of Japanese kitchen knife. 

He forges, sharpens and polishes knives out of Ultra High Carbon (UHC) steel also known as tool steel for the same reason as he built his house and its wood-fired oven — “the feeling of making something from zero, to build something out of scratch.” Or, if he were to be ‘arrogant’, he jokes, “because I can!”

If he were to pinpoint what piqued his interest in swords/knives, he pegs it on a documentary on Japanese Katana swords. While working for a construction company in Dubai, with access to a workshop, he made a couple of knives on a whim.