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 It’s 3.30 p.m. when we reach Mrs. Chellam Gopalakrishnan’s
house. Sounds of Chellam’s voice as she demonstrates to the 20 odd students the
method of preparing tutty fruity ice-cream drifts downstairs from the first floor, where
the class is in progress. "You’re late" Chellam informs us as we enter, but
I’ve saved the fig and honey demo for much later, so you haven’t missed
it." We heave a sigh of relief. Chellam waves a hand at us indicating that we be
seated and as we plonk ourselves on the wooden seats, the instructions reach our ears loud
and clear. "Now it’s time for the tutty fruity to be put in the ice-cream
churner so that it can solidify." Incidentally it takes just about 20 to 30 minutes
for the ice-cream to solidify in the churner whereas it takes about 6 hours in the fridge.
All the girls attending the class giggle and chat as they troop towards the churner for
the next stage in the learning process – putting salt and ice in the churner so that
the melting point is raised up and for taking turns at turning the wheel. While the girls
are preoccupied, I catch up on a quick chat with the instructor.
 "Oh, I enjoy every minute of it" she
declares cheerfully. "It doesn’t seem like a class at all. In fact, three
generations of students - from daughters to granddaughters from the same family have been
regulars at my classes so it’s more like one big family," she beams.No doubt
about that! Chellam has been running classes on food crafts -cooking, baking, ice-creams
(both with and without eggs) and fine arts and crafts - fabric painting, flower and candle
making and many other such varied classes for the past 30 years and she is a professional
at her work. Chellam teaches exclusive vegetarian cooking ‘in an original and
authentic form’ to put it in her own words. She is quick to add that this is to prove
that vegetarian cooking need not be restricted to Indian food alone. Italian, Mexican,
Chinese food and pastas can also be relished in the vegetarian flavour. She is also
planning to start a course in Thai food soon.
"Constant practice makes you adept" says Chellam.
More than that, it is the wide appreciation and respect that she has gained amongst people
that makes her so happy.
 "When mother’s or mothers-in-law ring up and tell me that their
daughters are doing well it makes me so proud" she says. And mind you with the
exception of the first two starting batches way back in time, all her classes are
jam-packed. Goes to show her popularity, and never once in all these years has she ever
advertised or hung a board outside her house. All this recognition has been achieved
purely through word of mouth! Amazing!
Incidentally, Chellam conducts classes on seventeen
different subjects in a month, most of them running parallelly at a time. For instance,
while the ice-cream class was in progress in one corner of the room, in another corner
seated around a table were kids busy drawing and sketching. In an interior room, a couple
of ladies were trying their hands at oil painting while out in the verandah another was
heating wax for the batik work. From time to time, Chellam flitted between each one
surveying or giving tips on what should be done but undoubtedly the ice-cream class hogged
all the limelight. "Cooking is my passion and painting is in my blood," says
Chellam. I am an artist by nature" she sums up emphatically. No doubts about that
one!
 In the meantime, the tutty fruity has frozen so all of us
have a generous helping of it. It’s rich and creamy. The next recipe to be taken up
is butterscotch. It seems the ice-cream was already prepared at the previous days’
class and is cooling its heels in the fridge downstairs. Only the topping is left to be
done. Utensils are called for. The gas stove is pulled forth and one of the girls stirs
the ingredients on the fire as Chellam asks the others to cut the figs and to grind them
in the mixie for the next recipe – fig and honey. Incidentally, the ice-cream classes
are for a week with two to three recipes being taught each day. From the simple vanilla to
the sumptuous Sundaes and Delights, 16 flavours are taught in each course. Interestingly,
Chellam’s personal favourite is the Peach Melba. Says Chellam, "people come from
out stations for a few days and want to enrol for short courses."
In any case, most of the courses
range from 6 weeks to a maximum of two months and these are held throughout the year no
matter what - rain, sunshine or thunderstorm.
As we ravish the butterscotch, Chellam oversees the
sketchings and drawings of the kids. Say’s Chellam, "the ice-cream classes are
always the most noisiest. Everyone participates and there is much merriment while taking
turns at churning the wheel."
 It hardly takes ten to fifteen minutes before all the ingredients for the fig and
honey ice-cream are mixed together and now it’s time for the familiar exercise –
turning the churner. Meanwhile, Chellam relates how after her marriage with the
encouragement and blessings of her father-in-law she joined the Catering College at
Taramani for a two year Diploma Course in Cooking and Baking. Later, a six month course
under the Indo-Nippon Cultural Exchange Programme made her proficient in
Ekabana, both dry
and fresh flower arrangements. "I had a Guru to come home and teach me batik and tie
and dye," says Chellam.
Her husband being a Chartered Accountant was away most of
the day, so Chellam had a lot of free time on her hands to put her professional training
into practice and that’s how the cooking and painting classes took birth.
Initially the students were restricted to girls and
housewives alone but more recently, boys from private catering institutes are also joining
the short finishing courses – vegetable carving, table setting, salad dressing and
napkin folding. Chellam points out that classes for girls and boys are held separately
 Interestingly, Chellam is the senior most
fabric painter in the city and also teaches at painting workshops organised by
companies.
An extremely talented lady! Warmly she beckons
us for sampling the third helping of the homemade ice-cream. Fig and honey this time. Some
of the students staying close by even pack it off for home.
It’s been fun attending Mrs.
Chellam’s ice-cream class. As we take our leave, she gives us a bear hug bringing
tears into my eyes at her easy warmth and affection.
Chocolate Sundae
Ingredients:
Milk powder – 1 cup
Water – 2 cups
Cream – 1 cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Cocoa – 3 tsp. (made into paste with a little milk)
GMS - ¼ tsp.
Stabilizer – ½ tsp.
Chocolate essence – 1 cap
Vanilla essence – 2 caps
For Chocolate Sauce
Butter – 2 tsp.
Powdered sugar – ½ cup
Cadbury’s chocolate – 1 slab
Cocoa – 2 tsp.
Fresh cream – 2 tsp.
Method
Prepare the ice cream mixture in the usual way and set in the freezer. For chocolate
sauce, melt the butter in a heavy bottomed vessel and add the powdered sugar little by
little. Cook well. Add cocoa. Remove from fire and add cream and grated cadbury’s
chocolate slabs. Beat well to a smooth paste. Chop fine and roast cashew on a dry
tava.
Place a scoop of ice-cream in a bowl and pour the sauce on the top and sprinkle nuts and
place a cherry on the top and serve. The sauce can be poured hot or cold on the ice-cream.
If the sauce becomes thick add a little cold milk and mix well.
Fig and Honey Ice-cream
Ingredients:
Milk powder – 1 cup
Water –2 cups
Sugar – 1 cup
Cream – 1 cup
Fig – 50 gms
GMS – ¼ tsp.
Stabilizer – ½ tsp.
Fig essence – 2 caps
Honey – 2 tbsp.
Walnut – 10 gms
Method
Chop the fig and walnuts into small pieces. Mix GMS with a little milk and mix the
stabilizer with a little sugar. Now add the stabilizer mixture to the GMS mixture little
by little to make a smooth paste. Mix milk powder, water and sugar well. Add cream,
essence and mix well. Now mix the GMS stabilizer mixture to the milk mixture. Add honey,
figs, walnut well and freeze. When it starts setting,, beat it and reset. Repeat this
process thrice.
Rum & Raisin Ice-cream
Ingredients:
Milk powder – 1 cup
Water – 2 cups
Cream – 1 cup
Sugar – 1 cup
GMS – ¼ tsp.
Stabiliser – ½ tsp.
Rum and raisin essence
or rum essence – 1 cap
Ice-cream essence – 1 cap
Yellow colour – few drops
Raisins – (chopped) 50 gms
Method
Prepare the ice-cream in the usual way and sprinkle raisins and black currants on the top.
Contact:
Mrs.Chellam Gopalakrishnan
82, New Avadi Road
Chennai – 600 010.
Tel.# 6448333
Enquiry hours: 3.00p.m. – 6.00 p.m.
Shobha Mathur Pandian
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