e-Paper
Rare and precious recipes belonging to the Peranakan Indian community, also known as the Chitty Melaka, have been recorded for posterity in a colourful, 200-page book.
Heritage Food Of The Peranakan Indians In A Chitty Melaka Kitchen contains about 100 recipes, contributed by 10 matriarchs from the community.
It is one of more than 550 projects supported by the National Heritage Board’s (NHB) Heritage Grants Scheme since its launch in 2013.
The scheme comprises minor (up to 50 per cent of total project costs, or a maximum of $50,000) and major (up to 50 per cent of total project costs or a maximum of $150,000) project grants.
Several community-led projects that have benefited from the scheme, which has awarded more than $15 million, include publications, exhibitions and podcasts that promote local heritage.
The Chitty Melakans, or Chettis, are descendants of South Indian merchants who first settled in Melaka around the 15th century and married a spouse of Malay or Chinese descent. The Indian Heritage Centre estimates the number of Chettis in Singapore at 5,000.
As the community’s traditions began to wane and its numbers dwindled, so too did the safe-keeping of traditional Peranakan recipes. Eventually, there were only a handful who knew the recipes. Most of them are now in their seventies and eighties.
Merlin Pillay, 71, who contributed six recipes, described the NHB support as a “blessing”.
She told tabla! that the idea for a cookbook was mooted to the members of the Peranakan Indian (Chitty Melaka) Association Singapore (PIA) by a news editor from Malaysia four years ago, during a Peranakan convention in Melaka.
Despite the initial excitement, Ms Pillay said it was only in 2022 that the PIA decided to apply for an NHB grant. In October that year, after a new committee was formed, work on the book began.
“In 2024, we went full throttle. Every week, we tried out the recipes. These were from our grandmother’s generation and before, and were not often cooked,” said Ms Merlin. “Each dish has a meaning and a story behind it. We have included everything in the book.”
According to Ms Merlin, more than 1,700 copies of the book have been sold. The association is planning a reprint.
Some of the recipes are enhanced with interactive media by Lasalle College of the Arts students, and can be accessed by scanning the QR codes.
Ms Kavitah Jayanandan, 47, finds the book useful in educating people about her community. Having studied Malay instead of Tamil in school, she had found it difficult to introduce her heritage to her peers.
“Many people hear Chitty Melakans and ask ‘oh what’s that?’ They are not as familiar with Chitty Melakans, also known as Peranakan Indians, as they are with Peranakan Chinese or the Nyonya,” the media business owner said.
“Now I have something tangible to show what a Chitty Melakan is.”
