Food of the Peranakan Indians

Growing up as a Chetti Melaka (Peranakan Indian), Tanya realised her family was different when she was seven or eight years old. Her family spoke Malay at home, ate sambal belacan, and had huge parties with a lot of unusual food. In this episode, Tanya talks with pride about the rituals of the ancestor worship known parachu and the cookbook containing traditional recipes of the Chetti Melaka community.

Listen to the Full Episode

Available on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts , melisten.

Subscribe to get notified when the next episode drops.

What Tanya Talked About

01:58 – Who the Chetti Melaka are, and where they are from
04:32 – How the Chetti Melaka are different from and similar to other communities
05:19 – The importance of food culture especially in ancestor worship known as parachu
10:04 – The language spoken by Chetti Melaka
10:37 – The musicality of the community and a version of the song Di Tanjong Katong commissioned by the Chetti Melaka (Peranakan Indians) Association (used with permission)
12:10 – The local community in Singapore and origins of the Chetti Melaka Association
15:00 – How the book Heritage Food of the Peranakan Indians in a Chitty Melaka Kitchen came about
19:59 – Tanya’s background as a Chetti Melaka
23:11 – Classic Chetti Melaka dishes
24:44 – How the Chetti Melaka otak blangah is different from the usual otak-otak
26:29 – Reception of the book
29:06 – A must-try and simple dish in the cookbook
29:30 – The importance of preserving heritage food
30:11 – Food is…

About the Guest

A Peranakan Indian, Tanya Pillay-Nair is the coordinator of the cookbook Heritage Food of the Peranakan Indians in a Chitty Melaka Kitchen (Peranakan Indian Association of Singapore, 2023). The book contains close to 100 Peranakan Indian recipes, from everyday dishes to festive fare.

Resources

Peranakan Indian (Chitty Melaka) Association Singapore, Heritage Food of the Peranakan Indians in a Chitty Melaka Kitchen (Peranakan Indian (Chitty Melaka) Association Singapore, 2023). (From National Library, Singapore, call no. RSING 641.595951 PER)

Chantal Sajan, “Life Lessons in a Chetty Melaka Kitchen,” BiblioAsia 14, no. 4 (January–March 2019).

Dhoraisingam S. Samuel, Peranakan Indians of Singapore and Melaka: Indian Babas and Nonyas—Chitty Melaka (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2006).

Credits

This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by One Dash. The background music "Di Tanjong Katong" was composed by Osman Ahmad and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Tanya for coming on the show.

BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library of Singapore.