Mrs. S. Banumathy was born in Nelvoy Village in Tamil Nadu. She was brought up in Chengalpet near Chennai. She completed her H.Sc in St. Mary's High School there. She had been passionate about cooking since she was a young girl. She got married to Mr. N.G. Sivakumaran in the year 1960 and moved to her new family in Chennai. Her passion for cooking fanned the flames that had sparked in her for several years that she developed her cooking skills. She started living in a huge joint family (in-laws) in her early part of her marriage. She had to cook for all in the family, which meant she had to cook for each and every member differently. This provided her the chance to experiment and improve her cooking skills.

She has five decades of experience in the kitchen; now, she is an acknowledged culinary expert, within our community. She has also appeared on the television (Sun TV) in the cooking program "Ahaa Enna Rusi" hosted by Chef Jacob. She cooked one of my favorite “Soyabite Podimass” on the show, which was very much appreciated by Chef Jacob and also by viewers who tried it out and called her back to thank her. She has been giving her valuable advice and tips in cooking to relatives and friends who call her on the phone in the middle of their cooking sessions.

Even today at the age of 72, she’s still going strong and never backs down in her experiments and adventures in culinary. I hope she can inspire everyone that it is possible to enjoy delicious food and indulgent.

Happy Cooking!!!