Andrea Crizzle highlights her culinary journey which began in her family kitchen and led to Andy’s Khana.
Andrea Crizzle was born in Kolkata and brought up on tea plantations, where her father was employed and life was lived on a grand scale.
Andrea describes the meals, that she had, as a child, which were greatly influenced by the British. “Breakfast was always very British consisting of eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, fresh fruit juice, etc. Lunch was more or less of Indian flavour with the usual curries and ‘rotis’ and veggies and salad followed by a leisurely siesta. High Tea was daily and an extremely elaborate affair. Dinner comprised of roasts and soups and mainly simpler stuff!”
Her mother is an Anglo Indian and would always cook up delicious mulligatawny, a ‘khowsuey’, a beef roast or Shepherd’s pie or simple ‘dal’ and rice, to name a few. So right up from her childhood, Andrea has been exposed to good food cooked by her mother and the staff on the tea gardens. Holidays in Kolkata meant delicious food cooked by her grandmother who was a fabulous cook as were her aunts and grand aunts. Andrea’s culinary journey began in the kitchens of a loving family amidst great laughter and loads of love.
“Cooking came naturally to me. I love feeding people. So half my battle is won!” says she, on venturing into the culinary world. As part of cabin crew with Jet Airways, Andrea sampled cuisines from across the country and incorporated it into her daily flavours. Over the years it gave her an opportunity to hone her skills and perfect a few recipes. “Good food tastes even better when it looks and smells good. This gives me the opportunity to incorporate colonial aesthetics from my tea garden days to my current repertoire of dishes. I wanted my cuisine to appeal to all the senses – taste, smell, sight and touch.”
Her home based venture is called Andy’s Khana which all began with a friend of hers requesting to cater for a party. “My friend wanted to offer her guests something different and asked if I would help. I jumped at it because it involved feeding people! The food was well appreciated and she pushed me into taking orders. I was extremely apprehensive at first being untrained and cooking only by instinct and relying on my recipes passed down the generations. My friends call me Andy, hence the name Andy’s Khana.”
She soon started getting orders from friends and then their friends; and word of mouth being so powerful, she started getting many orders and went on to cater for parties. Andrea can cook up Anglo Indian food and some north Indian food, but was apprehensive on whether the Goan palette was ready to try a different style of cuisine. But four years down the road, she is still going strong.
Andrea’s cooking is greatly influenced by flavours of the past. The food cooked by her mother, grandmother and aunts, have left an indelible mark on her style of cuisine. “I don’t have any one particular signature dish, but rest assured you wouldn’t have tasted it anywhere else! The ball curry and yellow rice or pepper water, ‘jhalfrezie’ or ‘khowsuey’, the spare ribs I make are also different to what you would eat elsewhere. I make a burger which is different in flavour and well stuffed, greatly appreciated by children and adults alike.”
Each dish by Andrea gets the same importance as the next. Her two different kinds of flavoured oils, was created by her when dabbling in something different for her children’s palate and today, is a hit amongst her customers.
Andrea believes in never saying no to her clients and has taken orders on short notice, whether it’s a simple roast or cooking an elaborate meal for a party of around 70 odd people.
Andrea has had her fair share of roadblocks. “Being a home chef isn’t easy. The lack of space is a daily battle. But I’ve managed to master it. I cook only on orders thus ensuring that I procure fresh ingredients. Whether it’s cakes or muffins, roasts or quiches it’s done at home by me. Right from purchasing my ingredients to cooking, I do it myself. My daughters and my husband help when they can. I buy my stock of veggies and meats and dry ingredients, making sure it’s the best quality wise. Both my daughters are into competitive sport. So I make sure the food that I cook is healthy and well balanced.”
Andrea goes on to add that the initial stages of the lockdown were terrifying and she didn’t know whether her little business would sustain itself. But she slowly began getting orders and it has picked up speed, which keeps her busy and happy at the same time. Andrea has gained a lot of new clients and gets loads of positive feedback which is heartening. “To sustain, cooking a different cuisine for a client base that enjoys eating my food is such a good and satisfying feeling” she adds.
Regarding her future plans, Andrea harbours a dream to have a food truck or a little café that has an old world charm with a touch of her favourite colonial era.
She signs off with a message to aspiring home cooks and culinary artists. “I feel if you do something, do it with heart and soul or don’t do it at all. Be humble, be different, and be honest”
