A sadhya is not a menu, it is a map. Salt at the tip end, pickles beside it, the poriyals and kootus along the top edge, rice in the middle, payasam in its own place. We have been laying it the same way for thirty-two years.
12 February 2026 · Sri Krishna Gana Sabha kalyana mandapam, Mylapore · 620 guests · Wedding gold
| Time | What happens | Where | Hands |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03:40 | Vegetable prep closes, 41 vessels sealed | Ekkattuthangal, kitchen 2 | 14 |
| 04:20 | Load out on three tempos | Ekkattuthangal → Mylapore | 6 |
| 05:10 | Fire lit in the mandapam kitchen | Mylapore | 9 |
| 06:30 | Filter coffee and idli for the mappillai party | Side hall | 12 |
| 08:15 | Muhurtham breakfast: pongal, vadai, kesari | Dining hall, two sittings | 22 |
| 10:40 | 620 leaves laid, tip to the left, wiped down | Dining hall | 26 |
| 11:20 | Sadhya, first sitting — 310 leaves | Dining hall | 34 |
| 12:15 | Sadhya, second sitting — 310 leaves | Dining hall | 34 |
| 13:30 | Wash-down, vessels back on the tempo | Mylapore | 11 |
| 17:00 | Reception counters open: chaat, Chettinad grill, pasta | Lawn | 28 |
| 21:40 | Last counter closes, leaf count reconciled | Lawn | 9 |
Servers are counted per sitting: one to eighteen seated guests, one supervisor to a hundred and twenty. The captain does not leave until the leaf count is reconciled.
Fourteen of the twenty-four.
This is the sadhya at ₹680 a plate: every position a Tamil household expects, and ten left empty for the menus that go further. Nothing on the leaf is decoration — if a position is filled, something is cooked for it that morning.
6 of 24 positions · from 40 boxes
48 hours notice
14 of 24 positions · from 150 guests
10 days notice
18 of 24 positions · from 200 guests
14 days notice
24 of 24 positions · from 300 guests
21 days notice
Every counter has a chef whose name is on the running sheet. They cook at the venue, not in a van, and they stay until their counter closes.
Service ratios. One server to eighteen seated guests. One to thirty at a standing counter. One supervisor to a hundred and twenty. A captain from four hundred guests upward.
Chef Murugavel Anbarasu, with us since 2001
Nattu kozhi chettinad · Milagu varuval · Ennai kathirikkai · Seeraga samba biryani · Kari dosai, made to order
Chef Kalaivani Selvaraj, with us since 2009
Arisi paruppu sadham · Thengai paal kootu · Kambu koozh · Ulundhu kali · Kongu kalyana rasam
Chef Vaidehi Srinivasan, with us since 1996
All 24 leaf positions · No onion, no garlic · Ghee poured at the seat · Two payasams · Served tip to the left
Chef Bhuvaneswari Rajan, with us since 2014
Dal makhani · Paneer lababdar · Tandoori roti, live · Chana chaat counter · Gatte ki sabzi
Chef Aravind Thirumalai, with us since 2018
Wild mushroom velouté · Herb-crusted paneer steak · Penne, tossed to order · Roast vegetable galette · Tiramisu in glasses
“Six hundred and twenty leaves went down at 11:20 and every one of them had inji puli in the right corner. My periamma walked the whole hall to check.”
Nandhini and Karthik Subramaniam · Mylapore, February 2026
Give us the venue, the guest count and the meal times. You get a per-plate estimate the same day and a tasting within the week.
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