Chetti Peranakan-influenced family recipes for Deepavali from octogenarian home cook Sushila Nadarajah

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In her tidy home kitchen in Petaling Jaya, 81-year-old Sushila Nadarajah reigns supreme. Even though she now walks with the aid of a walking stick, her energy and enthusiasm for churning out heritage Deepavali meals remains intact.

“When I was younger, my husband used to invite more than 100 people to the house for Deepavali and we used to cook at least 5kg of prawns and over 20 chickens. We even had three rice cookers going at the same time – it was like a catering company!