Chef Damu, Cooku with Comali judge, dies in Chennai at 72

Chef Damu, the cook, teacher and television judge whose full name was Damodharan Kothandaraman, died in Chennai on Sunday 25 October at the age of 72, The News Minute and Filmibeat reported. According to both outlets, he had been unwell for several days and was being treated at a private hospital in the city.

Gulf News reported that the cause of death had not been made public, while ETV Bharat said he died after a brief illness. In August, according to The Hollywood Reporter India, he had denied rumours about his health after missing a semi-final of his show.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay said in a message posted by his office on X that he had brought the art of cooking to the people through television programmes, Gulf News reported. “His demise is a great loss to the culinary arts field,” the message read. The same report said the chef Sanjeev Kapoor paid tribute, recalling his cheerful, smiling nature.

Chef Damu cooked 617 dishes in 24 hours, 30 minutes and 12 seconds in December 2010.

Chef Damu on television and in the classroom

To Tamil audiences he was best known as a judge on Star Vijay’s Cooku with Comali, where viewers called him “Damu Appa”, according to Gulf News and The Hollywood Reporter India; the latter said he joined the show at its 2019 premiere. ETV Bharat reported that he had earlier hosted cooking programmes on DD Podhigai and on private Tamil channels.

The News Minute reported that he trained at the Institute of Hotel Management in Chennai, joined the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation as a management trainee in 1977 and later led several hotel management institutions. In 2004 he received a PhD in hotel management and catering technology from the University of Madras, which his official Padma Shri profile describes as a first for an Indian chef, according to the same outlet.

He wrote more than 20 cookbooks and textbooks for catering students, with a focus on Tamil Nadu food traditions and Chettinad cooking, The News Minute said. Both The News Minute and ETV Bharat reported that he worked with the Tamil Nadu government on the school midday meal programme and trained its cooks.

A Guinness record and a Padma Shri

In December 2010, according to ETV Bharat and Filmibeat, he set the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual, cooking for 24 hours, 30 minutes and 12 seconds and preparing 617 dishes weighing about 190 kg.

The Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in January 2025 for his contribution to the culinary arts, Gulf News reported. Among other Indian chefs in the news recently, Garima Arora opened a modern Indian kitchen in Kuala Lumpur.