Alumni Stories: Niro of Tuka Tuka Kothuroti Man

Watching chef Niro Vithyasekar work is meditative. The practiced precision, the back of a ladle distributing batter impossibly thin on a hotplate, an iron blade circled atop the batter at the right pressure and speed to achieve the perfect roti. Niro shares traditional food from his culture, the Tamil people of Sri Lanka, across Melbourne through food stalls and catering with his business Tuka Tuka Kothuroti Man.

Why did you name your business Tuka Tuka?

The main dish I make is kottu roti. When I make kottu roti (கொத்து ரொட்டி) it makes this sound: Tuka Tuka. It’s a sound and dish name together. Back home, we would wait to hear the sound. They make kottu roti usually in the summer in the village, but only in a few places and in the evening only. So we would wait to hear that sound and then we would go and buy it. In Sri Lanka we have only a few restaurants. This street food is a part of Sri Lankan culture.

When did you arrive in Australia, and how long after did you find Free to Feed?

I came in 2009 to Australia by boat as a refugee. I left different immigration camps after about six years, in 2015. I found Free to Feed a year or two later. One of my good friends told me about this project. She sent me all the information, helped me with my cover letter and background to apply to Free to Feed.

When I joined it was the start of Free to Feed, so at that time there wasn’t a permanent location. They found some local cafés, houses and different places. We’d go there and run the cooking classes. I did the Sri Lankan cooking classes, and some other friends did their traditional cooking classes. I had a good experience and learned a lot. I had training on how to do storytelling. Cooking became storytelling. I talked to some mentors and chefs who I worked with on my recipes, who would edit them with me. I’d tell the recipe one way, and they’d watch me and video me and we’d realise the method or cooking time was different, and we’d correct the recipe.

At Free to Feed, every time I needed to pick food by quality and quantity. That I learned from that time. I keep notes to make sure I keep the right quantities to make sure the dish will be perfect.

Do you make any of the dishes from those classes now in your business?
At the market stall I do something totally different, but for catering I still do some of those recipes.

One of Niro’s Free to Feed Dinners in 2017 – at Kau & Co.

Were you always a chef?

I lived with good cook friends in the centres when I arrived, most of the time I would have meals with them. I would go and cook with them and they would fix my dishes, and I learned from there. Back home, I didn’t cook much. My father is a mechanic, I was doing mechanics there too.

In 2018 or so I started my business. People encouraged me in a lot of ways. I started training as I needed to study food handling. A lot of people helped me to do these things. They encouraged me “do it Niro, do it!” It’s a lot of people's ideas. I come from another country, so when I resettled here it’s hard to know everything. You want to learn everything, but that takes time. I had a lot of friends encouraging and giving support in many ways. They’re still there, following me along in every way! 

At that time when I was teaching at Free to Feed I had social media also for my business, and some people followed me to know which market I’d be at next, and they’d come by.

Making roti and masala dosa

What were the biggest challenges here when you arrived? 

The first difficulty I had is the language barrier. That’s hard with all the paperwork and study and forms that need to be completed, like registering as a street trader and market registration forms. They’re 2-3 pages, I found that too hard. There’s also finding resources – if I know a good market, it’s hard to get there as I have to email them the right way and tell them. After that part is done, there’s also keeping records of your business. I’d never touched a laptop where I come from, so the digital side is difficult. Everyone says “post to your story, post a reel!” I would respond “What’s that?” They’d say “you’re doing photos but not quality!”... I don’t have any idea (laughing). Everything is hard.

Niro working at his Coburg Farmer’s Market stall

Can you share more about your business, and what you like about running your own business?

At the moment I’m doing a few markets around the Melbourne area. Mostly I serve kottu roti, that’s my signature dish. After that I added some Dosa, and some street food snacks. I have seven items on the menu. I do parties, events, everything.

What I like about running my business is that despite the hard times, I decide everything. I have freedom. Even though everything’s hard, I am deciding everything and I like doing that. I decide where I want to go: If I try a place and it’s not good for me I decide I’m not going. I like deciding where I want to go and what I want to do.

So that choice is very important to you.

Yes, it’s a lot of freedom.
I also like that I go to different places, so I see more places and meet more people. I really enjoy sharing my food and culture through this business. Through this food, I’m sharing this culture.

Some people haven’t had kottu roti for a few years and come and say “Wow, you make it here!” When I’m having a hard time that makes me think “The people like it! They’re coming!” That makes me want to share more. I have future plans to do more around Melbourne and more events, increase the business, and have bigger challenges. I like it, having a lot of things to do.

Follow Niro’s business Tuka Tuka Kothuroti Man on Instagram
Photos from 2017 from our Free to Feed archive. Photos of Niro’s market stall by Savannah van der Niet