Celebrity Chef and ‘Cooku With Comali’ Judge Chef Damu Passes Away at 72

Celebrity chef K Damodaran, popularly known as Chef Damu, passed away at the age of 72, leaving behind a legacy of contributions to the culinary arts and television.

Widely recognised for bringing cooking to television audiences through popular shows such as Cooku with Comali, he became one of the most familiar faces of Tamil television.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay condoled his demise in a post on X, remembering the chef for his contribution to the culinary arts and his efforts to make cooking accessible to a wider audience through television programmes.

“Through his culinary expertise and unique approach, he brought the art of cooking to the people via television programs. In 2010, he created the Guinness World Record for the longest individual cooking marathon, and he was also honoured with the Padma Shri award,” the post read. “His demise is a great loss to the culinary arts field.”

Chef Damu was born in 1954 and pursued his education at the Institute of Hotel Management in Chennai. He began his professional career as a management trainee with the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation before establishing himself as a prominent figure in the culinary world.

Feats and achievements

In December 2010, he entered the Guinness World Records after cooking 617 dishes weighing a total of 190 kg in 24 hours, 30 minutes and 12 seconds. He later took on other cooking challenges, including making a 14.7-metre dosa in Madurai and preparing the world’s largest curry in Singapore.

For television audiences, Chef Damu was widely known as a judge on Vijay TV’s cooking show Cooku with Comali. The show brought together cooking challenges and comedy, with Damu becoming a familiar face for viewers through his gentle humour and advice to contestants. He appeared on the show from its early seasons and became known for explaining cooking techniques in a simple way.

Apart from television, Chef Damu also appeared in Tamil films and continued to contribute to the culinary field.

In January 2025, he was awarded the Indian civilian honour, the Padma Shri, for his contribution to the culinary arts. The honour recognised his work in bringing professional cooking to a wider audience and inspiring people working in the food industry.