Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni (4 June 1974 – 4 November 2012) was an Indian celebrity chef

Name :            Jacob Aruni

Born In :           Tamil Nadu, India

Date of Birth : 1974-06-04  - 4-11-2012

Education :    American college,madurai, Asan memorial college,chennai 

Working As : producer cum host to cookery shows for SUN TV - AAHA ENNA RUSI

Specialist :    south indian fusion

Worked at :   Director of Catering Department in the Sankara College, 
                       TV Cookery     Shows'


Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni (4 June 1974 – 4 November 2012) was an Indian celebrity chef 

born in Uthamapalayam, Tamil Nadu.

He was known for his authentic South Indian cuisines. 

Jacob was a visiting chef at several leading hotels, and a consultant chef at some of the finest restaurants in India and abroad.

 He was also a dedicated food historian, spice collector and promoter of South Indian cooking.

Chef Jacob was 38 and he was the host of Aaha Enna Rusi, a popular cookery show of Sun 

TV. Also, he was a successful restaurateur. 

His restaurant is named as “Chef Jacob’s Kitchen”.

 In 2010, he created Guinness record for the world’s longest barbeque marathon by 


cooking outdoors, for 24 hours and 5 minutes. 



Jacob was a resident of Anna Nagar and a bachelor. He is famous for exploring the south 

Indian cuisine. He was born in a doctor family; he had passion towards cooking from his 

mother, Vimala Aruni, principal of C S I Jeyaraj Annapackiam College of nursing, Madurai. 



He started cooking from the age of 14. He soon got his mother’s cooking style. His passion 

toward cooking started growing, which led him to study a degree in catering after finishing his 

bachelor’s degree in Physics in American College, Madurai. He did his advance course in 

cooking in SNR & Sons College, Coimbatore. 

Jacob Aruni was born in Uthamapalayam, Tamil Nadu in a family of doctors.

 His mother, Vimala, worked as a principal in CSI Jeyaraj Annapakkiam College of Nursing in 

Madurai. Jacob studied for a Bachelor of Science in physics at the American College, Madurai 

from 1992 to 1995. 

Later, inspired by his mother's cooking, he went on to study catering.


Jacob did research on the cuisines of Sangam era – the food habits of people who lived 

between the 3rd and 16th century through numerous primary sources. He served as the 

Director of Catering Department in the Sankara College of Science and Commerce in 

Coimbatore. 



Through his TV cookery show, Aaha Enna Rusi, he was well-known for exploring unfamiliar 

locations and demonstrating his recipes in those locations. 



In his Guinness Record for the longest individual barbecue cooking marathon, Jacob cooked 

up a total number of 485 dishes, which included 150 non-vegetarian dishes at Radisson 

Temple Bay, Chennai, India on 14–15 March 2010. 




His restaurant, “Chef Jacob’s Kitchen” in Chennai, mainly focusses on the traditional south 

Indian flavours. The restaurant opened to much critical and commercial success.

Jacob Aruni died from a heart attack on 4 November 2012 at the Apollo First Med Hospital in 

Chennai. He was 38 years old.