આંબાની કાઠી, રાંધનારી નાઠી.

āṁbānī kāṭhī, rāṁdhanārī nāṭhī.

Literally: Firewood of mango wood, and the woman cooking fled.
What it means: Using bad or excessively smoky fuel drives the cook away from the kitchen.

ગુજરાતી કહેવતસંગ્રહ (Gujarati Kahevat Sangrah) (1921) · read from the scan by machine — the Gujarati itself is unchecked · English is machine-made and nobody has checked it yet

Heard it differently, or know we've got the sense wrong? Tell us — that is exactly the kind of correction this needs.