A big treat awaits sweet lovers

Hyderabad: Have you ever heard of green peas barfi, a sweet delicacy made by Marathi community? Or a sherbet made of kokum? Or a payasam in purple colour made of black rice? Well! about 1,000 varieties of sweets usually made by different communities across the country could now be savoured for three days at the International Sweet Festival, to be held between January 13 and 15 at the Parade Grounds.

Parsis, Gujaratis, Malayalis, Marathis, Goans, Punjabis, Yemeni, Turks (There are 15 families living in Hyderabad) Bengalis, Kannadigas, Odiyas and several others are all set to showcase their traditional sweet delicacies at the festival.

Speaking to The Hans India, Borra Venkatesham, Secretary, Tourism & Culture said, “Hyderabad is a mini India and the idea is to showcase the cosmopolitan nature of the city through sweets. About 25 linguistic communities will exhibit the delicacies and share their recipes.”
Sweet shop owners and caterers have not been invited for the festival, he said, adding “The idea of holding the event is to showcase the variety of food. The Payasam, for example, has so many variants. The Malayali, Kannadiga, Tamil and Konkani each have their unique style.

There are many sweets that were once popular and made in every household in Hyderabad one such sweet the badam ki jalli however is now confined to just a few old families in Hyderabad which would be available. Anand Kulkarni, in-charge for Marathi community which is going to have 34 stalls says, “Rare sweets such as ukdi modak which is a steamed sweet and mango mastani a sherbet popular in Pune are some of the delicacies which people can taste.” Juices made of coccumb and Amla too are Marathi specialities, he adds.

Mayuri, a representative of Assamese stalls says, “We have certain sweets in which no oil is used such as the tilpitha and the nariyal pitha which are made with sticky rice that is grown in Assam. And a signature dish that would be on show is the payasam that is made with black rice but once cooked it takes on a purple hue.”