Delicious Pootarekulu attract foodies

Rajamahendravaram: Atreyapuram, a tiny, non-descript village in East Godavari district, secured a notable place in the map of India for the last few centuries for producing the delectable Royal sweet 'Pootarekulu'.

It is believed that the history of Pootarekulu is at least three centuries old when a village woman first prepared the sweet by adding sugar and ghee to leftover rice starch.

Many people feel it prestige to offer Pootarekulu to the guests in all functions such as weddings, receptions, birthday parties and whatever be the occasion to celebrate.

The famous sugar-coated, ghee-laced rice wafers, Pootarekulu, became the recipe of livelihood to thousands of women in the village giving them financial support. About 2,000 women in the village have been making the royal sweet and earning a monthly income of between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,000.

Atreyapuram Pootarekulu is available everywhere in the two Telugu states and also other parts of the country. The royal sweet-making became a cottage industry in the village. Earlier, commercial banks used to extend financial support to women but later it was stopped.

The women of the village start making the sweet from morning and continue it up to evening. The making of wafer is an interesting scene to watch. As part of making of wafer, rice is soaked in water for some time and later it is grinded in the mixie or grinder. Then, a thin cloth dripped in the diluted battered rice is put on a heated pot. And Lo! Behold! Within seconds the rice wafer emerges from the top of the heated pot.

Some women make rice wafers and also prepare sweet and some others only make wafers and sell them to others who prepare the sweet.

Women apply ghee on the rice wafers along with sugar powder or jaggery powder or with dry fruits powder making the varieties of sugar, jaggery and dry fruit Pootareekulu. As many as one and half or two rice wafers are used for making each Pootareku, which is priced between Rs 10 to Rs 15.

East Godavari district is also famous for Kotaiah Kaja known as Gottam Kaja of Kakinada, Avidi Palakova, Mango Jelly of Atreyapuram and Madata Kaja of Tapeswaram.

A number of shops are seen from a distance of a kilometre along the canal road that leads to Atreyapuram and the ghee smell tells that it is Atreyapuram, the place of Pootarekulu. It is a common scene that people on cars and bikes stop at the shops to purchase the sweet.

According to a rice wafer-making woman Rama Lakshmi, as many as 250 wafers can be made with one kg rice every day and the cost of 100 rice wafers is Rs 100 to Rs 150. An amount of Rs 500 needed daily to purchase rice, oil, pots and firewood to make rice wafers.

In addition to the rice wafer, some amounts of ghee, sugar, jaggery, almond, cashew and pista are used to make the royal sweet.

To start a shop at least an amount of Rs 20,000 is needed. If the banks extend financial assistance it benefits to achieve women empowerment.