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SWEET delicacies
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Have a sweet tooth? Deepavali is the time to savour all those delicacies, says PRATHIBHA PARAMESWARAN
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Mindboggling variety
THE FESTIVAL of lights — Deepavali — is a much awaited occasion. Not only for the new colourful clothes available at all tempting discount offers, glittering jewellery and booming crackers and colourful diyas and candles but also very much for the mouth-watering array of sweets, dripping with ghee and milk. A sure treat in every household during the festival.
So what sweets are the Tiruchiites preferring this season? Going by the rapidly disappearing volumes of sweets from all the stalls in the city, the locals' passion for sweets is not difficult to gauge.
With Deepavali round the corner, sweet makers in the city have rolled up their sleeves, vying with each other to lure customers with the best.
"For Deepavali, generally traditional sweets are preferred more. Yet other days, Bengali milk sweets are sold in large quantities too," says Suhanya Rajamanickam, owner of a popular sweet shop. The sale of Badusha, Jalebi, Ladoos are also keeping the cash counters ringing.
Delectable mysurpa
For people from all walks of life, sweets remain an integral part of their annual Deepavali celebrations. As R. Srikanth of Annamalai Nagar points out, " Though we like all kinds of sweets, for Deepavali, we buy sweets that can be stored for a longer time. Of course, we buy only traditional South Indian sweets during the festival."
As the crowd begins to pick up, it is customary for sweet shops to down the shutter on the sale of all other items to concentrate on sweets.
Another common entry is the Kaju (cashew) sweets available in various colours besides the pista rolls. The sweet pizza has been introduced anew, to which customers already seem to have taken an immediate liking. Several other sweet stores in the city have become synonymous with their products like Sri Krishna sweets at Thillai Nagar. And of course, it does deserve the credit for turning the thick traditional mysurpa in to a soft and delicious sweet that literally melts in the mouth. Bengali sweets and over 40 varieties of halwa have all been lined up to cater to the tastes of the customers here.
"We even have gift coupons for the customers for them to present it to their friends or relatives," says A.B. Anantharamakrishnan, the Branch Manager of a famous chain of sweet shops. So now, it is possible for one to get a prepaid cheque for a quarter, half or a whole kilo gram of sweets and exchange it for the sweets at their nearest branch.
The one at the Food Plaza is barely a month old but its sweets are much in demand too. Besides the normal varieties of traditional sweets, ghee sweets and the special dry fruit, sweets prepared using pista, almonds, saffron and cashew nuts are on the offer.
As N. Sethumadhavan, the Branch Manager of the shop observes, " We cater mostly to railway passengers. They always need something that endures for longer time than normal sweets."
Milk sweets seem to be out of vogue here as they cannot be stored for long. Majority sweet shops are offering the best they can and to retain the originality of the stuff, they make it a point to employ sweet masters from the respective regions where the particular sweet comes from and is amous for.
Despite spiralling prices all around, Deepavali sets everybody on a happy mode. It is also a time to splurge. And what is the harm in being a trifle conventional. So why not store up the Rosgullas, Basanthis and sweet pizzas for a later date too and enjoy the melting mysurpas and the sopping Jalebis to the brim!
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
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