Pootharekulu (plural) or poothareku (singular) is a popular Indian sweet from the

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

state of south

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The sweet is wrapped in a wafer-thin rice starch layer resembling paper and is stuffed with sugar, dry fruits and nuts. The sweet is popular for festivals, religious occasions and weddings in the

Telugu states The Telugu states are the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and the Yanam enclave of Puducherry, where the plurality of the population belongs to the Telugu ethnic-group. When put together, the region is bordered by Maharashtra ...

. The name of the sweet literally means 'coated sheet' in the

Telugu language Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. Spoken by about 96 million people (2022), Telugu is the most widely spoken member of ...

—''pootha'' means 'coating' and ''reku'' (plural ''rekulu'') means 'sheet' in Telugu. The making of pootharekulu is a cottage industry in Atreyapuram, where around 400 families are dependent on the making and marketing of the sweet. the state of Andhra Pradesh was said to be in the process of applying for Geographic Indication (GI) tag for the sweet.

History

Pootharekulu were created in Atreyapuram, a village and mandal headquarters in the East Godavari district of

. The sweet has a history of a few centuries (three centuries by some accounts). It is said that a village woman first prepared the sweet by adding sugar and ghee to leftover rice starch. Atreyapuram villagers soon started making wrappers from rice flour, put sugar and ghee inside and folded them. They supplied the sweets to candy manufacturers all over the two Telugu states. Normally, women make pootharekulu in their free time while men are engaged in the marketing of the sweet. The annual turnover of the cottage industry is estimated to be Rs. 3

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

in 2016. In August 2018, a group of cooks from East Godavari prepared a 10.5-meter long poothareku, as part of an attempt by the Andhra Pradesh tourism department to popularize Andhra cuisine.

Preparation

Pootharekulu is made from a particular kind of rice batter called ''jaya biyyam'' ('biyyam' meaning rice), combined with powdered sugar and

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by ...

(clarified butter). To make the edible film, a hot pot is prepared. To make the pot suitable, a hole is made in it, and to smoothen the surface for three days, the pot is alternately heated and wiped with a cloth dipped in oil. To make the films, coarse rice is ground for nearly two hours and made into a batter. This batter is then diluted; a thin cloth is dipped in the solution and put on the inverted pot with flame under it. The edible film forms on the pot instantly. The edible film is then wrapped with sugar and/or jaggery and coated with ghee.

Varieties

Pootharekulu can be stuffed with different fillings, including fine powdered sugar, jaggery, dry fruits, and chocolate powder. Hot and spicy pootharekulu are a relatively new variant.

References

{{Commons category, Pootharekulu Andhra cuisine Indian desserts Indian confectionery Stuffed dishes

History

Preparation

Varieties

See also

References