Pootharekulu
Putarekulu, or Poothareku as is it also known as, is the most unusual sweet I have ever seen or eaten. The origins of this sweet can be found in Atreyapuram, a village in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, in the Southern region of India.
A particular Rice Batter, Powdered Sugar and Ghee are the ingredients that make up this dish along with the most important ingredient, an inverted Clay Pot.
Yes, you read that right.
A clay pot is heated and rubbed with a cloth dipped in oil for 3 days, to smoothen its surface. The batter of the 3 ingredients is prepared and spread on the inverted and heated pot. The batter ‘cooks’ to form a gossamer thin film which makes the outer covering of the sweet. It is then stuffed with dry fruits or jaggery and intricately folded into a neat rectangle.
[ctt template=”5″ link=”eRQT0″ via=”no” ]This sweet rectangle does not weigh more than a tissue paper, and when bitten into, the Putarekulu just melts into your mouth.[/ctt]
For my Haldi ceremony ladies from my in-laws side came to our house bearing sweets, as is the tradition.
There were some usual ones like Laddu’s and some unusual ones like Khajas and Putarekulu. The Husbands Uncle (Mama) is a foodie and he had ensured that the sweets native to Andhra were specially prepared for the occasion.
After the ceremony we remembered the sweets and were most curious about the unique looking Putarekulu. We picked one, and were surprised at how incredibly light is weighed. Then we began unraveling it, thinking the outer layer to be some kind of butter paper or tissue paper. We kept unraveling this delicate sweet till we were left with the sparse dry fruit and jaggery filling, the quantity of which was barely that of a tablespoon.
How strange, we thought to ourselves and gingerly tasted the dry fruits, that to be honest didn’t taste like much. We clumsily ‘re wrapped’ the ‘tissue paper’ and kept it aside.
The next day when The Husband (then fiancée) asked me what we thought of the Putarekulu I told him ‘how the shopkeeper had probably packed the wrong sweets’ and sheepishly explained what we did.
To which he had a hearty laugh, and told me about the Putarekulu.
Till date this is a big joke in his family and till date my family cannot remember or pronounce the tongue twister of a name and we refer to it as the ‘Tissue Paper Sweet’.
Tissue paper sweet, haha! I’ve never had it or even heard of it. When I read your title, at first I expected it to be something spicy
Hahahahaha. Thanks for reading, Sreesha:)
Hahaha this is hilarious! You actually thought it was tissue paper wrapping? We normally present pootharekulu to our non-Andhra friends just for the novelty factor. Often we tell them it’s just paper for the kicks, but when they eat it they’re astounded. I’ve always had the sugared variety, never eaten one with the jaggery and dry fruits. Must ask my mum to get me some when she goes to AP next. Was fun reading this. 😉
Yes I did! It was so funny, which is why I wanted you to read it, Vinodini!:) Thanks for doing so:)
hahahha, the tissue paper sweet looks like the Indian sweet version of a filo pastry sheet. I can understand how much your husband would have laughed with the unraveling story!!!
It was hilarious! Thanks for reading, Tina!:)
Lovely story .It looks gorgeous very delicate. The story made me laugh. And your must have laughed like anything hearing the story.I wish to eat this one
It is a very delicate sweet, Amrita. And very unusual tasting as well. Thanks for reading:)
This looks yummy, reminds me of the Bengali pattishapta. Though that has a thicker wrapping than the Tissue paper sweet. Gotta go to Andhra to try this out.
It’s fascinating how you have blended into a completely different culture.
Natasha
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Oh this one is unlike any other, Natz! Yes, I am more Telugu than my husband :))
Thanks for reading:)
Never heard of it either. But looks yummy and actually like a tissue paper. I must say all your dishes are so different and your posts are so much fun to read. 🙂
Thanks for saying that, Deepa and thanks for always reading and encouraging:)
I had never heard of Puthrakalu and then when on an assignment, I had the opportunity to taste it and fell in love with it. I like the name you guys gave it – Tissue paper sweet 😀
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Wow! Never knew about this sweet. Our Indian cuisine is the most extraordinary one and so incredibly vast! No wonder we don’t have fixed recipes documented. Tissue paper sweet does seem easier to remember!
Loved the process of making this sweet-talk so damn unusual! I look forward to trying it out someday, somewhere!!
Parsi food and my palate
I’ve never heard about it. But it sounds delicious.
Tissue paper sweet… sounds interesting. Never knew about this sweet till today!
Interesting read! We all name things a bit differently 😉
I have never eaten it, but it sounds delicious.
Reading your posts for this challenge makes me feel like hiding away my title of ‘foodie’. I clearly know nothing about so many delicacies and sweets! I would love to try this sweet, because it seems somewhat like the Bombay Ice Halwa. The tissue paper line helped me make the connection 😀
Lol 😀 what an amusing story it must have been for ur in-laws 😀 I am not sure if I can pronounce the name right either! But I loved reading your story 🙂