Churuttu

Today, I got introduced to Churuttu. Now for all the uninitiated, Churuttu is kind of sweet dessert, that you get in mid Travancore. It happened thus. Easter had just gone by and it is tradition that every festival is celebrated with sweets sponsored by the respective religious nationalities. (And atheists are also not spared since, there is no dearth to reasons for celebrations).And another issue that has to be kept in mind is that though we are decent and well behaved, something happens after we see these delicacies. So the proverb, 'Early bird catches the worm' is very true here. As soon as the aroma, even a miniscule wafts, people swarm in from all directions, and some times, one would not even get to see the packet. This is the situation when I get a chat message saying ”Want Churuttu”. I reply in negative, cos I had an entirely different Churuttu in mind. And the person tempts me by saying it is a delicacy of Kottayam. It is the day preceeding April 1, and I am a little skeptic. But he manages to convince me. Now I leave all my work, and rush to his cubicle to find that the said sweet dish is some sweet roll with a flaky crust, and has a fatty tetrahedron shape. It so sugary and gooey all over that I decide I need a tissue, so as not to make a mess while eating. Now, if I leave the Churuttu and go, by the time, I get a tissue and come back, there may be nothing left, considering the demand. So I pick the sweet with my forefinger and thumb, and gingerly balance it, as I go find my tissue. Well, I have attackers from here and there, but I manage to evade them all, and hold on to my precious sweet till I reach my cubicle. There I take my first bite. It’s yummy. As I dwell on the taste, I try to analyse the ingredients. It is basically avalosupodi (another local snack) mixed in lots of jaggery, rolled in maida flour crust, and deep fried.(As soon as I had a chance I googled for churuttu, but couldn’t find the recipe. Just got enlightened that it is Christian cookery that specially caters to people with a sweet tooth.) As I savour on that teeny weeny piece of chweet, here comes my friend with another friend. So then I had to share the precious little with two more people. But the end was satisfactory that I got introduced to a yummy mouth watering dish, and could share it with my friends :-)


Copyright © 2008 Lakshmi R.S. All rights reserved