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Sweet tidings

Tamil Nadu is not what it used to be. Imagine a peaceful city like Coimbatore rocked by bomb blasts! All over the state extremist organisations like the Hindu Munnani and Muslim groups are battling each other and harassing innocent citizens.

I had noted that communal tension in Tamil Nadu always went up at the time of the Ganapati festival every September. The Hindu Munnani insisted that the Ganapati immersion procession should always pass through Muslim-dominated areas where a number of mosques were located. They spurned suggestions of alternate routes. In the past, whenever the procession had passed through these areas, there had been stone throwing by mischief makers. This invited retaliation and communal tension rose.

Ganapati is the most benign and happy God and I wondered why his devotees were so keen to rake up trouble in Madras. Hindu Munnani members had complained that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi was always present at Muslim and Christian festivals while ignoring Hindu festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi. They invited the chief minister to attend the next Chaturthi celebrations scheduled for August 26. Karunanidhi accepted the invitation and announced that he would also sample kozhukattai, the traditional sweet offered as prasadam for Lord Ganapati.

I congratulated the chief minister. This was the most sensible decision he made during his tenure in office. Not just attending the celebrations but promising to eat the kozhukattai. My happiness arises from the fact that I am a great fan of this sweet and by agreeing to consume it, the chief minister had at last set the official seal of approval on kozhukattai.

Normally, three varieties of kozhukattais are made as offerings to Lord Ganesha. One is called modakam which is supposed to be the favourite sweet of the Lord. The other two varieties are ellu kozhukattai where the basic ingredients are til and jaggery. The other is uppu kozhukattai. This is not a sweet.

Modakam is also known outside Tamil Nadu. The Maharastrian offers modak to the Lord while celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi. Sweet shops all over the state sell this item on the eye of the festival. The Maharashtra version was slightly different from the Tamil Nadu one. The Tamil kozhukattai was made from rice flour, jaggery and coconut. In fact, the brown-coloured stuffing was made from the last two items which was then placed in the white outer cover made from rice flour and then steamed. The kozhukattai emerged as a white, round object with a small projection at the top. It tasted wonderful.

The making of modakam was not restricted only to Ganesh Chaturthi. Housewives cooked and served it occasionally for 'tiffin' on other days too. But the ellu kozhukattai was something special and was made only on the festival day. Here the stuffing was made from til powder and jaggery which was then placed in the white outer covering of rice flour and then steamed. To me, it was more delicious than modakam.

The main difference between the two was the shape. The modakam always emerged hard and shapely from the steaming. Not the ellu kozhukattai. It was often shapeless, sometimes the stuffing came out of the covering. But who bothered? It was so soft that it was not necessary to chew it. The good ellu kozhukattai should melt in the mouth and take you, at least, half way towards heaven.

I had always wondered why homes and even restaurants did not serve this delicacy more often. No one was able to answer my question. At homes, this was made only on Ganesh Chaturthi day. I had never been to a restaurant which featured ellu kozhukattai on its menu. This neglect of one of the tastiest sweets in the world had baffled and angered me.

But perhaps, ellu kozhukattai may stage a dramatic comeback. The chief minister had told the Hindu Munnani that he could certainly attend the forthcoming Ganesh Chaturthi festival and ample the kozhukattais. This is a good occasion to present the case for the popularisation of the ellu variety. I do not know if I will be present in Chennai at the time of the Ganpati festival. But I will be happy if admirers of this admirable sweet, submit a memorandum to the chief minister to take steps to provide justice to ellu kozhukattai. For instance, this sweet could be made more often in the government guest houses and also served at official receptions and banquets.

Karunanidhi should remember that unlike jalebi and halwa, ellu kozhukattai is a traditional sweet of Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu cabinet has a minister who is in charge of propagating Tamil in all walks of life. This minister should set up a committee to find out if ellu kozhukattai played a role in the greatness of Tamil language. Scholars, for instance, can stumble on facts that Valluvar wrote his immortal Tirukural after a tiffin of ellu kozhukattai or that Kannagi had the energy and power to punish the Pandavan king and burn his city of Madurai for wrongly killing her husband, only because her last meal consisted of ellu kozhukattai.

This admirable sweet can also be used to smoothen relations between Tamil Nadu Hindus and Muslims. How nice it would be if the Hindu Munnai leaders popped delicious ellu kozhukattais into the mouths of Muslims leaders. The result may be a bit messy, but I am sure, the spirit of this gesture will be appreciated. There will be no more communal tension in the state. Tamil Nadu leaders should give up contentious issues like the Kaveri river waters and take to propagating ellu kozhukattai. The state could become a secular paradise.

V Gangadhar