Sri krishna sweets, Annapurna, Annalakshmi busy as always !!

They are everywhere. On the table, in cupboards, in the larder, on kitchen counters, in the boot of the car, down your clothes and in your mouth. Big ones, small ones, dry ones, juicy ones, green ones, yellow ones, home-grown and the exotic. Square, round, triangular and squiggly, they come in all shapes, sizes and flavours.



The next few days are going to be syrupy, quite literally. And, preparations in traditional households are already underfoot — extra sugar was bought beginning of the month, so was the ghee. Ditto for the saffron, cardamom and dry fruits. The big paatharams have been taken down from the lofts and boondi making ladles have been cleaned up for the act. Everyone at home is looking forward to the laddoos.

But, just so that people, who do not have enterprising ammas and paatis at home to turn out traditional sweets, do not miss out on the goodies, there are shops galore that will do the good deed.

So, what is simmering this Deepavali? "Mysurpa," comes the answer like a shot from M. Krishnan of Sri Krishna Sweets. Their flagship sweet is what sells the most and the reason is its shelf life. "We are not experimenting with anything new. The Mysurpa is tried and tested and we are responsible for it from the time it leaves our shop till it reaches the stomach of the consumer," he says. Asked about `diabetic sweets', Krishnan rubbishes the whole idea. "It is a big fraud. How can you have a sweet that is good for diabetics?" he asks.

But while a diabetic sweet may be a contradiction in terms, D. Srinivasan of Sri Annapoorna Sri Gowrishankar says: "We use oil that is low fat compared to the traditional medium of cooking. The emphasis is also on using natural food colouring and flavours as well as reducing the amount of sweet being used in each preparation. The desire is to find a healthier substitute for the traditional ingredients, since people are increasingly health conscious."

New trends


Adyar Ananda Bhavan too, has made a concession. It has fructose-added sweets like jangiri, milk halwa, paneer jamun and kalakand. "There is no added sugar in these," assures the manager, R.E. Ganesh. He says that while all sweets are bad for diabetics, the fructose ones are a little less harmful than those with sugar. The store has also introduced a lot of dry fruit sweets that seem to be in great demand.

V. Prabhu of Annalakshmi also thinks tastes have changed. "From traditional jalebis and laddoos, people now want north Indian and Bengali sweets. Kaju katli is particularly popular." And Prabhu feels the mood this year in Coimbatore is definitely upbeat with generous bonuses and good business all around.

But, for those who are not worried about sugar levels, the profile of their lipids, or themselves, there is endless possibilities. Kiran Gupta, who caters for private parties, says she has been flooded with demands for exotic fare. "Chocolates are in great demand among my clients," she says. This time, she has fashioned chocolate tarts where even the pastry shell is made of chocolate!

For Anjali, one of the iron-willed types who takes a serious view of expanding waistlines, fruit salads and fruit chats are good enough to pander to the sweet tooth, but for those made of flesh and blood, there is guilty pleasure in abandoning themselves to the calorie-laden goodies at least once a year. And, you could always make the "Diet after Deepavali" mantra your own.

Source: The Hindu