Diwali is the festival of lights and sweets. People wear new clothes on this day and visit their friends and families with a handful of sweets. During Diwali, along with firecrackers, the sweet shop vendors are most in demand. Among many, the Shriram Lala Shop in Palayamkottai in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu is the one that never fails to impress its customers with its sweets. Subramaniam is the owner of this shop.
On the occasion of Diwali, more than 15 varieties of Alva sweets are prepared at this shop. It includes different flavours such as fruits Alva, Rose Alva, Cucumber Alva, Milk Alva, Carrot Alva and Fig Alva. While talking to News18, Subramaniam said that Thamirabarani River water makes the Alva taste better. Being a traditional shop, the sweets prepared here are not only distributed in local areas but also sent abroad as claimed by the owner. He also guarantees the hygienic process of preparing the Alva sweets.
While explaining the process of Alva sweet, he said that the wheat should be soaked well in water a day before preparing it. Grind the soaked wheat grains finely till they start to turn milky. Now, take a piece of cloth and collect the mixture in it. Drain the finely-grained wheat with the help of cloth. Take a big vessel and pour 1 litre of milk in it and keep stirring it till it becomes moderately warm. After attaining the required temperature, add sugar and stir the mixture.
With time, the mixture will start to boil and thicken. After the considerable thickness, the must mix ghee and continue stirring. The Alva will turn into a nice saffron red. When it stops sticking at the side of the pan then you can spread the Alva mixture to the greased plate and let it cool down before slicing for presentation.
Tirunelveli Alva is known as one of the iconic sweet dishes of Tamil Nadu which is high in demand during the Diwali session. It is believed that this sweet dish was first made at a shop named Iruttu Kadai which was established in the 1900s.
Comments
0 comment