Pootharekulu facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Pootharekulu / పూతరేకులు

Pootharekulu stuffed with jaggery and dry fruits
Alternative names	Paper sweet
Course	Snack
Place of origin	Atreyapuram
Region or state	East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh
Created by	Atreyapuram
Serving temperature	Room temperature
Main ingredients	Rice starch/black gram, powdered sugar or jaggery, ghee
Variations	Vegetable poothrekulu

Pootharekulu (say "Poo-tha-ray-koo-loo") is a very special and popular sweet from Andhra Pradesh, a state in southern India. It's often called the "paper sweet" because it's made with a super-thin layer of rice starch. This layer looks a lot like delicate paper! Inside, you'll find yummy fillings like sugar, dry fruits, and nuts.

People in the Telugu states (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) love to enjoy Pootharekulu during festivals, special religious events, and weddings. The name "Pootharekulu" comes from the Telugu language. Pootha means 'coating', and reku (or rekulu for plural) means 'sheet'. So, it's like a 'coated sheet' of sweetness! In a village called Atreyapuram, making Pootharekulu is a big family business. Many families there work together to create and sell these delicious sweets.

The Story of Pootharekulu

Pootharekulu first came from Atreyapuram, a village in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. This sweet has been around for a very long time, possibly for several centuries!

The story goes that a woman in the village first made this sweet. She added sugar and a special kind of butter called ghee to leftover rice starch. Soon, other villagers in Atreyapuram started making these thin wrappers from rice flour. They would fill them with sugar and ghee, then fold them up. These tasty treats were then sent to sweet shops all over the Telugu states.

Making Pootharekulu is often a family effort. Women usually prepare the sweets, while men help with selling them. In August 2018, some cooks from East Godavari made a giant Poothareku that was 10.5 meters long! They did this to help share the amazing food of Andhra Pradesh with more people.

How Pootharekulu is Made

Making Pootharekulu is a special process that takes skill. It starts with a specific type of rice called jaya biyyam. This rice is ground for about two hours to make a smooth batter.

Here's how the thin, paper-like layers are made:

• First, a special clay pot is prepared. A small hole is made in the pot.
• To make the pot perfect, it's heated and wiped with an oil-soaked cloth for three days. This makes the surface very smooth.
• Next, the rice batter is made thinner with water.
• A thin cloth is dipped into this watery batter.
• This cloth is then quickly placed over the hot, upside-down pot, which has a flame underneath it.
• Almost instantly, a super-thin, edible film forms on the pot!
• This delicate film is then carefully taken off.
• Finally, the film is wrapped around fillings like powdered sugar or jaggery (a type of unrefined sugar), and coated with ghee (clarified butter).

Different Kinds of Pootharekulu

Pootharekulu filled with sugar (left) and jaggery (right)

Pootharekulu can come with many different tasty fillings. The most common ones are:

• Fine powdered sugar
• Jaggery (a natural sweetener)
• Dry fruits
• Chocolate powder

There are even some newer kinds of Pootharekulu that are hot and spicy!

Images for kids

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  Pootharekulu stuffed with jaggery and dry fruits