From: Tina
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 6:28 PM
Subject: Njoiiiing Pootharekulu
Office just seemed to return back to normalcy with people coming in after a long weekend after Pongal. One of my team mates had just returned from Rajahmundry. So once most of the team mates were present he started distributing sweets. I was outside, away from my desk and had just landed when the distribution as well as consumption of the sweet was done.
So when he saw me my team mate came and distributed to me a plastic wrapper with tissue.
This is specialty of our place, Happy Pongal.
Wishing him Happy Pongal and taking the plastic wrapper went back to my place.
Checked a few mails and thought of tasting the sweet.
But it seemed such a delicate wrapper, and was planning of opening up the wrapper i.e thin plastic foil. But something was not right.
I looked up to see couple of my team mates njoiiing my predicament …
I : Hey how do u eat this?
Collegue1: I was just waiting to see what you are going to do?
I : I am trying to open the wrapper but it seems so delicate.
Collegue1: (Burst out laughing --- It was only good 2 mins ke baad she responded by calling a few more colleagues) Hey Tina is asking how to eat this :) She is trying to open the wrapper.
I : Yea .. :) what is it made up of.
Collegue2: It is made of rice , sugar and ghee.
Colleague 1 : That is not a plastic wrapper but the sweet. The outer thin layer is thin layer of Rice inside which has sugar powder with slight ghee…It is called pothareku..
I : So are we supposed to eat directly or open the outer cover.
Colleague 1: Directly :) (called the colleague who was distributing and mentioned mine predicament and then had a hearty laugh)
And so with some doubt as to whether my teeth will sustain the plastic exposure bit into the sweet directly and lo it melts into you mouth and no tooth broken…
So this was my exposure to pootareku….
Very soon collegue1 went around trying to see how others especially those who never had exposure to pootareku having it..
Most of the colleagues, especially those from north, who have never had seen pootareku faced the same predicament as me.
So in case if you get a chance to bite into pootareku go ahead njoii it and yea it is not plastic foil :)
Just to give u an idea please find additional info ………
Rough Picture :
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/18/Pootharekulu.JPG/200px-Pootharekulu.JPG
Additional Info :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pootharekulu
Warm Regards,
Tina :)
