A sweet walk from Oppanakara Street to Big Bazaar Street
The old trading lanes of Coimbatore town: textiles, steel vessels, flower stalls and where to stop for something sweet.
Sweets for Pongal week in Coimbatore
From sakkarai pongal to ellu urundai: what Kongu homes make at home and what they buy in, across four days.
Pongal is the biggest festival of the year in the Kongu region, and the four days from Bhogi to Kaanum Pongal keep our kitchen busy from early January. Here is how many of our customers divide the work.
The sakkarai pongal itself is always made at home, in a new pot, on Thai Pongal morning. We do not sell it, and nobody would want us to. What families buy from us are the sweets for visitors and for the days around the main one. Ellu urundai, sesame balls bound with jaggery, are the most traditional; we make them only in January, at ₹320 for 500 g. Kadalai mittai, groundnut chikki with jaggery, is the other Pongal favourite.
On Mattu Pongal, when cattle are bathed and decorated, many farming families around Coimbatore offer sweet pongal and bananas to the cows, then eat together in the evening. Mysore pak and laddoo boxes are common gifts on this day for relatives who visit from the villages around Pollachi and Annur.
Kaanum Pongal, the last day, is for visiting and outings. Families take boxes to the homes of elders. Our 1 kg festival box at ₹1,150 is the most ordered gift that week. Order by 10 January if you want delivery during Pongal, as our vans stay close to the shop on the festival days. The shop stays open as usual from 7 am to 10 pm on all four days, though it is busiest on Bhogi evening.
