KARUR: “There is no sincerer love than the love of food,” said George Bernard Shaw. This rings true for Muthu and his ancestors who have been making Adhirasam, one of the popular traditional sweet varieties of Tamil Nadu, for more than a century now.
Muthu’s Adhirasam is very famous in the region, so popular that it is being sent to foreign countries. With Deepavali approaching, Muthu and his family have their hands full of orders.
Muthu, who is in his seventies, said, “This is a family business. Velliyanai is one of the drought-hit regions and in order to run the livelihood here, my father Gopal Nayakkar trusting the magic behind my mother Rajammal’s hands started this Adhirasam making business many years ago. It’s been around 110 years since he started this business now. During the early days, people from nearby villages used to buy the Adhirasams for Quarter Anna and Half Anna. I started helping my dad and got into the family business since hildhood.
Later, after getting married fortunately the magic passed on from my mother to my wife. My sons and their wives are looking after the business under our guidance. During Deepavali, we prepare around 2,000 pieces of Adhirasams per day which is double of what we make on a normal day. To maintain the taste and quality we have not employed anyone from outside of the family."