CHENNAI: After a five-year wait, Kovilpatti kadalai mittai -- peanut candy from the southern part of Tamil Nadu -- was granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag on Thursday.
Deputy Registrar of the Registry, Chennai, Chinnaraja G Naidu, said the coveted status was granted to Kovilpatti Regional Kadalaimittai Manufacturers and Retailers Association in Kovilpatti in Thoothukudi district.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Sanjai Gandhi, an expert in intellectual property and counsel for the retailers association, said Kovilpatti kadalai mittai was originally prepared during village festivals using palm jaggery and groundnuts from nearby districts.
In the 1940s, Ponnambala Nadar, a grocery store owner in the town, decided to use sugarcane jaggery and peanuts to make the kadalai mittai. He also introduced the cutting of the candy into rectangular shapes instead of the traditional balls.
The association filed the petition in 2014 submitting that Kovilpatti is synonymous with kadalai mittai. The candy is produced from groundnuts and organic jaggery obtained from specific locations. Water from the Thamirabarani is used to enhance its taste.
It gets its unique flavour from the use of the special Theni jaggery. While regular jaggery is brown, hardened and sold in round lumps, this is fresh, pale and in soft triangular blocks.
The groundnuts are carefully sourced from the nearby town of Aruppukottai. They are first shelled and roasted in a machine before being held together with glistening syrup and topped with wisps of grated coconut dyed pink, green and yellow. Each 100 mg candy has protein, energy, carbohydrate and fat.
A large number of workers are engaged in making the candy in Kovilpatti and nearby regions. It is sold not only in Tamil Nadu and other states but also exported to various countries.