ThangaiahSweets

The 'MUSCAT halwa' being manufactured in some rural centers of Tirunelveli district, is fast gaining popularity in the state and abroad on a par with the traditional Tirunelveli halwa. A good number of families are involved in the preparation of Muscat halwa in the rural towns of Tisaiyanvillai and Mudaloor making about 500 Kg every day.
It all started when the people of Tirunelveli district doing business in Sri Lanka about five decades ago, brought the Muscat halwa, a famous sweet in the island, when they used to visit their native places. The richness of this halwa, which tasted totally different from the traditional sweets of Tamil Nadu, surprised the local people.
A couple of persons, who were involved in the sale of sweets in the villages, managed to get the formula used in the preparation of the Muscat halwa from those settled down in Sri Lanka and started preparing it there on a small scale. It slowly started gaining popularity in the rural areas and later in the entire state.
The main ingredients of the Muscat halwa are a mixture of samba wheat milk and cocoanut milk. While the wheat is procured from Madurai, the cocoanuts are secured from Eathamozhi in kanyakumari district, Wheat is ground manually and mixed with coconut milk, sugar, cashew nut and double refined oil. Utmost care is taken while mixing the ingredients and the preparation of halwa could take a minimum of tow-and-a-half hours.
The specialty of this halwa is that it will remain in good condition even for more than one month in its original packing. There is no need to preserve it in the refrigerator to keep it fresh. The sweet water to keep it fresh. The sweet water of river Tamiraparani is said to be adding the taste to the traditional Tirunelveli halwa. But this Muscat halwa is equally tasty despite being prepared using only bore well water.
According to Mr.T.Ganesan, Proprietor of Thangaiah sweets in Thisaiyanvillai Town.It was his the late Thangaiah Nadar, who introduced the Muscat halwa in Tisaiyanvillai, about 65 km from Tirunelveli, thanks to the information provided by his relative who had business contacts in Sri Lanka. Though the Muscat halwa is prepared in Thisaiyanvillai and Mudallor for the last few decades, it started gaining popularity only in the last 15 years. In Mudaoor village it has almost become a village industry with the halwa preparation undertaken in each and every house.
Mr.Ganesan said the rich taste of the Muscat halwa spread to other parts of the district and to cities like Chennai quickly. Gone are the days, when the people of this region employed in foreign countries used to visit Tirunelveli town to get Tirunelveli Halwa. In the last more than a decade, this has changed with Muscat Halwa replacing the Tirunelveli halwa.
The residents of areas like Uvari, vadakkankulam,Thisaiyanvilai etc., employed in Gulf countries, Malaysia, Singapore make it a point to take this halwa in bulk to present it to their friends, Mr.Ganesan said and added, of late it is being taken to the United states too. some of the leading hotels in chennai have expressed their willingness to sell the Muscat halwa, provided they get bulk supply regularly. The Muscat halwa has gained so much of popularity, that even some of the shops selling traditional halwa in Tirunelveli have started marketing the newer variety too. The price of this halwa is considerably very cheap at Rs.160 per Kg, despite the price of wheat, cocoanuts, sugar etc., going up. The low price is because of the competition and the purchasing power of the rural people.