No Geographical Indication tag for Pootharekulu

Rajahmundry: Geographical Indication status continues to elude ‘Pootharekulu’, the popular sweet from Athreyapuram in East Godavari, as the authorities have failed to initiate steps to register the sweet with the Chennai-based Geographical Indication Registry to get exclusive patent on the sweet. The sweet is so popular locally that no feast is considered complete without it. People who go abroad to meet their children or family members take Pootharekulu in bulk. Government officials often get the sweet prepared specially with dry fruits and other ingredients to offer to their bosses, who visit the Godavari districts for inspection, to win their favour.

Early in the morning, women can be seen making wafer-thin layers with rice flour on inverted pots placed on open fire. Other women can be seen making the stuffing to put inside the layers of rice wafers. The ingredients for the stuffing include jaggery or sugar powder and dry fruits like cashewnuts, almonds, pista and ghee to serve as lubricant.

District collector H. Arun Kumar said, “We want to ensure the sweet is prepared in a hygienic condition by complying with all the standard norms. We will pursue the issue to get GI tag to the sweet with the concerned authorities.”