From Madurai homes, with love

Not long ago, households in Madurai would come alive a day before Deepavali as women prepared an array of sweets and savouries. But in today’s busy routines, many working women find little time for such preparations. While commercial sweet shops have mushroomed across the city, only a few have retained the traditional flavours. Yet, amid this changing landscape, there are women in Madurai who continue to make and sell traditional sweets and savouries from their homes. For many families, the taste of homemade remains unmatched, cherished not only during Deepavali but through every celebration, from weddings to birthday parties.

Golden laddoos

At the heart of the city, R Vijayalakshmi Renganathan, 62, owner of Viji’s Food, has been keeping traditional flavours alive. Inspired by her mother and grandmother, whose recipes once filled their home with festive aromas, her kitchen brings the same spirit — trays of golden laddoo, athirasam, and her signature maladu lined neatly on the counter. Made by slow-roasting green gram, grinding it to a fine powder, and mixing it with warm ghee before shaping it into laddoos, the maladu remains her most-loved recipe. “Cooking has always been my comfort,” she says. “When people tell me my sweets remind them of their childhood, that’s my biggest joy,” she adds.

Vijayalakshmi’s assistants carefully molding her signature maladu sweet in Madurai. | Photo Credit: G. MOORTHY

Every year, Vijayalakshmi’s kitchen gets busy as Deepavali gets closer. What began as a one-woman effort has steadily grown into a small business now employing ten women. “In the early days, I used to make everything myself,” she recalls. “But as orders started pouring in during Deepavali and wedding seasons, I needed help.” A few years ago, her Deepavali sales brought in about ₹30,000; last year, the figure touched ₹7 lakh, and this year she is expecting to cross ₹10 lakh. Her savouries are priced at around ₹400 per kilogram and sweets at ₹500 per kilogram, with kaaju katli topping the list at nearly ₹1,000 a kilogram.

Apart from her signature maladu, Vijayalakshmi’s kitchen produces a variety of festive favourites — murukku, athirasam, Mysore pak, halwa, ribbon pakoda, thatai, kaju katli and more. Her sweets and savouries attract orders not just from Madurai but also from other cities, particularly Chennai and Coimbatore. “I even export small quantities to other countries,” she says: “My dream is to take bulk orders and expand exports worldwide.” However, this year, rising tariffs have put a pause on international shipments. So far, she has sold around ₹3 lakh worth of sweets abroad, a beginning that keeps her hopes alive for the future.

When asked about enhancing her workplace, Vijayalakshmi says, “I would love to continue working from home itself.” For her, the kitchen is not just a workspace but a space of comfort and creativity. As an entrepreneur, she adds, “As I get more orders for my homemade sweets and savouries, I meet new people, which boosts my confidence.” Despite the growing scale of her business, she remains rooted in tradition.

At Regina illam, opposite to Hotel Temple View, 32 Dhanappa Mudali Street, Madurai. For details, call 97919 86390

Lakshmi, fondly called ‘Murukkukaraamma’, fries batches of murukku with help from one of her family members in Madurai.
| Photo Credit:
G. MOORTHY

Murukkukaraamma’s festive treats

Vijayalakshmi is not alone in the resurgence of homemade sweets. Just a few streets away, on Thala Virichan Street, the air is filled with the aroma of freshly fried murukku and athirasam. Here, S Lakshmi, 63, affectionately known as Murukkukaraamma by the locals, has been running her homemade sweets business for over three decades. What began as a small effort to support her family at the age of 30, along with her mother and grandmother, gradually evolved into a thriving business.

Sitting just outside her home, with her nieces and nephews assisting her, Lakshmi patiently shapes and fries each batch. The enticing aroma wafts down the lane, attracting passersby who often leave with a packet or two. Over the years, her athirasam and murukku have become an integral part of the festive spirit.

“In those days when I was younger, I used to make many varieties of savouries such as seedai, thattai, achhu murukku and more,” Lakshmi recalls with a smile. “But as I grow older, I can’t sit for a long time, so now we do murukku and athirasam for Deepavali and weddings,” she says. “We didn’t have a grinder as we have now — we would grind the rice using a mortar and pestle, paying about four to eight paise for it for young girls in the neighbourhood who assisted me back then.” She adds, “Now, the grinder makes the work much easier.”

When asked about the trickiest sweet to make, “Achu murukku needs a bit of skill,” she explains. “After grinding the raw rice into batter, we have to mix it with jaggery syrup in the right proportion. Even the syrup has to be boiled to just the right consistency — not too thick or thin. Once it’s ready, we dip the mould into the batter and quickly place it in hot oil. If the timing isn’t perfect, the achu murukku won’t have the right texture,” she says.

Reflecting on sales in the earlier days, Lakshmi says, “We used to sell four sweets or savouries for just two or three paise. Now, a single piece goes for around ₹7.” She recalls the absence of mobile phones back then. “Orders used to come through word of mouth. Some people would buy from us and sell near the Meenakshi Amman Temple,” she says, painting a picture of a time when community networks were the lifeline of small businesses.

When asked about her biggest order, Lakshmi smiles, her eyes lighting up at the memory. “Last Deepavali, we received a bulk order from Tiruchendur Temple — 30,000 murukkus and 30,000 athirasams,” she recalls. “We didn’t even get to celebrate the festival last year. The sweets and savouries were carefully packed into cardboard boxes and sent by van to the temple.” She takes pride in fulfilling the massive order, despite the long hours it required.

For Lakshmi, it is never just about the sweets; it is about tradition and the joy her creations bring to others. Even after more than three decades, she continues to sit by her stove each festival season, turning simple ingredients into festive delights that fill homes with nostalgia.

At 5I A, Thala Virichan Lane, Landmark Ayyappa Kovil, Madurai. For details, call 9384584484

One of the women at Sumangali Home Industry, prepares and arranges batches of athirasams in Madurai.
| Photo Credit:
G. MOORTHY

A sweet legacy

Stepping into the heart of Madurai, one is immediately drawn to a little shop on Netaji Road — Sumangali Home Industry. At the front, stand neatly packed boxes of sweets and savoury snacks. However, the true magic lies behind the counter. In the kitchen, a group of women work briskly, shaping seedais, rolling laddus, and frying murukku as the aroma of ghee fills the air and spills out onto the street. This shop has been operating for 41 years, upholding its legacy of entirely homemade sweets, crafted by a group of women who have been part of its journey for decades.

The business was started in the early 1980s by V Thiagarajan, who began making sweets in his small home kitchen with just a few helpers. Now, it has grown into a beloved city landmark. “We never compromise on quality,” says K Dhanalakshmi, 65, one of the senior workers who has been with the shop for over 35 years. “Everything is still made the same way — in small batches, with fresh ingredients and enough quantity of ghee.” Today, after Thiagarajan, his daughter S Bhavani, 37, and her husband A Sailesh, 39, are running the business.

Inside, there are no machines, only the hands at work — shaping, stirring, and frying with practised ease. From boondhi laddus to karasev, every item is hand-made and sun-dried before being packed and displayed out front, says Dhanalakshmi. During the festive season, the kitchen starts buzzing before dawn and continues well into the night, as orders pour in from many customers. “Our biggest joy,” says Dhanalakshmi with a smile, “Is seeing the same families come back every Deepavali. Some of them have been buying from us for generations.”

One of the women at Sumangali Home Industry shaping crispy murukku in Madurai..
| Photo Credit:
G. MOORTHY

Sailesh says the shop’s legacy stretches beyond generations and geographies. “As we have been running this since the 1980s, our customers include not just the older generation who grew up with our sweets, but also younger ones who have heard about us from their parents,” he smiles. “We get orders not only from Madurai, but from across India — and even from customers living abroad.”

Sailesh points to one of their signature creations — the cone-shaped manoharam paruppu thengai, a sweet deeply rooted in tradition. Made from roasted dal flour, jaggery, and ghee, it is carefully moulded into a perfect cone, a staple at festive occasions and temple offerings. “Each bite carries the nutty flavour of dal and the rich sweetness of jaggery,” he explains. They also make nilakadalai paruppu thengai, pottukadalai paruppu thengai, and boondhi paruppu thengai — each crafted in the classic nine-inch cone shape. “We often offer them to the Meenakshi Amman Temple,” he adds.

Sailesh explains that the secret to a perfect athirasam lies in patience. “The jaggery syrup must be mixed with the rice batter in the right proportion,” he says. “Once fried, it has to rest for a few hours before packaging so that the syrup seeps in completely.” It’s this careful attention to detail, he believes, that gives their athirasam its signature taste and texture.

“For us, every sweet we make carries a piece of home,” says Sailesh. “Even after 40 years, we still follow the same methods and use the same care as when we started.” Sumangali Home Industry continues to delight customers across generations and cities.

At 119, Netaji Road, Madurai. For details, call 9994612800/9894484868