What is sweet, yellow-ish, porous, named after a city and the most popular South-Indian delicacy?
Yes, the sweet that most of us like a lot and few loathe - the humble - Mysore-Pak!
The Mysore royal family's cook, Sri Kakasura Madappa was asked to prepare a sweet that is unique and never tasted before by anyone, by none other than HRH Nalawadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, in 17th century. The legendary royal chef Madappa scratched his head for many hours, and then a brainwave!
There in front of him was a kadhai with boiling ghee and a batter of besan (chickpea flour, kadale hittu in Kannada). He poured the chick-pea flour gradually into the boiling ghee turning it all the time, till a consistent paste was formed, then added sugar and some crushed cardamom (elaichi). The divine smell emanating from the royal kitchen was mesmerising and the King couldn't wait to sink his teeth into the new preparation.
A silver platter, filled with a neatly cubed, golden coloured dish was uncovered in front of the King, a little while later. A spoon was served to him. There was pin-drop silence, as the King sat with his eyes closed and slowly savoured the delicacy, that was just melting in his mouth. After half-a-minute, eyes opened, filled with bliss and satisfaction... lo and behold... a new dish was born! The King liked it so immensely that Sri Medappa was immediately honoured and praised. The sweet platter passed around, resulting in more approval from all those present - to its uniqueness and perfect blend of sweet, ghee and flour - never before such a courageous attempt was made!
Medappa called it Mysore-paka.
Paka means syrup of sugar; it also means a preparation, as in Nala-Bhima-paka (its said that two of the best cooks in Hindu mythology were Nala - of Nala-damayanti fame and Bhima the strong Pandava).
Thereafter, Medappa sought to retire from the Royal kitchen; the generous King told him to set shop just outside the Amba Vilas Palace so that he could continue to relish his favourite sweet. Thus started the saga of Guru Sweets in the year 1957 at Mysore.
I gather that Sri Kakasura passed away in 1970, but his tradition and legacy lives on to this day; Guru sweets is now run by his Grandson Sri Nataraj, with the same verve and dedication.
Its surprising that despite the obvious roots and popularity, Guru Sweets choose not to cash in on the facts and grow the brand commercially. Many other sweet-marts, especially SKS (Sri Krishna Sweets of Coimbatore) and Nandini (KMF) have created a niche for themselves selling this very sweet, SKS being the closest in taste and appearance.
Peace to Kakasura, more Popularity to the 'Paka of Mysore'.
