You don’t smell the halwa when you get down at Manjaly junction. A row of bakeries, basically halwa shops, on either side of the main road, are like typical bakeries, nothing out of the ordinary. Behind these shops, tucked away in narrow lanes , and in the backyards of more than 40 houses, in make-shift ‘factories,’ the famous Manjaly halwas are made.
This small village on the Angamaly-North Paravur road has been making halwa for more than five decades. From Thrissur in the north to Kottayam in the south, the many kinds of halwa you find in most of the sweet shops and bakeries, are from Manjaly.
Mepilly Shamsudeen, 55, is the senior-most halwa maker in Manjaly who has been in this business for nearly thirty years. Behind his well-stocked halwa stall, adjacent to where he stays, is his halwa shed, where work is on from early morning. Shamsudeen or Shamsu as he is known in these parts, learnt this art from Abdul Khader, who discovered this sweet in Coimbatore where he worked in a hotel. Abdul Khader returned to Manjaly, some fifty years ago, trained in the art of making of halwa and biriyani. Today, he is credited for bringing halwa to Manjaly.
The irresistible whiff of ghee, sugar and halwa hits one as we walk toward the halwa shed. Through a thick cloud of smoke one spots a man stirring the bubbling hot, thick mix of sugar and rice powder in a huge uruli (the traditional bell metal cookware) with a long ladle over an open firewood furnace made of brick, mud and concrete. He has been stirring the mix for many hours now. “This mix is for the rice halwa and it is a much more laborious process than for the maida halwa,” he says, continuing to stir.
“For the maida halwa we remove its rubbery element using only the ‘noor’ or essence. This is mixed with sugar or jaggery, coconut oil; cashew nuts are fried and added to this mix, along with cardamom powder and food essence. If it is banana halwa then we take nenthrapazham, remove the black fibre, pulp it in a mixie, baked and added to the mix. This is then put on a tray and blended with ghee, spread on square trays and left to cool,” M.M. Rashid, Shamsu’s brother and panchayat member explains the process succinctly.
Work at these 40-odd halwa sheds in Manjaly begins at dawn and goes on till noon and on days when there is demand it extends to late evening. They make a wide variety of halwas ranging from the traditional black, red, yellow and white to the more innovative ones like banana, coconut, pineapple, dates, and pista.
“Halwa is in demand right through the year and this doubles during the Sabarimala season. For this Sabarimala season my brother has introduced a new variety called Aravana Halwa. It tastes like the aravana payasam with puffed and flattened rice flakes. On an average we make 400-500 kilograms of halwa every day. And the demand has never dwindled”, says Rashid.
Most of the workers are from Bihar and Orissa. They are provided accommodation close to the work sites enabling them to begin work quite early. “Another advantage of having workers from other states is that they have introduced their traditional sweets, which we now sell in our bakery.”
Manjaly also has a tradition of making some of the most delicious biriyanis. “This again is a tradition that began with Abdul Khader. Today, many of our boys are making these mouth-watering biriyanis in hotels across the district.”
At the bakery there are a few customers waiting to get their halwas packed. They seem to be regulars, for halwa is not an indulgence reserved only for special occasions. It is perhaps part of their daily menu. Rashid informs that Manjaly supplies around 5,000-10,000 kilograms of halwa every day.
“Unfortunately this business is not organised. I think it is time that all the 40-odd families making halwa, or even biriyani, are brought together under one organisation, which then will help maintain quality of the products, afford better bargaining power and equitable pricing,” Rashid concludes.
