Atreyapuram Pootharekulu

Name: Atreyapuram Pootharekulu
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 12 servings
Cuisine: Andhra
Ingredients: 250 g raw rice; 300 ml Water; 200 g jaggery, powdered; 150 g ghee, melted; 0.5 tsp cardamom powder; 2 tbsp dry roasted cashew bits; 1 piece fine cotton cloth

A delicate paper-thin rice sheet sweet from Atreyapuram village, layered with ghee and jaggery or sugar into fragile, melt-in-the-mouth folded parcels.

🇮🇳India· Andhra Pradesh

Prep: 45 min
Cook: 30 min
Total: 75 min
Servings: 12
Difficulty: Hard
Calories: 150 kcal

Ingredients

0 of 7 gathered

Servings

250 g raw rice — soaked overnight, ground into thin batter
300 ml Water — to thin the rice batter
200 g jaggery, powdered — or use sugar instead
150 g ghee, melted — for layering and filling
½ tsp cardamom powder
2 tbsp dry roasted cashew bits — optional garnish
1 piece fine cotton cloth — for spreading sheets

Equipment

•Wide flat griddle (thava)
•Fine cotton cloth
•Thin wooden spatula

Nutrition

Per serving, approximate

Calories: 150 kcal
fat: 7 g
carbs: 22 g
fibre: 0.3 g
protein: 1.5 g
calories: 150 kcal

Instructions

1
Grind the soaked rice with water into a very thin, smooth, milky batter. Make sure it flows easily without lumps.
2
Stretch a fine cotton cloth tightly over a wide-mouthed pot. Heat a flat griddle nearby on a low flame.
3
Dip a soaked cloth pad into the batter. Quickly wipe a paper-thin layer across the hot griddle.
4
Cover briefly with a lid to let steam cook the sheet. Wait until it turns cloudy and can be peeled off whole.
5
Gently peel the delicate rice sheet off the griddle. Lay it flat on a clean surface.
6
Brush the sheet generously with melted ghee (clarified butter).
7
Sprinkle a thin, even layer of powdered jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) mixed with cardamom powder over the ghee.
8
Place a second rice sheet on top. Repeat the ghee and jaggery layers three to four times.
9
Fold the stacked sheets into a neat rectangular parcel. Seal the edges with a little ghee.
10
Repeat with the remaining batter and filling. Store the folded pootharekulu (paper sweets) in an airtight tin.

Chef's tips

Keep the griddle heat very low and steady so the thin sheet does not burn before it sets. Work quickly once you peel each sheet, as it dries and breaks easily within minutes.