A Diwali kitchen in Tamil Nadu: Old flames, familiar aromas and handmade happiness lifestyle news

Last updated:October 15, 2025, 15:12 IST

“You can’t rush Athirasam or Mysore Pak. The jaggery must reach the right thickness, the flame must remain steady, and your hand must know when to stop stirring” she says proudly.

As Diwali approaches, the smell of jaggery, ghee and roasted gram flour fills the air in Villupuram. It’s not just the festive spirit, it’s the rhythm of tradition being kept alive by a determined woman. In a small workshop along the Villupuram-Panampattu road, 49-year-old Kanakalakshmi turns age-old Tamil sweets into both a livelihood and a legacy.

For 25 years now, his venture, Nellai Sweets & Snacks, has been serving essentials from golden athirasam to crispy murukku every Diwali. But unlike commercial sweet chains, everything here is still cooked the old-fashioned way, on a wood stove, with fresh ghee, homemade sugar syrup and recipes that never leave the family kitchen.

taste of tamil diwali

In Tamil Nadu, Diwali is not complete without the aroma of sweets fried in ghee at dawn. Homes come alive with plates of Athirasam, Laddu, Badusha, Elladai and Jangiri kept piled high for relatives and neighbours. Kanakalakshmi’s shop recreates the same feeling of home on a large scale.

Her counters shine with 12 types of sweets and 13 types of namkeen, each of which is handmade. There’s flaky badusha that melts in the mouth, golden Mysore pak floating in ghee, and bright orange jangiri with sugar syrup.

Their delicious selection includes the ever popular Murukku, spicy Kara Murukku, garlic infused Poondu Murukku and crispy Boondi which pairs perfectly with tea.

Everything is made fresh in small batches each morning. The secret, she says, lies in patience. “You can’t rush Athirasam or Mysore Pak. The jaggery must reach the right thickness, the flame must remain steady, and your hand must know when to stop stirring.”

Sweet story behind sweets

For Kanakalakshmi, these dishes bring memories as well as taste. She grew up helping her father in the family’s small sweets business. But when he fell ill he had to leave this work. After several years of marriage, tragedy struck again when she lost her husband within five years.

She recalls, “I thought that chapter was over, but old customers came back asking for our sweets. They said no one else made them like this.” Out of both necessity and nostalgia, she started it again, this time from her kitchen.

What started with just one helper gradually grew. Today, her unit employs 16 women, all married, all trained in the same home-based method. They grind, roast, stir and pack together in a rhythm of friendship and empowerment. “Most of them had never worked outside before,” says Kanakalakshmi proudly. “Now they earn, learn and support their families. That’s the sweetest part of all this.”

keeping the flame traditional

At a time when most shops use gas burners and pre-mixed powder, his team still cooks on firewood. The steady heat gives sweets like Nei Mysore Pak and Palkova their distinctive aroma and texture, slightly smoky, rich and deeply nostalgic.

During Diwali week, the speed triples. Orders come from nearby districts like Cuddalore, Tindivanam and Salem. Women begin measuring ingredients well before sunrise, based more on their instincts than on the scale. “A handful of flour, two pinches of cardamom, half a ladle of hot ghee – that’s how we work,” laughs one of the staff.

Even their packaging remains simple – boxes wrapped with banana leaves, butter paper, and twine. “We don’t chase trends,” says Kanakalakshmi. “We just follow what feels right.”

more than just sweets

For Villupuram, Nellai Sweets & Snacks is more than a Diwali stop, it is a symbol of patience and tradition. It shows that a woman’s kitchen skills can become a community enterprise, that old methods still have modern relevance, and that the best desserts don’t have brand names but stories.

As rows of athirasam cool on banana leaves and the scent of ghee wafts across the street, it’s easy to see why its customers return year after year. Every bite has the warmth of firewood, the sweetness of solidity and a taste of Tamil Diwali that refuses to fade.