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Hyderabad: International Sweet Festival features a diverse array of sweets
Sankranti celebrations began in the twin cities with Bhogi amid pomp and gaiety on Sunday. At dawn, people gathered in front of houses, discarding old and derelict things by lighting bonfire, consigning their fears and worries into it. It paves way for ushering in new things and events marking a transformation which is celebrated joyously on the following day as Sankranthi.
Hyderabad: The International Sweet Festival featured a diverse array of homemade sweets worldwide. The best part about the festival is that it encouraged homemakers to showcase their culinary skills, and they are not commercial sweet makers; these sweets are brought in by homemakers of different origins who have made Hyderabad their habitat.
Around 470 varieties of appetising sweets from 22 States were displayed, including a few lip-smacking international sweets from Iran, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Ethiopia. Apart from this, Telangana sweet delicacies were also available.
“Almost all the 800 stalls were allotted to homemakers, and the main aim was to bring cooked food to the larger platform, and we are also hoping to empower them. The main motto is to showcase the cosmopolitan nature of Hyderabad. They are all from different parts of the country who came to Hyderabad and settled here. All stalls are selling only homemade sweet dishes, and we also have eight international participants,” said Libby Benjamin, General Convener of the International Sweet Festival.
Dr Mamidi Harikrishna, Director of Language and Culture Department, Telangana government, said, “The festival is the sweetest ode to the cosmopolitan nature of Hyderabad. The festivities at Parade Ground celebrate five elements of our culture. Apart from the kites and sweets, there is a food festival and a handicrafts mela, and people from various States including West Bengal, Odia, Assam, and Kashmir, will be showcasing their traditional folk songs and dances.”
The aromatic coffee stall was set up by an Ethiopian family who had made Hyderabad their home for the past 15 years. Diego said, “As Ethiopia is famous for its coffee, this drink will resonate with the taste buds of the people over here.”
Rayana from Kazakhstan, who has been in Hyderabad for the past two years and is also a second-year student of BA History, Osmania University, has brought in some Kazakhstani delectable delights for Hyderabadi tastebuds. He said, “We have two special desserts: sumalak and a special white cake. I have seen my mother make this sweet delicacy since I was a child, and when the organiser of this sweet festival approached us, we decided to showcase our sweets to the people of Hyderabad.”
“We made Hyderabad our homeland, and for the past five years I have been participating in this sweet festival. Compared to the last five years, this year I received more responses. As Poush Sankranti (Makar Sankranti) is a festival of sweets, in my delicacies I tried to showcase varieties of sweets from Orissa, which include palm jaggery, rice, and sesame seeds,” said Aruna Poddar, a homemaker.
