Mutta Maala and Pinjanathappam
Mutta maala and pinjanathappam are an integral part of the Moplah cuisine. They take the prime place amongst all the items made during the “Puthiyapla Salkaaram” or a banquet arranged by the brides family in honour of the newly weds. While speaking to my Amma on the same she was recollecting her childhood memories that when a Muslim marriage takes place near their house, the ladies would go to the neighbouring houses asking for good quality eggs. They wanted to present the best Mutta Maala for the groom. It’s said that if the Mutta Maala didn’t come out well then the groom would be disappointed and may even walk off. So that’s how significant this dish is!
Mutta maala is directly linked to the Portuguese, who have a similar dish by the name “Fios de Ovos”. In the 15th century egg whites were used for many purposes like stiffening the vestments of the convent inmates, wine making, refining sugar etc. This resulted in a lot of unused egg yolks and thus the dessert Fios de Ovos or angel hair was made.
Tips
1) The sugar syrup that we make the mutta maala has to be clear. If there are impurities, then the resulting mutta maala won’t have the bright yellow colour. It would look dull and dark. That’s why we add the egg white and clear the syrup.
2) When pouring the egg yolk mixture into the booking sugar syrup, be careful to not overlap or not to keep the bottle in the sme place. Make a swift circle and take the bottle off. This would result in the thin strands of mutta maala.
3) The mutta maala may look lumpy when you scoop it from the syrup. Don’t worry, once it cools down it can be fluffed. The strands become more visible when it’s cooled.
Mutta Maala and Pinjanathappam
Equipment
- Kadai
- 500 ml Coca-Cola or Sprite bottle
Ingredients
- 10 nos Egg
- 1½ cup Water
- ¾ cup Sugar
- 5 pods Cardamom
- 4 tbsp Milk powder
Instructions
Mutta Maala
- Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites carefully. Keep the egg whites aside.
- Seive the egg yolks through a mesh, this to ensure that the egg yolks are smooth without any thick portions.
- Take the bottle and make three holes away from each other on the bottle cap. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the bottle.
- Heat the water, sugar and half opened cardamom pods in a kadai and mix well till the sugar dissolves. When the sugar start bubbling remove the cardamom pods.
- Take a teaspoon of egg white and pour into the bubbling sugar mixture. The sugar syrup will start to foam. Scoop the foam that rises and discard it, repeat the process till you find that all the egg white has been removed and the sugar syrup is clear.
- We do this process to remove the impurities in the syrup which comes from the sugar.
- Once the syrup is clean keep the flame on high. The syrup will start foaming. At this point take the bottle with the egg yolk, turn it so that the egg yok will pass through the holes and swiftly make an "O" in the kadai. Keep the bottle aside.
- Let the egg yolk cook in the sugar syrup for 1 minute. Gently scoop the egg yolk strings or mutta maala with a slotted spoon, draining the sugar syrup and transfer it onto a plate. It may look stuck together, don't worry. Once it cools down we can gently fluff it with a fork and it would come as individual strands.
- Repeat the same process till your egg yolk mixture is over. If at any point you feel the sugar syrup is too thick, add a little water and mix well.
- Leave the mutta maala to cool and fluff it gently to loosen the strands.
Pinjanathappam
- To the egg white mixture add the milk powder and ¼ cup of the sugar syrup that we made the mutta maala in and mix well.
- We add the milk powder to give the pinjanathappam a white colour.
- Take any mould of your choice, apply ghee on it and pour the egg white mixture in it. Steam this mixture in a steamer for 15 minutes or till it looks firm.
- Enjoy the delicious mutta maala and pinjanathappam.
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