Chinnaraja. G.Naidu, Deputy Registrar of Geographical Indications, said the tag will help this brand of candy reach an international audience, as it has a long shelf life and huge export potential

The famous Kovilpatti kadalai mittai has been granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. The application was filed by the Kovilpatti Regional Kadalaimittai Manufacturers. Kovilpatti kadalai mittai is manufactured in Kovilpatti and adjacent towns and villages in Thoothukudi district.

Chinnaraja. G.Naidu, Deputy Registrar of Geographical Indications, confirmed that the GI tag has been given for the Kovilpatti kadalai mittai. He said that the tag will now help this brand reach an international audience. “This product has a long shelf life and has a huge export potential,” he added.

Kovilpatti kadalai mittai is a candy made of peanuts held together with glistening syrup, and topped with wisps of grated coconut dyed pink, green and yellow. In Kovilpatti, it is sold as single rectangular chunks, or rather cuboids, sealed in packets. It is made using all natural ingredients such as the traditional and special ‘vellam’ (jaggery) and groundnuts and water from the river Thamirabarani is used in the production, which enhances the taste naturally.

Kovilpatti kadalai mittai is produced by using both groundnuts and jaggery (organic jaggery), in carefully selected quantities from selected specific locations in Tamil Nadu. The groundnuts are grown in the native black soil in and around Kovilpatti. After sourcing, the groundnuts are shelled and roasted. This is how this Kovilpatti kadalai mittai has a unique traditional flavour.

For decades, the Kovilpatti kadalai mittai was traditionally prepared during village festivals using palm jaggery and groundnuts from nearby districts. The switch to sugarcane jaggery happened in the pre-independence era, around the 1940s, when Ponnambala Nadar, who had a grocery store in the Bazaar, decided to use the sugarcane jaggery and peanuts in his store to make kadalai mittai.