Get to know Pallotty, a traditional candy that ruled the hearts of 90s kids

Debuting director Jithin Raj's, ‘Pallotty 90s Kids,’ which hit theatres recently, is a memory ride for many. While the Mollywood film continues to receive praise for its sweet take on innocence and childhood, the film’s quirky title has left many guessing. For the unversed, the Pallotty in the title refers to a traditional sweet candy folded in transparent paper, which was one of the many delights of children growing up in the 1980s and 90s.

Acclaimed filmmaker Lijo Jose Pellissery, who grew up in Thrissur, recalls how they would get one candy for just 5 paisa. “In Kalady, my mother’s home town, we called this dark, hard candy Pallotty. If we had Re 1, we would get a lot of candies, which would be enough to last a week. I still remember how the tea stall seller would hang the Palotty candies. We would play a game and see who could collect the most number of candies,” said Lijo, who presented the film ‘Pallotty 90s Kids’, which also won the Kerala State Film Awards for Best Children’s Film in 2022. “I believe in this movie so much. If you notice, this is the only movie I have presented so far,” he said.

Actor-director Sajid Yahiya, who turned producer with this movie, said the Palotty is known differently in different places across Kerala. “In Alappuzha, where I come from, it was called 'Charkkaramuttai.' I remember how the vendors would sell this sweet in transparent covers. You could see what was inside these candies, unlike the colourful candies that are now sold in shops. In our home, the Palotty, otherwise known as Charkkaramuttai, would be made as a traditional 4’0 clock snack,” he said.

Sajid remembers how he and his cousins would gather around his grandmother who made the snack and ask her to make the candy in their favourite shapes. “One would get an elephant, another would get a ball. It depended on how we wanted it,” he said.

The actor-director-producer said it was one of the easiest snacks to make. “My grandmother would melt the jaggery in oil and then keep stretching it for some time. It was an easy and tasty snack to make,” he said. He added that the kids loved how it would stick to one’s mouth. “You could call it an equivalent to modern-day bubble gum, but only better. These snacks are long-gone, but I am happy that they are returning back to the stores,” he said.

In Malabar, the Pallotty is known more commonly as Kadichaparachi, which would loosely translate as something that was difficult to break. V Sudheer, a native of Mukkam in Kozhikode, remembers how the Kadichaparachi was a longed for sweet in the 1980s. “Not all of us could afford the candy, even though it cost just a few paise. I still remember how we wished we could buy those candies, but did not have the money then. Even if we got hold of one, it would be difficult to share it among our friends since it was the chewing gum type that would stick to our teeth,” he said.

So, if you want to revisit the good old days, don't forget to buy this candy, which is slowly making its way into shops again.