Watalappam-Home made

My favorite home made sweet (also know as steamed egg custard) is an Koothanallur delicacy. Not neccessarly orginated or perfected in koothanallur, its an staple of our celebrations during EID or other festive occasions.

Orginated mainly from srilanka, this pudding has spread all over the south east asian muslims, malays and moors community. Basic ingrediants of coconut,eggs, cashews, jaggery, milk or cream steamed in a water bath make this an simple prepration dish. Modern versions have included vanilla, essence, caramel toppings,nutmeg, etc.

I remember eating this at eid along with murtaba, jaler koliappam, muttom kurma, when i was small along with my family.

Koothanallur- A brief history of my home town

Koothanallur, a small village started from the Turkish colonization, is known as Little Singapore because of its abundant wealth.

The Sultanate of Rum who was called as Seljuk Turkish Sultanat...e ruled Anatolia from 1077 – 1307. The word “Rum” is from the Arabic Language for Rome. The capital city spans from Iznik up to Konya. During the climax of their rule,the colonization was extended from Antalya-Alanya shoreline on the Mediterranean coast to the territory of Sinop on the Black Sea. Its westernmost limit was near Denizli and the gates of the Aegean basin. In the east, the sultanate absorbed other Turkish states and reached to Lake Van, Israel , Oman , Arab Emirates, Persia , North India and the one and only place in South India , Koothanallur which Turks received as gift from Kulothunga Chola III on 1212

King Kulotungga Cholan III invited Turkish Seljuk Sultan of Rum(Anatolian) Izzad-Din (Kaykaus I) to get to know each other and for business purpose on 1212. Izz ad-Din sent 3000 men and women from the Turkish Elite, hundred Bedouin Imam, a government advisor and an army to the empire of Chola. The Turkish troops landed together with Emirate of Granada troops at Tharangambadi (now known as Nagapattinam) and they marched towards Tanjore to meet the king but King Kulotungga Cholan III did not permit them to enter or stay at Tanjore or Mannargudi because he knew their hidden intention was to spread Islam. King Kulotungga Cholan III presented to them a small village which was located in the east of Mannargudi. That village was owned by the brothers of Koothan. The Turkish troop chased Koothan Brothers away and they settled at that village and named it as Koothanallur.

Turkish built the first mosque made from clay and sand on 1212 and it was called Big Mosque. In the 16th century the mosque was enlarged and became very famous in that area. The Turkish plan to spread Islam within Tanjore area was unsuccessful because of the strong belief of Hinduism there.

The 3000 troops stayed permanently at Koothanallur,Podakkudi and Attikadai and their number is more than 30,000 now. The Basharat Mosque in Pedro Abad, Spain carries same architectural designs as Chinna Palli Mosque and Big Mosque as the proof of invasion by troops from Seljuk Sultanate of Turkey and Emirate of Granada.

The residents of Koothanallur,Podakkudi and Attikadai were very well known for their cleanliness because they were the descendent of Turkey and Moors (Arab Bedouin), none of them was converted from Hindu to Islam. Most of them had fair complexion but the dark complexion ones was the Moors (Bedouin) generation. A written rock in Turkish language was found at the wall of Chinnapalli and Big Mosque.

Some of the written stones were confiscated by Indian government who were aided by the Madras Museum in order to abolish the religion of Islam within the area of Tanjore. It’s was unknown what is the real reason by Indian Government to destroy and hide history of this village by demolishing Chinnapalli by pretending this building no more safe and weak. This demolition program will spread to Big Mosque too very soon if Koothanallur peoples didn’t defend their unique history.
 
Koothanallur’s Big mosque and Chinnapalli Mosque shares similar architectures of Anatolian design in Turkey also from Emirate of Granada. Nevertheless Turkish in Koothanallur was different from Mamluk Dynasty (Delhi Sultanate) who attacked the area of Tamil Nadu. Delhi Sultanate was the army of Monghul who invaded Madurai and the neighboring area