Mutta maala has a special place in my heart. It’s the first Mappila dish I wrote about as a fledgling freelancer, and I had so much fun watching it being made at my aunt Razia’s. Mutta maala is a divisive dish. Most people either love it or can’t stand it. It’s made from a thin, steady stream of egg yolks (mostly hen, but duck eggs are also sometimes used, it lends it a richer, deeper colour) poured into a vat of bubbling sugar syrup. Watching it being made is mesmerising. For my dad’s birthday last week, our cook, Shahida thatha made some for lunch and I took some photos and video clips to share with you. I’ve included the recipe below, in case you want to try your hand at it. And I’ve also included the piece I wrote on the dish more than a decade ago!
Recipe: Mutta Maala
Ingredients
15 eggs
300 g sugar
500 ml & 250 ml water
¼ tsp cardamom powder, finely powdered
Vanilla essence (optional)
Note:
We use a coconut spoon / charatta kayil that has a small hole at the bottom to make the mutta maala. Alternatively, you could also use a disposable drinking cup with a tiny hole poked into the bottom.
Method
Separate the yolk and white of the eggs carefully. While separating, be sure not to get any white into the yolk and vice versa. Pass the yolk through a muslin cloth into a clean, dry bowl.
Boil 500 ml water in a wide, heavy-bottomed vessel (uruli) and add the sugar to it. Bring the flame to low and continue to boil the sugar syrup until you get a one-string consistency.
Plug the hole in the disposable cup with a finger and fill the cup with egg yolk.
Increase the flame, and when the sugar syrup starts to boil, pour the egg yolk over the boiling sugar, moving your hand in concentric circles to form thin delicate strands of yolk.
To get strands that are the right thickness, the speed with which you move your hand is crucial — too fast and the strands will break, and if you move it too slow, you will make thick ribbons.
Continue the process till you have poured all the yolk in the cup. Once the yolk has been cooked, reduce the heat.
Remove the cooked strands from the syrup using a flat spoon, being careful not to break them.
Transfer the mutta maala to a platter.
Rub a drop of vanilla essence into your palm and gently press it into the mutta maala.
Pour two tablespoons of water into the syrup and let the syrup boil and come back to a one-string consistency.
Repeat the process with the remaining yolk.
To Make the Egg White Triangles:
Cool the remaining syrup and mix this into a large bowl that contains the egg whites.
Add the cardamom powder and mix well being careful not to incorporate air into the egg. Pour this into a 9-inch cake pan and steam for 15 minutes.
Once the whites have cooled, cut them into triangles and remove from the pan.
Place the triangles on top of the mutta maala on a platter.