Monday, April 30

Adhirasam

Adhirasam is a traditional south Indian sweet which is made in almost every house in tamilnadu during diwali. The most important part in making adhirasam is the the 'paagu'(syrup) part. If u get the correct consistency of the paagu the adhirasam will taste really delicious. This is my 3rd entry to the RCI event hosted by Lakshmi.


Ingredients

Raw rice- 1 kg
Jaggery- 1/2 kg
sugar- 3/4 thcup
My mother uses sugar in making adhirasam. But many people do not use it.It is optional to use sugar. u can use jaggery alone too. if so use 3/4 kg of jaggery.
Cardamom powder- 1 tsp
khus khus- 3 tsp
Dry ginger(sukku)- 1/2 tsp powdered
Oil for deep frying

Method

Soak the rice in water for 2 hours. Drain the rice and spread it in a clean cloth in a shady area. when it is 3/4 th dried powder it. In india they machinegrind it in a mill. U can also grind it in a mixie and sieve it to get a fine rice powder.
Add 1/4 cup of water in a thick bottom pan and add the jaggery and sugar to it. When the jaggery melts completely filter it in a strainer to get rid of the dirt. keep stirring the filtered jaggery in low heat. When it is thick, check the consistency by pouring a drop of syrup in a cup of water. The syrup should not melt in water and when touched by finger it should roll into a soft ball. It should not be hard. This is the right consistency.
Remove from fire and add cardomom powder ,dry ginger powder and khus khus. Stir well and add the rice flour to it . Mix well so that no lumps are formed and till u get a chappathi dough like consistency.Leave it outside overnight.

Heat oil in a pan and make small balls of the dough . Place the balls in a pastic sheet and using little oil shape it to form small patties. Deep fry in hot oil only one at a time until golden brown on both sides and press well with a flat ladle.
Note
Making Adhirasams is a tough job and the most IMPORTANT part in making the adirasams is the SOFT BALL CONSISTENCY. If the syrup reaches more than soft ball consistency, the adhirasams will become hard. If the syrup is taken before the soft ball consistency, the adhirasams will break while frying in oil.

You can use readymade rice flour too to make Adhirasam.If so slightly roast it. (I have never tried this ....so Iam not sure if the adhirasams would turn out good using storebought riceflour,but my mom said u can do it)
You can store the dough in the refrigerator for 3 to 6 months. My mom prepared this dough for me, during my trip to India in January. I had stored it since then and whenever I want I make delicious Adhirasams.

40 comments:

bee said...

wow, prema, these look absolutely perfect. can they be baked?

Richa said...

hey prema, adhirasam looks too good:) love it! the combination of rice & jaggery is absolutely mouth watering, I used to buy it from a store, now would like to try at home sometime.
thanks :)

Viji said...

Hi Prema, very nice presentation. Two times I tried but ended with Puttu only. The flour makes the difference and it can't be made with the store bought rice flour. I love this sweet. especially when you eat after two days, the outer skin you can peel also. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe. Viji

Menu Today said...

Hi Prema,
"Adhirasam" looks nice and perfect.
Nice presentation.In our house we always prepare only with jaggery.Adding 1/2 sugar and 1/2 jaggery is nice idea and I think it gives nice colour to it. Thanks for sharing.
Viji,try to make with urundai vellam. (Vella seedai paagu Padam)

sra said...

Back home, it's 'garnished' with toasted sesame seed - nice illustrations, useful

Bharathy said...

Appidi podunge...semma post :)...
he he me only interested to gobble up athirasams..when my mamiyar makes hot hot..not yet leart this favourite one..will def try..

BTW,I linked your morkuzhambu in mine(ungalakku rombaveeee vuttu kkudukkara manasu,both in RCI and in the portal..realllly appreciate your fine mentality ma!!!:)

FH said...

Prema,my grandmother makes a similar but shaped like wheel with holes in the middle and we call Kajjaya.

Looks great,haven't eaten these in a long time.
It's time for Andhra cuisine girl, you are still cooking for Tamil RCI!:))

DEEPA said...

wow prema ...very very authentic recipe ...mouth watering and yummy ...i have never made it at home ...

Prema Sundar said...

Thanks Bee. i dont think we can bake it. It has to be fried in oil to get that authentic taste.
Thanks Richa.
Yes viji , the flour makes the difference. I have never tried with the store bought rice flour.. but my mom told u can do it.have always tried with the dough she had prepared..
MT have u tried adhirasams with store bought rice flour?
toasted sesame seeds will look good too SRA.
Thanks Bharathy for ur kind comments and for linking my morkuzhambu.
Hey Asha, I know its time for Andhra cuisine.. but we prepared Adhirasams on sunday evening and so I thought I could use it for tamil cuisine. I know its late and hope Lakshmi doesn't mind.
Thanks Deepa

Mishmash ! said...

Adhirasam is my favourite tamil sweet and I used to get a share whenever my tamil neighbour used to make this one and ever since she moved out, I have never had this one :(

Shn

USHA said...

Hi Prema,

Wonderful and authenic entry for RCI event.
You made me to remember diwali celebrations.

Gr8 dear.

indosungod said...

Adhirasam, reminds me of when we used to live in Madurai. It is speciality down there isn't it. Looks tasty and makes me want some.

swapna susarla said...

Hi prema
we call these as areselu.I know this is a bit hilarious work.great job girl!!

diya r said...

loved the presentation...wanted to ask whether we should add teh khus khus as whole or should we grind it to a powder???

Prema Sundar said...

Diya , U can add the whole khus khus to the syrup...thanks

Sharmi said...

you believe it or not I was desperately in need of this recipe and was waiting to see if I can find it in some blog with pics. thanks a million. have to try out immediately. great entry.yummy!!

Sudha said...

Prema,enatha solla,such a wonderful recipe..this is going to my snack list of deepavali.thanks for sharing..

Roopa said...

Wonderfull prema! Great girl! once i tried making with the rice powdered but never worked well.
Here we get readymade flour which is mixed with jaggery ready to fry during deepavali so i just used to use that all these years!

Thanks a lot..........

Bong Mom said...

These are so yumm Prema...
Like the name too and nice step by step pics

Suganya said...

Hay....it remembers me abt INDIA...
and DIWALI.......YUM!

archana said...

Thanks for visiting my blog :)
The adhirasams remind me of annarse we prepare during Diwali.Thanks for the tip on making rice flour at home. Will surely try the adhirasams sometime :)

S said...

hi we call it boorelu any how ur name "athirasalu" is superb!!!!!!!nice blog keep going!!!!!!!!!

Sia said...

i have had this before and really liked it. the recipe sounds really easy. thanks prema. and also thanks for creating tamil recipe index. its quite easy to find particular recipe now:)

amna said...

Hello!

I am thinking of starting a new portal to host simple and easy-to-prepare recipes. This is mainly for bachelors/bachelorettes who may not have the time and the necessary utensils to prepare anything elaborate.

Please do contribute. For more details, I have made a post on this at:

http://cookingandme.blogspot.com/2007/05/portal-for-simple-cooking.html

Err.. does this comment look like spam? :O It really is not! Also, tell me what you think about the idea and better ideas of how I can go about this, if any.

mallugirl said...

is this the same as neiyappam? looks very interesting especially with the poppy seeds in it. the next weekend i have free, will give it a shot.

Jyothi said...

Hi prema! Your Adhirasam, in our Telugu language, we will called as "Ariselu" Really taste well be awesome. Thanks for remembering those sweet memories.

sonali said...

hi prema,

your food blog is undoubtedly my fav....i love your recipes.

sunita said...

Hey we make these sweets too, though a little differently...the ground rice is mixed only with jaggery and a pinch of camphor, made into patties like you did and fried immediately...

marriedtoadesi.com said...

Awesome, this are one of my favourite sweets.

Latha Narasimhan said...

Great post prema! all our traditional recipes are so good!My mother is an expert in this. I have not prepared many times as my chilren like sweets made of sugar. Moreover we keep learning new things and forget to prepare these items. thanks! I am now tempted to make this adirasam very soon.

Unknown said...

Hi
Tried doing adirasam, but as soon as I drop the dough in the oil it all split into small tiny pieces.
Don't know whats the real problem.
I used the dough immediately and then kept it for 8 hrs also.both came out in the same manner.pls anyone correct where I went wrong.
Deepa

nirmala said...

Hi,
I have the same problem as deepu had mentioned. the athirasam broke into tiny pieces as soon as I dropped it in oil. Think I didn't quite get the softball consistency. What can I do with the rest of the adhirasam mix?can you please suggest some alternative recipes?
Thanks,
Nirmala

Prema Sundar said...

Hi deepu and Nirmala,
Sorry that ur adhirasams did not turn out well. The consistency of the jaggery syrup is very important in making adhirasams. If the syrup reaches more than soft ball consistency, the adhirasams will become hard.
If the syrup is taken before the soft ball consistency, the adhirasams will break while frying in oil.
If we get a chance to watch our mother or mother in law or anybody who does it well, we will get a clear idea abt the jaggery consistency. It needs practice too.
I really dont have any idea what to do with the dough.. may be u can use it as filling for sukhiyan, poli etc or do like appams.
hope it helps.

Unknown said...

I have made Rice Dough but its breaking in oil. how I can fix it?

Can i mix Rice flour in it or more syrup.

Need help

shaliniv said...

Hi Dear

http://checkmyreceipes.blogspot.com/2008/10/adhirasam.html

dont know if its ur website but the recipe is copied word to word and posted by Mr Prabhakarn.. Kindly check.

nice recipe!!

DazzleDiva said...

hi these look really amazing..and you made this at home? awesome...just wanted to ask you , can you have a search bar on your blog or am i missing it?? It will be easier to search for recipes. thanks

Unknown said...

Hai am going to try it lol hats off prema. Am loving adhirsam

Unknown said...

If breaks in oil how can we make change to good form

Unknown said...

Hi
My athirasam got spit while put in oil.and it is more crispy while eating tat broken athirasam after cooked. Now what to do with dough

Unknown said...

Watch ammachethivanta, she had the same issue (dough breaking in oil) and she gave a new spin to the dish. hope this helps.