Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Adhirasam

Most of us south Indians know this sweet by the name Adhirasam or Ariselu. This is a traditional sweet we could see almost in all weddings or other family functions. Nowadays many sweet shops also sell this sweet. It has only two main ingredients jaggery and rice flour. But it is not simple to make it. Making soft adhirasams depend on the consistensy of the jaggery syrup we make and the quantity of flour we mix into the syrup. EVery Diwali I have tried to make Adhirasam and succeeded only couple of times. Along with the recipe I would also give some tips to get soft adhirasams and to avoid most common mistakes.

Things you'll need:
Raw rice - 2 cups
Jaggery - 1 cup
Water - 1/4 cup
Cardamom - 2, powdered
Oil - for deep frying

Yield - 20 - 25 pieces

Method:

Step1:
Wash and soak the raw rice for 2-3 hours. Drain the rice and air dry in a cloth for about 15 mins. The rice should be damp when touched but not wet. Grind the rice into fine powder.

Step2:
In a wide pan, heat the jaggery and water to make thick syrup until soft ball consistency. The soft ball consistency can be identified by putting a drop of the syrup in a bowl of water. The drop should not dissolve and it could be rolled into a soft ball. Add the cardamom powder to the syrup.

Step3:
Add the rice flour in small batches to the syrup and mix it to combine well without lumps. The dough will be in the consistency of cookie dough. Allow it to rest for at least a day in room temperature.

Step4:
Heat the oil. Take a lemon size ball of the dough and flatten it on a greased plastic sheet (you might want to grease your palms also to avoid dough sticking to your hands). Remove the adhirasam and fry them in the oil in medium heat. When the sizzling of oil is reduced turn the adhirasam and fry it until it is brown on both sides.










Step5:
Remove the adhirasam from oil and squeeze out the excess oil from the adhirasam by placing the adhirasam in a plate and pressing it with a flat bottomed bowl. (I think you get a ready-made press for adhirasams in some shops.)

Let it cool and it's all yours.


TIPS:
Use raw rice instead of ready-made rice flour. It might be a pain, drain and grind the rice but it is the key to make the best adhirasams.
You can use ghee for greasing the plastic sheet so the flavor of ghee would boost the taste of adhirasam.
The heat should be medium. Otherwise the adhirasam will be brown outside but will be uncooked inside and the dough will be squeezed out when u press the adhirasam.






 

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