Home » Adhirasam recipe – How to make soft athirasam in traditional way

Adhirasam recipe – How to make soft athirasam in traditional way

6 min read

Adhirasam is the most popular festive sweet in south-India. It is my favorite too. This simple rice based sweet brings the festive mood automatically.

Adhirasam sweet is made in every home during Diwali season. As a kid, I had enjoyed seeing my mother making it and relished it.

In earlier days, this was made at every home and shared between friends and relatives. Usually neighbors or family members help each other to make it in large quantities.

My mom used to make perfect adhirasam when we were kids. I always check with her for tips and notes whenever I make Adhirasam. I thought it is better to record it for once.

Thus here comes this post with complete details and tips of making perfect Adhirasam.

Traditionally the soaked and dried rice is powder in Ural (in Tamil), a big mortar-pestle. If you have it and prefer to do it the same way, you can powder the rice in it and then sieve.

Here, I have ground it in mixer grinder. You can also grind it in flour / rice mill available in your locality and start making it immediately after grinding it.

You might also be interested in some of my other sweet and snacks recipes. Check out few of them here.

Check out some of my healthy traditional recipes here.

Adhirsam | Athirasa | Ariselu | Kajjaya recipe

Adhirasam is a rice based sweet made during Diwali season. It is a tasty sweet dish from south-India.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Resting time 13

Total Time 14 20

Course Sweet

Cuisine Indian

Servings 40 numbers

Ingredients

4 cups Raw rice Good quality big grains are preferred
3 cups Jaggery Bright colour is preferred
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
1/4 tsp Dry ginger powder optional
2 tsp Ghee
1 ltr Oil for frying

Instructions

For making rice powder

Wash and soak the rice for at least 1 hour. Then drain the water and spread it on a cloth. Let the rice dry for about 30 to 45 minutes.
Now the rice will have little wetness but not watery. Grind the rice in mixer grinder and sieve it by batches. Now the rice powder is ready. Keep it aside.

Make Jaggery syrup

In a kadai, add 3 cups of jaggery and 1/2 cup water. Let it cook for 5 minutes. It should cook until it reaches the desired consistency. i.e. when you add few drops of jaggery to normal water, it should not get dissolved, but you should be able to take it in your hands.
Turn off the heat once jaggery is cooked. Let it cool for 5 minutes.

Make rice jaggery dough

You can add the ghee and cardamom powder and mix now.
Add the rice powder little by little and keep stirring continuously. Finally the rice dough should not be sticky to the pan.
The dough consistency should be little loose. If you take out your ladle, the dough should go back and settle in pan. If you make a crack in it, it should close automatically. That is the correct consistency.
Store this dough in an airtight container or casserole for at least 12 hours in room temperature.

Fry Adhirasam

After 12 hrs, Grease your palm with ghee or oil. Make small lemon sized ball and then flatten it by pressing between your palms to make the flat round shape. Deep fry this in medium hot oil.
Cook both sides and take out by pressing it gently using 2 ladles.

Video

Notes

Note – If you overcook the jaggery, athirasam will become hard. You can’t correct it. So, cooking jaggery in correct consistency is must for making soft adhirasam

Tip 1- You can leave jaggery mixed rice dough in room temperature for 1 or 2 days also. The more time you leave, the more softer the adhirasam will become. But it will absorb more oil.

After 2 days, you need to refrigirate if you want to use it later. But, cook within 7 days.

After taking out from refrigirator, leave it in room temperature for an hour before frying.

Tip 2 – If you are not comfortable in making the flat round shape in hands, use greased banana leaf or wax paper or plastic paper. Place the ball shaped dough in it and press to get the flat round shape.

Tip 3 – Adhirasam will be crispy when its freshly made and gets softer by next day.

Tip 4 – If you feel the dough has become more hard within 1 hour after you set,it might get even more hard when you make after 12 hours.

In such case, you can make little more jaggery syrup in the string consistency and mix to make the dough little loose.

Tip 5 – The measurement given here is the standard ratio for athirasam. Depends on rice quality and jaggery syrup consistency, the adhirasam comes well. So, use good quality raw rice.

Tip 6 – If you have someone to help, one person can make shape and other one can fry. This will reduce the time by half.

Tip 7 – If you are trying for first time, try with small quantity like 1 cup rice.

Keyword Adhirasam, Ariselu, Athirasam

Step by Step pictures of making Adhirasam

Wash and soak the rice for at least 1 hour. Then drain the water and spread it on a cloth. Let the rice dry for about 30 to 45 minutes.
Now the rice will have little wetness but not watery. Grind the rice in mixer grinder and sieve it by batches. Now the rice powder is ready. Keep it aside.
In a kadai, add 3 cups of jaggery and 1/2 cup water. Let it cook for 5 minutes.
It should cook until it reaches the desired consistency. i.e. when you add few drops of jaggery to normal water, it should not get dissolved, but you should be able to take it in your hands.
Turn off the heat once jaggery is cooked. Let it cool for 5 minutes.
You can add the ghee and cardamom powder and mix now.
Add the rice powder little by little and keep stirring continuously. Finally the rice dough should not be sticky to the pan.
The dough consistency should be little loose. If you take out your ladle, the dough should go back and settle in pan. If you make a crack in it, it should close automatically. That is the correct consistency.
Store this dough in an airtight container or caserole for at least 12 hours in room temparature.
After 12 hrs, Grease your palm with ghee or oil. Make small lemon size ball and then flatten it by pressing between your palms to make the flat round shape.
Deep fry this in medium hot oil.
Cook both sides and take out by pressing it gently using 2 ladles.
Fry all the dough in same way.
4 cup rice yields around 40 athirasams.