Adhirasam | For Beginners with Step by Step Pictures

Name: Adhirasam | For Beginners with Step by Step Pictures
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 150 min
Yield: 20
Ingredients: Raw Rice – 2 cups or 400 gms; Jaggery - 1+1/2 cups or 300 gms (grated); Cardamom Pods – 2; Water – 1 cup or 200 ml; Ghee – 1 tbsp; Oil – For deep frying

October 3, 2011 By Radhika 81 Comments

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Updated on February 24, 2019

Adhirasam Recipe with step by step photos. A traditional sweet made during Diwali, Nombu and Lakshmi Pooja. It also takes a special place in the “Seer” given to the bride when she leaves for her in-laws home after her marriage and during the “Thalai Deepavali” and “Valai Kaapu”.

My Grandma used to say that, “If you can make “Adhirasam” well you are half way to becoming a good cook” which I believe is true.

Those days the bride’s family took great pride in informing the groom’s family that their daughter can make Adhirasam so well which were the expected qualities in the bride.

Though the recipe has only 2 main ingredients, it takes total concentration, care and patience to make Adhirasam. It equals Labor of love.

You get two types of “paagu vellam”. The one being dark brown and the other comes in red. I have posted adhirasam pictures made using both the varieties, hence the difference in color.

Do check out this Makkan Peda, Badam Puri, that are traditional yet easy to try out.

Points to note while making Adhirasam:

1. Buy “Maavu Pacharisi” if you can get, else any raw rice will do. The rice should be damp and not dry while grinding.

2. The flour can be fine or slightly coarse, it depends on your preference. I personally feel that dough made using fine flour drinks lot of oil.

3. The ground rice flour should be immediately mixed with syrup into dough.

4. “Paagu Vellam” is important and do not use any other type of jaggery.

5. The string consistency is very important. Do not miss it. Cook over low flame as it will make checking easier.

6. You can prepare the dough well in advance as it keeps good in room temperature for a week.

7. Always cook adhirasam over low flame, else it will darken quickly and burn.

8. After slipping the second adhirasam in hot oil, pat the third one and keep ready, flip the one that’s cooking and press out the first adhirasam to remove excess oil, drain the cooking one on to the plate and slip in the third one into oil. If you follow this cycle, you can finish cooking without any mishaps.

How to make Adhirasam recipe:

1. Wash and soak rice for 2 hours.

2. Drain the water and spread the rice on a cloth and let it dry for 10 minutes.

3. When the rice is still damp place the rice in a mixer along with cardamom pods and grind it to a powder.

4. If you want, you can sieve to a fine powder. But I did not, as I prefer it to the consistency of fine sooji or rava.

5. Transfer the flour to a bowl and press it tight and place a clean cloth over the bowl to prevent formation of water droplets as the flour will be still warm.

6. Heat water in a thick bottomed vessel and add the jaggery to it. Mix well and let it dissolve completely. Pass the jaggery syrup through a sieve to remove impurities.

7. Transfer the syrup again to the thick bottomed vessel and let it come to a boil over full flame. First the syrup will be thin and you can swipe the bubbles to the side to see the clear syrup.

8. After some time, the syrup will thicken, color will darken and the bubbles will be incessant as it will boil from within. Simmer the flame completely. You will not be able to swipe away the bubbles to the side with the spatula. This is the stage to start checking for string consistency.

9. Keep a small bowl of water and add a few drops of the syrup. If the drops settle in the water and you are able to gather the syrup with your finger tips, that is the correct consistency. (In tamil, it is called as “Uruttu padham” or “Thakkali Padham”).

10. Take the vessel off the stove. Add ghee and mix well. Add the rice flour little by little while mixing it with a ladle. All the flour will be used up.

11. The dough will be a bit loose but it will come to the correct consistency once the dough cools down.

12. You can store this dough at room temperature in an air tight container for a week. You can either make adhirasam the next day or straight away. As I don’t make more than 2 cups, I make it immediately after the dough cools down.

13. Divide the dough into equal lemon sized balls.

14. Grease a plastic sheet or a plantain leaf with ghee. Place a ball on the leaf and pat with your finger tips into a flat disc. It should neither be thick nor too thin.

15. Heat oil in a kadai. After it gets hot, take a pea sized ball, gently press between your fingers and drop into the oil. If it rises slowly to the top, the temperature is correct. Now completely simmer the flame.

16. Slip the adhirasam into the oil. It will sink initially and will then rise to the top.

17. Flip it gently for the other side to cook. It will puff up a bit like a poori. Drain and transfer to a plate.

18. Immediately, press the cooked adhirasam with the bottom side of a bowl, to remove excess oil and to flatten it. You can press it between two ladles over the stove itself but this method is safer or you can also use a adhirasam kattai for this.

19. Once the adhirasam cools down completely, store in a container, one next to the other to avoid them from sticking together.

20. The Adhirasam stays well for a fortnight at room temperature itself.

How to repair Adhirasam dough:

After you slip in the pea sized ball, it should gently rise to the top. It should retain its shape and not separate. If it does, then:

1. Add 1 to 2 tsp of wheat flour for every cup of rice used, mix well and knead for few and then go ahead. You will get it perfectly.

2. After resting, if the dough is too hard, add 1 to 2 tbsp warm milk and knead well. The body heat will soften the jaggery and make the dough malleable.

3. If the dough is still loose, transfer to a heavy, thick bottomed pan and cook over low flame for 5-7 mins and the dough will thicken. Do not cook over high flame, else the dough will burn and stick to the pan.

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