Thursday, June 4, 2009

Athirasam (with store bought rice flour)

Athirasam can be classified as an Indian version of doughnut but made with rice flour and jaggery.
Please see my traditional athirasam recipe too. It will give best results always, if we can make the flour using our mixie.

Tradition:
Athirasam is a common sweet made in TamilNadu. I have seen people frying these doughnuts for all the festivals they celebrate. In India, the traditional marriages are very expensive, that too a lot from the bride's side. It is a custom to give a lot of sweets and snacks like ladoo , athirasam , halwa, mixture, murukku, fruits etc to the bridegroom's house along with the jewels, money and ofcourse the bride too:).The snacks and sweets (that the bride brought) would be distributed by the mother inlaw to her friends and neighbors as 'maruveettu palagaram' that means snacks from bride's side. The sweets are prepared in certain numbers like 100 or 500 or more depending on the inlaws' request. Our athirasams also find a solid place among the gifts. Even now in villages, athirasam is a must to accompany a bride while entering the groom's house as one of the various gifts she bring.
Hope now you understand the importance of this humble sweet:)

My version:
The original athirasam recipe, calls for powdering the soaked rice in a rice-mill.
I can't find a mill here. So I altered the original recipe to suit the availability.
This athirasam recipe is my very own creation and I tried my best to get a typical Indian athirasam.
Actually if you can powder the wet rice or searching for an authentic athirasam then click here to see how Kribha has done it.

Athirasam


Ingredients:
white Rice flour(very fine) (store bought) - 2 cups
Jaggery (crushed) - 2 cups
sugar - 1/4 cup
poppy seed (kasa kasa) - 2 tsp
sesame seed - 1 tbsp
cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
dry ginger powder - 1/2 tsp
milk - as required (say 1/4 cup)

Method:
Measure and put the flour into a wide mixing bowl.
Mix cardamom powder, sesame, poppy seed, dry ginger powder and keep adide.
Now we are going to fake our store bought flour to get that home made wet flour.
So sprinkle very little cold water (1/2 cup exactly) to moisten the flour.
Let it rest for an hour.

The athirasam flour (moistened to get the real texture).


Measure and put the jaggery + sugar on a vessel along with 1/4cup water and heat it in medium flame.
Check the consistency of the syrup to get a one string consistency.
(One string consistency: While stirring the syrup with a spoon, take the spoon above the vessel and let the syrup flow down to the vessel. If it forms one string like flow, then it is called one string consistency and if it forms two distinct strings then it is called two string consistency, which is of course a thick syrup).

Don't go for uruttu patham (update 2014): if it became soft ball or uruttu patham, then add 1/4 cup water and heat and bring back. {Soft ball consistency. (Soft ball consistency - uruttu patham : If we drop 1/2 a tsp of jaggery solution in cold water, it should not dissolve. We should be able to roll that into a soft ball). (or do this step using a candy thermometer - candy stage temp).}


Take care not to burn the syrup. Because making the perfect syrup is the only secret behind good athirasam.
Then pour the hot syrup over the flour and mix well so that the flour gets cooked a bit in that heat.
It should come to a sticky dough.
Add 3 tbsp milk to this and knead again. This gives soft athirasam. (updated 2014)
Now we can place the dough in a cling wrap and protect it airtight for a day  or upto 3 days .
Next day heat 300 ml vegetable oil in a wok.
Make adhirasams like very flat vadais (They will swell while frying) and deep fry in medium heat.
(I pierced a small hole in the center to facilitate the perfect cooking. But some people won't pierce it. Both are correct. In Southern Tamil nadu , we make a hole , whereas in Chennai they won't)
Take out when it becomes deep red in color.
Drain oil in a paper towel and let them cool.
Store them in airtight containers for a week.

Makes 25 - 30 athirasams depending upon the size.
The athirasam will become perfectly soft after 2- 3 hours.

Note :
Original recipe - rice jaggery proportion:
If we take 1 kg rice then use 3/4 kg jaggery + 3 tbsp white sugar.
syrup consistency : 2 string , but if dropped in a cup of water , then we should be able to roll it into soft balls.

Featured in Foodista:

Adhirasam

36 comments:

FoodShoutOut said...

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Finla said...

I have neve rhad this , it looks really yummy sweet.

Chitra said...

Nice , useful post for me..have bookmarked it viki:)thanku so much dear!!

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Thats looking so perfect outcome..really u made me tempted and it reminds diwali festival missing my home..

eshoboshoaahare.blogspot.in said...

This is the new recipe from my side...lovely dish...thanks for sharing...

Pooja said...

Wow the athirasam looks so tempting! Bookmarked!
And Vicky do check when u get time if you have received my second entry for your event.

Indian Khana said...

I love and love and love this....so yum...our neighbor use to share with us..so yum ..looks perfect..bookmarked it

Gita Jaishankar said...

Maruveetu palagaram..I am hearing about it after a long time. Athirasam looks so delicious dear...I want to grab of of them right now :)

Priyameena said...

vittulae viseyasama....Athirasam ellam pottu kaluringae..Looks really gorgeous

Priya Suresh said...

Yum Yumm!!!! i love athirasam, thats a great way to make out the traditional sweets with store bought flours Viki...Very useful for ppls like me!

Vrinda said...

This is new to me,sounds delicious..thanx for sharing,will try sometime..

Parita said...

This sweet is new to me but sure looks delicious

foodcreate said...

This is a hearty anf flavorsome great for any type of party love them.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipe:)

Thanks you for give me such great comment:)

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Mangala Bhat said...

it looks really ...yummy :)

ARUNA said...

this looks so yummy Viki! New to me!

Unknown said...

First time here..You have a wonderful blog..some gr8 recipes to share..good work..Athirasam looks very delicious.

Varsha Vipins said...

Its so cute Viki..very familiar shape tho I haven ever had it..

Sweta (My Indian Dietitian) said...

What tasty looking Indian doughnuts!!

kittymatti said...

wow! It has turned out really well! I have to make them sometime!

Unknown said...

Athirasam ummmmmm yummy my favorite sweet looks delicious and Thank you so much for the support in my blog dear.I complained there in blogger help and they replayed too let us what happens.Thanks once again.

Lena Jayadev said...

this is my all time favorite.. :)
snaps are just superb... :)

Hari Chandana P said...

You have great blog..it looks really yummy and wonderful clicks :)

FH said...

Thanks Viki. Love this sweet, it's similar to what we Kajjaya in Karnataka. Yummy!

Yeah, I didn't want to leave young kids here while I enjoy in India, so kept on going for almost 18yrs even though I needed a break but glad I held on until kids grew up. They did well here, so I could enjoy India more even though I didn't recognize most of Bangalore and it was a big shock to me when I landed there!! :D

Have fun, see you in Sept.

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Wow - what a yum recipe. We have a similiar one with rice...

Malar Gandhi said...

Wow, you have done a great job buddy. Hard work, to make athirasam here, love the shape, color and glossiness. Sesame touch is nice finish!!! Should I shop for rice flour now??!!

Suparna said...

hi viki
Love these, it's very similar to kajjaya a sweet made in karnataka :) I love it.

Ammu said...

Looks delicious. U r really g8. U made it very easily.

Vibaas said...

love athirasam, never tried it though. lazy me. looks yummy!

Unknown said...

Great that u made it fro scratch! My fav sweet!

Sanghi said...

Oooo my favourite athirasam, my mother-in-law bought it now.. Have in stock, am munching every 1hour..!Urs looks perfect:)

Pooja said...

your athirasam looks PERFECT ...

Saraswathy Balakrishnan said...

hey that's my favorite sweet..wanted to try out for last yr's Deepavali..never get rite..hope if i'm nearby so that i can have a few.:)

Vikis Kitchen said...

Thank u friends. Good that u all like the athirasam.
Saras: Come home dear. i will make a ton for u.

gtyuk said...

adhirassam reminds me of my grandma; she used to do these along with the other sweets for xmas for us and also for distributing to others. hum, nice happy days!!!!

she used to do without the hole in the middle, thank you for the recipe;

Unknown said...

Thank you very much for sharing this recipe with store bought flour. The adhirasams looks yum! I love them thick with the hole in the middle. That reminds my childhood days.My dad used to get me this whenever he sees this.
Going to make this for this Diwali.
Thanks

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I was looking for one with store bought flour.Your recipe is the only one.I thought of faking home made flour. But thought thats risky. Now i can do it with confident.

I love adhirsam (thick with hole in the middle). It reminds my childhood days.
Going to make it right away :-)

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