Adhirsam ( using Jaggery )

Adhirsam ( Jaggery version )

Adhirsam is a very famous jaggery based south Indian sweet which is considered as ‘must do’ sweet especially for Marriage Ceremony , Diwali , etc.

If we follow some tricks and tips perfectly,  surely we’ll get perfect adhirsam.  Let’s see the procedure along with loads of tips.

Rice ( Maavu arisi / Patni chawal ) –  1 cup

Jaggery  :  1 cup ( coarsely powdered )

Water : 1/3 cup

Green Cardamom :  4 

Dry ginger powder :  2 pinches

Melted ghee :  1 tsp and some more for greasing.

Yield :  12 pieces.  

Soak rice for 4 hrs.

Drain water and spread on a kitchen towel.  Let it dry for half an hour.  Avoid drying more than half an hour.

Meanwhile powder jaggery coarsely and let it soak in 1/3 cup of water. 

After half an hour,  Rice will still have some amount of wetness .    ( using dry hands pick a fistful of rice .  It should partially stick to your hands but your palm should not get wet….  This is the perfect consistency )

Using mixer grinder, grind the rice as a fine powder as much as possible.  Can grind rice in batches.  

Sieve the flour to get fine and smooth rice flour.  We can add the left over coarse rice flour while grinding for next batch.  

Keep the prepared rice flour in a vessel .  Mix well with Cardamom powder , dry ginger powder and a tsp of ghee. 

Keep it closed using paper or cloth to retain its wetness. ( Do not use steel plate to cover the vessel )

Generally we should start preparing adhirsam immediately .  ( That is .., we can’t prepare rice flour well in advance as it may lose its wetness )

Now prepare for jaggery syrup.   Boil the jaggery with water  till jaggery completely dissolves.  Strain to remove stones or dust particles. 

Again boil jaggery till it reaches to soft ball consistency.  Keep stirring frequently in between.

Keep a cup filled with a ladle of water. When you drop few drops of jaggery syrup in this water , the syrup will not dissolve but when you gather it , you could feel like soft ball . 

Remove from flame and pour the hot syrup over the  rice flour and mix it using ladle without any lumps. 

Rice flour absorbs syrup and become a thick batter.

Close with a lid.  Give standing time and keep it covered for 7 to 8 hrs or overnight.  The more it matures the more it tastes great.

Next day we can pat and deep fry.

Grease Plantain leaf or plastic cover with melted ghee ( room temperature ).

Heat the oil to medium heat and keep the flame in low to medium throughout the frying process . 
Pinch out a very small portion of dough  and drop in oil, it should not dissolve in oil and also it should not raise immediately  ( just to make sure the dough and temperature of oil is perfect ). 

If that small ball dissolve in oil while frying, try adding little bit of wheat flour in the rice flour.

Divide the dough into equal portion.

Pat the dough into small disks .  Can use ghee greased hands to pat .  Make sure to have uniform thickness. 

If you are making adhirsam for the first time, Pat and start frying adhirsam, only one at a time.  Make sure not to pat too thin or too thick.

Though we are going to fry only one adhirsam at a time, it’s better to have sufficient oil otherwise adhirsam will stick to the bottom of the pan.

If you are confident, you can fry 3 to 4 adhirsam at a time .

Frying will not take more time so keep watching.

Gently drop the patted adhirsam in the medium heat oil and when it starts fluffing , gently flip to other side and fry .  The colour will change slightly and immediately remove from oil .

After removing from oil, using one more ladle , very gently press to remove excess oil .  

Tightly squeezed adhirsam will become hard.

Keep the fried adhirsam in a wide plate. 

Keep frying all the adhirsam but Don’t stack one over the other .   

Actually even after removing from oil, the cooking process will continue with the redemption of the heat exist in the adhirsam.  

Let it cools down completely before tasting it.

Crispy tasty adhirsam is ready to serve.

But it becomes very soft and even more tasty if we eat it next day so if time permits cook adhirsam and eat it next day .

Enjoy delicious Adhirsam with family and friends.

Note :  1 cup of rice may give 2 cups of flour approximately .  

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