Adhirasam
There was a time, when I used to wake up to the
continuous sound of crackers bursting as early as 4 in the morning, to
celebrate the day of lights, waiting to lay my hands on the array of sweets
and savouries that my mother and grandmother had laboured hard, for
over a week to prepare the feast. Big and wide stainless steel plates filled
with Adhirasam, murukku, Thattuvadai, Rava laddu, Ribbon pakoda,
Coconut burfi, Omapodi, Somas, would be spread across the table and
large stainless steel dabbas filled with these sweets and savouries will be
lined against the wall waiting to be distributed to relatives and
neighbours. Inspite of all the fun that is associated with deepavali like new
clothes and crackers, it was the food, especially the variety of sweets and
savouries, that made the day really special and we were always hungry
for the next few days, till we faced the empty containers. That was thirty
years back.
Moving to chennai, the passing years have changed
everything and the long list of sweets and savouries were reduced to just
one or two. For us Deepavali is synonymous to Adhirasam and it has
never been an option. My mother would wait for us to go to sleep before
she starts making adhirasam without disturbance, late in the silent hours
of the night, a habit that still continues with her. She is someone who
loves to make things in large sizes and large quantity. Her adhirasams and
poories will be very large compared to palm sized adhirasams and poories
that I make. Her ulundu kali balls will be as big as an apple, while mine
would never exceed the size of a small lemon. She can never cook
anything in few grams like I do, it has always been in kilos and what is
truly amazing is that I have never seen any of it go waste.
The sudden trend of gifting shop bought sweets made
me abruptly stop making sweets and savouries a few years back. The
sight of boxes and boxes of sweets lying around the house always made
me sick and lose the desire to make sweets of my own. This year I wanted
to make these adhirasams before we were bombarded with gift boxes of
sweets and decided to disappear and appear only after the festival was
over and it worked. I also crossed my limit in making small quantities and
prepared double the amount of adhirasam that I usually make, for the only
reason that I wanted to share with more people than our small family and
as I am typing this, I am happy that its all been devoured without a trace.
It's a bit surprising that I have never come across a person who dislikes
adhirasam!
Making flawless adhirasam is not a rocket science but you
need to follow every single instruction it demands for, if you do not want
to fail. I follow the same rules that has worked for me the first I learnt to
make them fifteen years back. I usually don't measure, just eyeball while
mixing the flour, but here I have given the measured quantity. To the
recipe now;
Ingredients
Jaggery
1k
Raw rice
1 1/2 k
Ghee
2 tbsp
Cardamom
Water
1 cup
Oil
1 litre
Method
Rinse and soak the rice for about 3-4 hours.
Drain the rice completely and spread it on a cloth and leave it to dry in
room temperature for about 30minutes ( not under fan or sun)
The rice will still have the moisture.
Grind the rice in portions in a mixie jar or get it ground in a mill.( I do it in
my mixie jar)
(If the rice is too dry ( depends upon the room temperature) sprinkle a
little water before grinding)
Sieve the rice flour and keep it aside.
Combine the jaggery and water, stir to dissolve on low heat.
Strain the dissolved jaggery and take the jaggery syrup in a heavy
bottomed vessel.
Bring this syrup to a boil. Continue to boil on high heat and check for ball
consistency ( Take a tsp of jaggery syrup and pour in a bowl of water, try
to collect the syrup in your fingers and make a ball and throw against a
plate, if it makes a noise then the right consistency has reached. If the
jaggery syrup dissolves in the water or if it slides between your fingers
then continue to boil more till the right consistency has reached)
You will reach this consistency in 5minutes from the time the syrup starts
to boil, with the measurement given. ( Everytime you check for the
consistency keep the heat down and when done raise the heat, because
by the time you are doing the consistency check, the syrup would have
reached the next stage)
Turn of the heat, immediately add the split cardamoms and the rice flour
and start stirring until everything is mixed well. When the rice flour is
completely mixed well in the hot jaggery syrup, pour the ghee on the
dough, around the edges and do not stir. When it is cool, close and leave it
overnight or for 24 hours before you start making adhirasam. This mixture
can be stored in a refrigerator for a week and used to make adhirasam as
and when necessary.
The next day, grease your fingers with oil, pinch a large lemon sized
dough and place it on a greased plastic sheet and flatten it to a 1/4 inch
thick circular rounds. Slide the circles in medium hot oil and fry on both
sides until golden brown on low - medium heat ( If the adhirasam turns
dark too soon then reduce the heat a little more, which you will know
when making the second or the third adhirasam)
Transfer the fried adhirasams to the ahdirasam press placed in a plate and
after a few seconds press to extract the excess oil and transfer to a plate.
Repeat the same until all the dough is used up.
Note:
Always use good quality rice for tasty adhirasams. I use silky raw rice.
Do not try to store the wet rice flour for later use, it will develop fungus.
Once the flour is ready start making the syrup.
Always use paagu vellum and never the yellow jaggery.
I always use cardamom by slightly splitting it open and throwing it in my
sweets as the flavour remains subtle and never overpowers the taste of
the actual dish.
While removing the fried adhirasams using a perforated ladle( ladle with
holes - jallikarandi), I usually press the adhirasams with another flat ladle
(as shown in the picture) to drain the excess oil into the oil pan itself and
then transfer it to the wooden press. This way oil will not get wasted. But
try this only when you are little experienced because while trying to
change positions in holding the ladle, adhirasam may fall into the hot oil
and might scald you if you are not careful.
Instead of the wooded adhirasam press you can use any flat bottomed
vessel to press and extract the oil.
First timers try using a small quantity till you learn the nuances.
what can happen ifthe syrup consistency went wrong If you have added the flour before the soft ball consistency stage, the
adhirasam will split and dissolve in the oil while frying
If you have added the flour in a hard ball consistency stage the fried
adhirasams will be slightly hard and crisp.
But if the consistency is right and the flour added is excess then the
adhirasam will taste less sweet.
If you have missed the soft ball consistency and the syrup is very thick
then add a little water and boil again until you attain the right consistency.
(This suggestion is only before adding the flour and not after)
