Recipe Ariselu

7/25/2019 Recipe Ariselu

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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 sweetsand savouries that my mother and grandmother had laboured hard, for

over a week to prepare the feast. Big and wide stainless steel plates lled

with Adhirasam, murukku, Thattuvadai, ava laddu, ibbon pakoda,

!oconut bur, "mapodi, #omas, would be spread across the table and

large stainless steel dabbas lled 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 ne$t few days, till we faced the empty containers. That was thirty

years back.

%oving to chennai, the passing years have changed

everything and the long list of sweets and savouries were reduced to &ustone or two. 'or us (eepavali is synonymous to Adhirasam and it has

never been an option. %y 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. #he is someone who

loves to make things in large si)es and large *uantity. +er adhirasams and

poories will be very large compared to palm si)ed adhirasams and poories

that I make. +er ulundu kali balls will be as big as an apple, while mine

would never e$ceed the si)e of a small lemon. #he can never cook


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anything in few grams like I do, it has always been in kilos and what is

truly ama)ing 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 bo$es and bo$es 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 bo$es 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 *uantities 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.

Its a bit surprising that I have never come across a person who dislikes

adhirasam-

%aking awless 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 rst I learnt to

make them fteen years back. I usually dont measure, &ust eyeball while

mi$ing the our, but here I have given the measured *uantity. To the

recipe now/Ingredients

0aggery 1 k

aw rice 1 123 k

hee 3 tbsp

!ardamom 5

6ater 1 cup

"il 1 litre


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Method

inse and soak the rice for about 784 hours.

(rain the rice completely and spread it on a cloth and leave it to dry in

room temperature for about 79minutes : not under fan or sun;

The rice will still have the moisture.

rind the rice in portions in a mi$ie &ar or get it ground in a mill.: I do it in

my mi$ie &ar;

:If the rice is too dry : depends upon the room temperature; sprinkle a

little water before grinding;

#ieve the rice our and keep it aside.

!ombine the &aggery and water, stir to dissolve on low heat.

#train the dissolved &aggery and take the &aggery syrup in a heavy

bottomed vessel.

Bring this syrup to a boil. !ontinue to boil on high heat and check for ball

consistency : Take a tsp of &aggery syrup and pour in a bowl of water, try

to collect the syrup in your ngers and make a ball and throw against a

plate, if it makes a noise then the right consistency has reached. If the

&aggery syrup dissolves in the water or if it slides between your ngers

then continue to boil more till the right consistency has reached;

verytime you check for the


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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 ne$t stage;

Turn of the heat, immediately add the split cardamoms and the rice our

and start stirring until everything is mi$ed well. 6hen the rice our is

completely mi$ed well in the hot &aggery syrup, pour the ghee on the

dough, around the edges and do not stir. 6hen it is cool, close and leave it

overnight or for 34 hours before you start making adhirasam. This mi$ture

can be stored in a refrigerator for a week and used to make adhirasam as

and when necessary.

The ne$t day, grease your ngers with oil, pinch a large lemon si)ed

dough and place it on a greased plastic sheet and atten it to a 124 inchthick circular rounds. #lide the circles in medium hot oil and fry on both

sides until golden brown on low 8 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 e$tract the e$cess oil and transfer to a plate.

epeat the same until all the dough is used up.

Note?

Always use good *uality rice for tasty adhirasams. I use silky raw rice.

(o not try to store the wet rice our for later use, it will develop fungus.

"nce the our is ready start making the syrup.

Always use paagu vellum and never the yellow &aggery.

I always use cardamom by slightly splitting it open and throwing it in my

sweets as the avour remains subtle and never overpowers the taste of

the actual dish.


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6hile removing the fried adhirasams using a perforated ladle: ladle with

holes 8 &allikarandi;, I usually press the adhirasams with another at ladle

:as shown in the picture; to drain the e$cess 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 e$perienced 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 at bottomed

vessel to press and e$tract the oil.

'irst timers try using a small *uantity till you learn the nuances.

what can happen ifthe syrup consistency went wrong 8

If you have added the our before the soft ball consistency stage, the

adhirasam will split and dissolve in the oil while frying

If you have added the our in a hard ball consistency stage the fried

adhirasams will be slightly hard and crisp.

But if the consistency is right and the our added is e$cess 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 our and not after;

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Recipe Ariselu