Athirasam using KitchenAid grain mill attachment (cup measurement)

Athirasam is an Indian sweet that tastes something like ginger bread cookies fried in oil (more sweeter than the cookies). This definition is not necessary for any South Indian, but thought it may help others to understand the taste.

 In this athirasam recipe , I have used kitchenAid grain mill attachment to powder the rice. The grain mill attachment has various settings from finest to coarse  that can be used to prepare wheat flour or any kind of flours and cracked wheat like stuff.  Many stores offer cash back deals and offers on KitchenAid. I used Kohl's cash back offers and a 30% discount coupon.  I am sure KitchenAid is a boon for all who love to cook from scratch.

Even though, athirasam is quite a simple snack with only a few ingredients, it needs lot of concentration while preparing the dough. For the first try in my grainmill attachment , I wanted a solid recipe with cup measurements on small scale .   I came across this Athirasam Video by Tamil virunthu and it has very good tips.  Thanks to her detailed video I could improvise mine.   My traditional athirasam recipe calls for kg measurements while this video has shown it in cup measures.  This time I bought an authentic ponni pacharisi (Lakshmi brand). Earlier I was using the basmati rice (which is less expensive here), and I found that the pacharisi is better for all kinds of palagarams :) (reinvented the wheel 😀 ).

This is one of my most favorite snacks and my memories with athirasam would revolve around my  Deepavalis. Then after marriage, I too started making it by myself in Chennai.  We had a rice mill near our house and so these kind of snacks were easy for me then. There Sandhya amma and her family and friends (every household in neighborhood) would bring me athirasam and murukku during Deepavali.  That's a traditional snack there in Chennai. Should I say, my hubby dear loves these festival days to munch these goodies  🤗  ! Also he loves traditional sweets better than my "experimental recipes " .
So here is a successful recipe for athirasam using cup measures. Try this and enjoy !

Athirasam 

It should be soft inside but cooked well

Soaking the rice for 2 - 3 hours

Bought this towel on sale for 75 cents from walmart ....just for drying the rice 😏

Air dried rice

 KitchenAid with grain mill attachment 😄

Grain mill for Indian recipes too !

Powdered rice

(Or) Use an Indian mixer. Powder the cardamom and dry ginger first.

Put the dried rice in mixie

Powder it to a fine stage. Add sesame, powdered cardamom, poppy and keep ready.

This is the jaggery I used. It is called as soft jaggery and it tastes good.

Melt the jaggery in water till it gets rolling consistency (sticky stage)

Mix with powdered rice and it should not be like a chapati dough, it should be little runny.

Let cool, keep it in a container for 3 days.

On a plastic sheet and flatten the dough

fry it in oil

Try to remove as much oil as possible by pressing it with paper towels

Athirasam with hole 

Chennai style 'hole-less' athirasam

Ingredients:
raw Rice - 1 1/4 cup (pacharisi)
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
poppy seed (kasakasa) - 1/2 tsp
jaggery - 3/4 cup
water - 3/4 cup
ghee - 1 tbsp
sesame - 1 tsp
dry ginger powder (sukku) - 1/4 tsp
oil - to deep fry (in small batches)

Method:
Soak rice for 2-3 hours.
(One time I used Everest brand daily Basmati rice as I didn't buy real raw rice / pacharisi. Then I used Lakshmi brand Ponni pacharisi and found that this one is the best for Tamil recipes)
Drain water and spread over clean cloth / plastic sheet for 1 hour under fan.
In a mixie grind to fine powder along with cardamom. Though we should try for a fine powder, I could get a medium fine (little coarse) powder only. If needed use a sieve and sort out coarse rice and grind again.
Bring water to boil. Dissolve jaggery. (Filter and remove any dust or sand, if needed).
(I bought 'Taste of India - soft jaggery of Gujarat'. It is almost same as paahu vellam of Tamilnadu).
Boil the jaggery solution till it gets thicker (just before uruttu patham / soft rollable stage).
Take the jaggery out of heat immediately and mix with ghee, rice powder, sesame, ginger powder.
Mix well. (see photo for the consistency of dough. It should not be hard. It should be pourable but not runny).
Keep this dough in an airtight container. for 3 days in room temperature.

Frying:
Smudge a drop of oil on a plastic sheet (I used a small ziplock cover).
Divide the athirasam mavu (dough) into 10 - 12 of  amla size balls.
Place one ball over the plastic sheet. Press with hand to a flat (1/4 inch thickness) disc.
Just like this prepare 5 to 6 athirasam as per need or do the whole batch.

Heat corn oil / sesame oil / ghee (?) to medium heat (not smoking hot).
Fry a pinch and test , if it rises suddenly.

Put the flattened dough into hot oil. It will start rising like tiny poori. Flip within 10 seconds. Let it cook both sides for less than 35 seconds. Take out and press carefully between two spatula to remove excess oil. Keep it over paper towel and start frying the next one.

Let cool and store in airtight container or consume immediately :)

Serving suggestion:
Let the athirasam cool a little bit before serving .
The dough stays good at room temperature for up to a week.
Counting : Makes 12 medium size athirasam

Note:
KitchenAid grain mill attachment can be used to powder rice, wheat and any cereals.
We should not use the grains with more moisture.
I have air dried the rice (under fan) for nearly 3 hours before grinding it to a powder.
I have set it in setting 3 (setting 1 is for finest).

Athirasam

I made this adhirasam (Indian donuts) for this year Christmas. After posting a version of adirasam using store bought rice flour I wanted to make this traditional adirasam and it came out successfully. Adhirasam is an Indian dessert or snack. It is a very common snack prepared in villages of Tamilnadu. Preparing perfect athirasam depends on the expertise on making the perfect jaggery solution (vella pagu). I have measured everything in gms, using my kitchen scale. As getting a 1/2 kg jaggery pack is easier,I add sugar and make up the other ingredients based on that (otherwise rice and jaggery should be of equal weight). I used the Adora basmati rice we get here. I got my adhirasam batter a little runny, so I added maida (AP flour) till it became little thick. If we are using Indian raw rice (pacharisi) , then there won't be any need to add maida flour. Here is my recipe for the 'Tamilnadu sweet adhirasam'.
Recipe source: I have seen my mom making this along with a maid during festivals.  Now I did this with my Mother-in law's tips on making the perfect adhirasam batter. Adding maida is her tips and it works out perfectly for me. 

Awaiting Baby Jesus....Athirasam for Holy Family.

Athirasam batter.

Ingredients:
Raw rice - 600 gm
jaggery - 500 gm
water - 3/4 cup
white sugar - 3 tbsp
dry ginger powder - 1 tbsp
sesame seeds - 2 tbsp
cardamom powder - 1 tsp
poppy seed (kasakasa) - 1 tbsp
All purpose flour - (if needed)
oil to deep fry
ghee - few tsp

Method:
Rinse the rice. Soak the rice in water for 1 hour.   Drain water completely and spread it on a clean dry paper towel or cloth.  Let it dry for 2 hours. Powder the rice in mixie (little by little) to a very fine stage. Sieve if needed.

In the meantime prepare the jaggery solution. Crush the jaggery into small pieces. Put sugar and jaggery in a vessel, add 3/4 cup water and heat till the jaggery dissolves. Continue heating till we see bubbles and one string consistency. (the jaggery solution when poured from the spatula should fall like a single line at the end.).  Check: Take water in a small cup and pour this jaggery now, it should fall as a drop, but will dissolve soon. we will not be able to roll it into a ball. This is the stage for making soft athirasam. Immediately switch off.

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).}

To the powdered rice, add cardamom powder, sesame, kasakasa, dry ginger powder, jaggery solution. Add the jaggery solution little by little , leaving behind the sediments. Mix well. Add the entire solution if possible (the adirasam should be as sweet as possible) and the batter should be like chapati dough but more sticky, little runny and soft to touch.

Add 3 tbsp milk to this and knead again. This gives soft athirasam. (updated 2014)

 If the dough is more runny like idly batter, add maida flour and give it more thickness. (It is a good idea to prepare a cup of extra rice flour separately to mix with the runny batter). For test run, fry one adirasam immediately and check if tastes / looks good.

Then cover the batter with a cling wrap or clean cloth and let it soak for 3 days. On the third day heat oil in a broad frying pan. Wait till it gets really hot. Reduce to medium flame. Take a plastic sheet, apply some ghee in our hands and on the sheet. Take a small lime size adhirasam batter , flatten it smoothly. Make a small hole in center (for South Tamilnadu adirasam) or just without hole (for Madras Athirasam). Deep fry in low to medium heat. Flip and fry the other side too. Fry the adirasam in small batches and give more time to cook in low heat.

Take out using two spatulas, one to hold the adirasam and another to press and drain oil. Keep in paper towels, let cool and store in airtight containers. It gets softer and tastes good after a few hours.

Adirasam is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as snack with tea / coffee and murukku.
Makes a traditional Indian dessert.

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.

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Adhirasam