Athirasam - Riceflour Jaggery delicacy ( அதிரசம் )

Athirasam - Riceflour Jaggery delicacy ( அதிரசம் ) 

Ingredients:

Raw Rice flour ( பச்சரிசி மாவு )  : 3 cups
Jaggery (வெல்லம் )  :  3 cups
Powdered Cardamom (ஏலக்காய் பொடி)  :  3 tbsp
Powdered Dry Ginger ( சுக்கு பொடி )  :  2 tbsp
Oil for frying.


Steps:

Soak 3 cups of raw rice for minimum 30 minutes. Drain the water through and sieve and let it dry on a clean white cloth for a few minutes. Turn the rice and spread it well.
Take a few spoons of  the moist rice and pound in a mixer and sieve. Repeat with the whole rice.



                                 

Measure the rice flour. Pound an equal amount of Jaggery. Add 15 to 20 ml of water for every cup of Jaggery. Melt and strain to remove the impurities. Bring back to boil. Boil in a medium to low flame, stirring continuously. Don't let the boiling syrup settle. Mix by stirring, to give uniform heat.
 Lift a little syrup in the ladle and let it flow, if it falls in 2 strings, continue boiling. Once it has reached 3 string consistency switch off the flame.
You can check by placing a drop of syrup in a cup of water. if it forms a firm ball, then it is the correct consistency. The syrup should not dissipate in water.


                                

 To the ground rice flour, add powdered cardamom and dry ginger. Add in the Jaggery syrup turning the flour in clockwise direction. Continue adding and mix evenly.
The batter will be loose but will thicken on cooling . Let it to ferment for minimum 24 hours.

Next day or the following day, knead the batter well. Roll into big lemon size and flatten it on a greased plastic sheet.

Deep fry the flattened sweet flour in a low to medium flame.

Use a flat ladle to press the fried athirasam to remove the excess oil. Place the athirasam between two flat ladle and press.

My Notes:

The word athirasam itslef brings  a drooling mouth. An all time favourite of most people.

This  sweet belongs to traditional sweets category and is made during deepavali and other prayers/nonbu.

At my Paternal Grandmother' house, they used to pound the rice in the stone grinder manually to get the flour.

The more the batter is let to ferment more softer will be the sweet ( upon frying)