Athirasam is a sweet fried snack which is extremely popular in the Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Marathi cuisines. The ingredients used in this recipe are basic and can be easily found in our kitchen. Here is how you can make sweet athirasams at home.
Ingredients
1 cup raw rice
¾ cup shaved jaggery
1/3 cup water
¼ tsp cardamom powder
½ tsp black/white sesame seeds
¼ tsp dried ginger powder
Oil to fry
Preparation
Wash the raw rice and soak them for at least 2 hours
Drain the soaked raw rice and spread on a piece of clean cloth
After 10 minutes, grind it into smooth, fine paste that is very soft to touch
Melt the jaggery with some water
Now prepare jaggery syrup by heating up the melted jaggery
The jaggery syrup has the right consistency when a bit of the syrup is dropped into water, it doesn't dissolve and holds shape
Into the jaggery syrup add cardamom powder
Mix well and take off the heat
Into the rice flour add the sesame seeds and dried ginger powder
Mix well
Make a well in the middle and pour in the jaggery syrup gradually
Mix it into a smooth batter that is neither too thick nor too runny
The amount of jaggery syrup that is added into the flour should be adjusted to consistency of the batter
The athirasam be hard if too much jaggery syrup is added
This batter should be kept aside for at least 2 days for fermentation. However, do not store it in the fridge
On the third day, give the batter a good mix
Make lemon sized balls from the batter and press them between your palms
Some may even put holes in the middle as in a doughnut
Heat oil in a pan and set the flame on medium
Add each athirasam into the hot oil
The athirasam bulges up immediately and its lower part instantly becomes golden in colour
The athirasam should be flipped as soon as it rises up
Take out the fried athirasam from the hot oil by holding it with two spoons
Place the athirasams on paper towel to drain the excess oil
When the athirasam begins to cool down, stack them up and store in air tight containers
This dish becomes tastier and softer on the next day.
