Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Ariselu | Adhirasam | Kajjaya | Athirasa Recipe - Diwali Sweets Recipes 2012

This is the 400th post in my blog and to mark the milestone, I am posting a sweet recipe.

'Ariselu', is a very traditional and common sweet in South India and is known by various names like 'Ariselu' in Andhra, 'Kajjaya' in Kannada and 'Adhirasam' in Tamil.If it is deep fried in ghee it is called 'Nethi Ariselu'.This sweet is distributed in many auspicious functions and even during weddings.This is again one of my favorite sweets, which I never miss to get back whenever I visit Bangalore.As I  mentioned in my earlier Manugupoolu post, we prepared this sweet along with the other goodies during my last visit.I just enjoyed this time while making all those sweets and savories as it really refreshed those child hood memories.
Mom used to make this a lot when we were kids and my task used to be to deep fry them.I would say this is not a very easy recipe to attempt if you are new to cooking,but you can definitely give it a try .I have tried to mention all the pointers in notes so that you don't miss the minute details and I also added step wise photos for easy understanding.Also we need a freshly hand pounded wet rice flour to make Ariselu,an ordinary rice flour does not help. Traditionally the rice is to be hand pounded to make them but I have mentioned a few easy options to make the rice flour at home. Please read the notes and recipe carefully for more detailed information before you proceed to prepare this.
Ariselu | Kajjaya | Adhirasam Recipe:
Shelf life:upto 15 days

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups(1/2 kg) Rice
1 1/2 cup(300 gms) grated Jagegry
1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
1/3 cup white Sesame seeds
2 tbsp Ghee
Oil,for deep frying
Method:

to make rice flour for Ariselu: 

  • Soak rice in water for 2 hours.My mom uses a slight red colored variety of rice for this,she says it tastes the best but you can use regular white rice variety too. 
  • option-1:Drain the water through a colander.Dry under the shade by spreading on a clean dry cloth.Once it is three-fourth dried(it should not dry completely),you need to send it to mill to get it powdered.Sieve it well
  • option-2:Drain the water through a colander and leave it for 10-15 minutes.Grind half the portion to a powder in the mixie and do the same with the remaining half.Sieve it well.
  • option-3:Drain the water through a colander.Immediately pound it using the typical stone grinder using the pestle,this is the most traditional method.Sieve it well.
  • I followed the option-2  as it is very convenient to make the quantity for a small family.
to make Ariselu:
  • Grate jaggery and keep it aside.
  • Take a heavy bottomed thick kadai and add grated jaggery and 1/4 cup of water and let it melt completely.Strain through a fine strainer to remove the mud and dirt from it.
  • Now pour it back to the cleaned kadai and boil the jaggery syrup until it reaches the SOFT BALL consistency.In order to test the consistency of soft ball - put little syrup in cold water,when you roll it with fingers you should be able to make a ball out of the syrup.This means a correct soft ball consistency which is very important to get in this recipe.
  • Once you get the soft ball consistency remove the kadai and keep it on a firm surface.
  • Add cardamom powder to it and mix well.
  • Sprinkle rice flour(prepared above) quickly little by little and stir so that it does not form lumps. Keep adding the flour until the syrup holds.You need to stop adding the flour once all the syrup is absorbed and forms like Soft Chapati dough consistency.It should not become harder than that.
  • Now take another vessel and slightly grease it and transfer the mixture to it and pat it nicely with the greased hands all over and pour the remaining ghee on top of it.
  • Let the mixture sit for a while,you can keep it for 2 hrs or even up to a day before preparing ariselu.
  • When you prepare ariselu,check the consitency if you think it has become very hard.You can add a couple of tbsp of milk to the mixture and can be kneaded to a soft dough.When you make balls you should not see cracks in the edges and it shoudl be soft which means a correct dough consistency.
  • Meanwhile heat oil in a kadai to deep fry the ariselu.
  • Take a small lemon sized ball and pat it on a greased plastic sheet or banana leaf to a 3" diameter round discs.
  • Sprinkle little sesame seeds on top of it and press well.You can even sprinkle sesame seeds on both the sides or you can even add in the dough itself.
  • Deep fry the ariselu one by one over low-medium flame until they turn brown in color.They will slightly puff up like puri.Few sesame seeds float up in the oil but it is fine,you can remove them with the slotted spoon later.
  • Remove it with a slotted spoon and place it on a thick flat colander.Place the colander on a clean and dry vessel.Now press using a flat wooden press over the aiselu,this will remove the extra oil from it and make them look flat and even.
  • Repeat the same process with all the dough and press them nicely to remove the extra oil. 
  • Arrange on a flat plate side by side.This will make sure that they wont stick to each other.
  • Once they come to room temperature store them in a container.My mom used to place few sticks at the bottom of the container and arrange the ariselu on top of it.This will make sure that all the extra oil would drain to the bottom.
 Notes:
  1. Ariselu would be crisp immediately after frying.They turn softer by next day.We actually love the crispier ones and will finish half of them on the same day.
  2. Ariselu would be slightly oily when compared to any other sweets.If you drain them on the kitchen napkin to remove excess oil they turn out dry and does not taste that good.
  3. The consistency of jaggery syrup to reach the soft ball is very important in this recipe.If you mess up with it- you will even mess up your end product-ariselu.If the syrup is taken before the soft ball consistency.ariselu will break while frying them and if the syrup reaches more than the soft ball consistency,ariselu will become hard.So be careful while doing it.
  4. The taste of Ariselu also depends on the quality of jaggery.The dark colored jaggery and even the soft ones gives the best results.
  5. You can keep the ariselu dough for upto a week or for months when refrigerated and make ariselu fresh when ever you want.Make sure you soaked it nicely with ghee on top of it. 
  6. Sesame seeds can be added into the dough but we always add over that which gives a nice look to ariselu.
  7. My mom uses a slight red colored variety of rice for this,she says it tastes the best but you can use regular white rice variety too.
  8. You can even deep fry them in ghee which is a special recipe in Andhra called Nethi Ariselu.

36 comments:

  1. Yummy Adhirasam! I love the addition of sesame seeds
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  2. Love adhirasam. however we donot add sesame seeds... will try next time

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  3. Delicious sweet...Had this from my friends house..never had it with sesame seeds..Lovely clicks..

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  4. wow very tempting Prathy,perfect Adhirasam...those sesame seeds rocks:)

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  5. delicious attempt and heart wishes for your 400th post....perfect diwali treat...

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  6. looks really delicious..love the sesame seeds on it..have seen Maharashtrians add khus khus on the top..

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  7. Our family fav. looks very nice. will try adding sesame seeds this time :)

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  8. Just now crossed this adhirasam at Raji's place and here you are with an another sesame seeds loaded adhirasam, you guys are killing me.

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  9. Congrats on your 400th posts dear ..wish you many more milestone ahead.

    I love adhirasam ....and your looks just too perfect ...love the sesame topping...and ofcourse great detail post.

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  10. Congrats on ur 400th post, Adirasam is totally tempting and beautifully explained too

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  11. Congrats on ur 400th post....OMG!!! Looks soooo....good!!!

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  12. love such traditional recipes. so well made.

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  13. Congrats on your 400 th post,perfect way to celebrate..yummy sweet

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  14. I am huge fan of these....one of my favorite ones....I love the soft ones not the crunchy ones....Never dared to try this in my kitchen....pictorial is helpful....now waiting for my parcel to arrive soon....hehehehe....

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  15. So well made Prathibha, they look wonderful. I love ariselu, last had them in February when we went to India for a wedding.

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  16. Congratulations Prathibha on your 400th post...
    Adhirasam looks too good...Very nicely explained..love the clicks

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  17. wow awesome and I know it takes so much hard work, patience and time..very well done and appreciate the clicks...beautiful...

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  18. Congrats on 400th post Prathy!! Kajjaya Looks so delicious

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  19. your blog is awesome and i luv it

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  20. awesoooooooooome...!!!!!!

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  21. LOVE this tutorial. I am a fan of this sweet and constantly buy it when I visit India. Yet to muster up the courage to make them on my own.

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  22. I hope you don't mind me stopping by and saying thanks to you for your posting - it really helped
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  23. Very nicely written recipes - Thanks. really helpful

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  24. hi , i did this for deepwali this year and it was awesome. Thanks so much. :)
    only problem i had was the sesame seeds dint stick for long .else it was awesome

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  25. @rekha..thanks for the feedback..few sesame seeds would not get stuck, but that's fine

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  26. heyyy prathibha,

    I am so weary of trying these at home, coz everybody keeps telling that adhirasam is v tough to prepare. But I really want to prepare it.
    I have a Q for you though. you have mentioned what to do if the dough is hard but what if the dough is very soft? Please let me know.... Thanks...

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  27. hello Prathibha,

    Thanks for the lovely post again... I really want to try this...
    I have a Q though. you have mentioned what to do if the dough is very hard, But what if the dough is very soft?

    Please let me know...

    Thanks,
    Shruthi

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  28. hi..looks delicious,. i tried, but failed.this is my 1st time..
    if the dough breaks down while frying.. what to do..??
    is there any method to use the dough?? please let me know.. thankyou..

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  29. Thanx alot dear for dis wonderful reciep....u give each n every point in detail...i love that...when i was in Andhra i used to eat more ...now i am in Mysore...i miss them...now i will try to do at home...once again thanx...

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  30. My ariselu are totally disintegrating as soon as they hit the oil... I thought I had the soft ball consistency because I could make a soft ball in cold water with the jaggery...is there any way I can repair the damage?

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  31. Hi...I tried this but my ariselu are completely disintegrating as soon as I put them in oil...I thought I had the soft ball consistency because I could make a soft ball of jaggery in cold water... Is there any way I can repair this now?

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  32. Hi, the dough is breaking.. can you pls suggest any ways to get a good kajjaya??

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  33. Hi, the dough is breaking wen I put in oil to fry...how can I repair it

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Hugs,
Prathy