Adhirasam facts for kids
Homemade adhirasam
|
|
| Type | Pastry |
|---|---|
| Course | Dessert |
| Region or state | Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Odisha |
| Main ingredients | Rice flour, jaggery |
Adhirasam is a super yummy, traditional Indian sweet! It's a bit like a sweet doughnut or pastry. People in many parts of India, like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Odisha, love to eat it. You might also hear it called kajjaya in Kannada, ariselu in Telugu, anarsa in Marathi, sirsa in Chhattisgarhi, or arisa pitha in Odia.
Adhirasam is often made and shared with family and friends during the big Deepavali festival. It's also a popular offering in temples in places like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Contents
A Sweet History
Adhirasam has been around for a very long time! We know this because old writings from the 1500s mention it. These writings are from the time of Emperor Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara Empire. They say Adhirasam was made with rice flour, jaggery (a type of unrefined sugar), butter, and even pepper.
This sweet treat is also a big part of special events. For example, at the Panchavarnesvar Temple in Nallur, near Kumbakonam, thousands of Adhirasams are made for a yearly festival. Imagine 6,000 Adhirasams and 6,000 vadas all cooked in the temple kitchen in just one day! It's a really important sweet for Tamil people, especially for Deepavali.
How Adhirasam is Made
Making Adhirasam is a bit of an art, and it can take about a week to do it the traditional way!
Getting the Rice Ready
First, special rice is soaked in water. Then, it's dried in the shade until it's about three-quarters dry but still a little bit moist. After that, it's ground into a very fine powder.
Making the Dough
Next, vellam (which is jaggery in Tamil) is melted in water by boiling it. This mixture is cooked until it reaches a special "soft ball" stage. This means if you drop a little bit into cold water, it forms a soft, squishy ball. This sweet jaggery syrup is then mixed with the rice flour. A little bit of powdered cardamom is often added for a lovely smell and taste. All these ingredients are mixed together to make a thick dough.
Fermenting the Dough
The dough is then put into a special earthenware pot. The top of the pot is covered with a thin cloth. The pot is then left in the sunlight for about 3 to 5 days. This step is called fermentation, and it helps the dough get its unique flavor and texture.
Frying the Sweet Treats
Finally, when the dough is ready, small pieces are taken out. These pieces are flattened using your fingers on a banana leaf that has a little oil on it. Then, these flattened dough pieces are carefully placed into hot oil and deep-fried until they turn a beautiful golden brown color. After frying, they are gently pressed with a flat bowl to remove any extra oil. And there you have it – delicious Adhirasam, ready to enjoy!
Images for kids
-
Adhirasam
-
Adhirasam
-
Athirasam of Salem
