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Adhirasam recipe, Deepavali recipes

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adhirasam recipe -step by step

Adhirasam is a traditional Deepavali snack made in Tamil Nadu. Learn how to make adhirasam with quick video and step by step photos.

Adhirasam is my all time favourite. In my childhood, I used to like it made with sugar instead of jaggery. My mom never forgot to make a special batch of adhirasam with sugar specially for me🙂. So I always wanted to try out myself and make a step by step post detailed for keeping it as record and for the readers too. To be honest, for past 4 years, for every diwali, I tried, tried and tried, but some how I made some silly mistakes and flopped. But each time I learnt my mistake. As we don’t make adhirasam other than for diwali, I had to wait for an year every time.
adhirasam-in tamil

It is very easy to make for my mom and MIL, so its all about experience. This time, I tried very carefully and followed my moms instructions. And now I can also confidently make adhirsam every year. This post is sure a record for me. If you are also like me who loves adhirsam and want to make at home, I would recommend to buy jaggery (paagu vellam) that is slightly with red shade rather than yellow. Also raw rice (maavu arisi) from the local shops. But any jaggery and raw rice works for this recipe. Just saying if its available in your living area, then you can make best use of it 🙂

adhirasam recipe -step by step
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4 from 3 votes

Adhirasam

Adhirasam is a traditional Deepavali snack made in Tamil Nadu. Learn how to make adhirasam with quick video and step by step photos.
Course Snack
Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 3 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Resting time 1 day
Servings 20
Cup measurements

Ingredients

  • 1& 1/2 cups Raw rice
  • 1 cup Jaggery
  • 1 tbsp Sesame seeds
  • 2 pinches Dry ginger powder
  • 2 pinches Cardamom powder
  • 1 tbsp Ghee
  • Oil as needed for deep frying

Instructions

  • Wash and soak rice for 3 hours. Drain, spread in a white cotton cloth for 10 mins. Do not let it dry for long time as it will give rubbery adhirasam. Moisture should be there if you touch the rice.
  • Grind it in 2 batches in a mixer to a flour. Wipe down the sides to ensure even powdering.
  • Sieve it. My MIL and mom uses rava jalladai (sieve) for this, so I understand its important for the flour to be slightly on coarse side. While you sieve, keep the flour pressed and covered. That is after you sieve and transfer the flour to a narrow container, press it gently so that it locks the moisture and keep covered always so that flour doesn't  get dried. Meanwhile, powder the jaggery and heat it with water just to immerse the jaggery.
  • Once its completely dissolved, filter it to remove impurities. Again start heating the jaggery syrup.
  • Boil in medium flame always and stir occasionally. Keep checking the syrup consistency by pouring in water kept in a small bowl. At beginning stage, the syrup dissolves as you pour in water, then at next stage, it will lay a fine thread in the water, but gets dissolved when you touch. After this, at one stage, the syrup gets thicker and when you pour in water, then it wont get dissolved and you will be able to gather it with your fingers and form a loose ball that stays in hand. This is called soft ball consistency and this is the stage, you have to put off the fire. Immediately pour it to the flour little by little. Add sesame seeds, cardamom powder and dry ginger powder to the flour.
  • You may need not all the sugar syrup for sure. So be careful after you add 3/4th of the syrup and keep mixing with a ladle or spatula. The syrup should be super hot directly used from stove. Mix well for atleast 3 mins. The dough should be gooey and on sticky side and it should be very very loose (pouring consistency). After some hours, it will get absorbed and get stiff.
  • Keep it overnight (2 days if possible, for better result) at room temperature in an airtight container. You can keep it as such for 2-3 days. If more than that, keep refrigerated. But let it be out overnight atleast for a day. At the time of making, divide into equal sized balls, each of small lemon sized. You can use sesame oil when you roll as the dough will be slightly sticky.
  • Heat oil in kadai and once it is hot, reduce the flame to low. In a ziploc, grease it with a drop of ghee and flatten the dough thick. Carefully drop in oil.
  • Once it rises up, immediately flip it and cook. Once it turns golden brown, drain from oil.
  • You must use another ladle and press it to squeeze out the excess oil as shown, as it may retain some oil in it. Repeat the process for the rest of the dough. Oil should always be in low or medium if needed.
  • N

Video

Notes

  • Too much water to the jaggery will take time to bring to the required consistency, but too very little water make the stages of syrup pass too fast and end up in past stage. This will make adhirsam dissolve in oil. Too much jaggery ratio makes the adhirsam dissolve in oil. 
  • The dough should be very loose when you make adhirsam. If it is stiff, then your adhirsam will become hard and chewy. So you have to add a tblsp of milk and knead the dough well again and try making. This will ensure the adhirsam to be soft.
  • Keep the dough ATLEAST  overnight at room temperature. Do not take our from the fridge and make immediately. Bring to room temperature.
  • The rice while grinding should be moist, retain water, also the sieved flour also should not get dry. Otherwise the adhirsam will get crisp and hard.
  •  Even the syrup consistency is very important. If syrup passes the soft ball consistency, it will get hard or get dissolved in oil. Adding more jaggery to flour also makes it dissolve in the oil.
  • Sieving is not necessary, but make sure it is powdered fine.
  • If you flatten so thin, the adhirsam will turn very crisp. So make it thick.
  • Cook in low flame to make sure it gets cooked evenly and also make sure not to over cook. It makes the adhirsam harder.
  • Flip immediately once the it rises up after you add the adhirsam in oil.
  • Use ghee when flattening each adhirsam.
  • The jaggery syrup will be needed depending upon the quality of rice, some need more, some need less. So for safer side, make more. So the given quantity will be more, so keep that in mind.
  • In case, you adhirsam is chewy or hard, steam it for 3 minutes in idli plate/ steamer. It becomes soft. Just for troubleshooting.
    Will add more tips as I remember or more from my MIL and mom 🙂
  • My MIL brings the syrup to soft ball consistency, put the flame to low and adds the flour and mix, switches off the flame. I add syrup to the floor off fire. 

Adhirasam recipe method:

    1. Wash and soak rice for minimum 3 hours. Drain, spread in a white cotton cloth for 10 mins. Do not let it dry for long time as it will give crispy rubbery adhirasam. Moisture should be there.step 1 Soak,drain,spread
    2. Grind it in 2 batches in a mixer to a flour. step 2 grind to fine flour
    3. Sieve it (optional,if you know your flour is fine, then no need). My MIL and mom uses rava jalladai (sieve) for this, so I understand its important for the flour to be slightly on coarse side. While you sieve, keep the flour pressed and covered. That is after you sieve and transfer the flour to container, press it gently so that it locks the moisture and keep covered always so that flour doesn’t  get dried. Meanwhile, powder the jaggery and heat it with water just to immerse the jaggery.step 3 sieve,jaggery
    4. Once its completely dissolved, filter it to remove impurities. Again start heating the jaggery syrup.step 4 filter,heat
    5. Boil in medium flame always and stir occasionally. Keep checking the syrup consistency by pouring in water kept in a small bowl. At beginning stage, the syrup dissolves as you pour in water, then at next stage, it will lay a fine thread in the water, but gets dissolved when you touch. After this, at one stage, the syrup gets thicker and when you pour in water, then it wont get dissolved and you will be able to take, gather it with your fingers and form a loose ball. This is called soft ball consistency and this is the stage, you have to put off the fire. Immediately pour it to the flour little by little.
    6. Do not let the syrup cool down, it is important for the syrup to be hot so that the rice flour gets cooked as you add for softer adhirasam. My MIL even does the mixing in low flame itself while mom does off the fire. Key is to cook the rice flour a bit for softness. Add sesame seeds, elachi powder and dry ginger powder to the flour.step 5 soft ball
    7. You may need not all the syrup for sure. So be careful after you add 3/4th of the syrup and keep mixing with a ladle or spatula. The dough will be gooey and on sticky side and it will be very very loose (pouring consistency). Don’t worry. After some hours, it will get absorbed and get stiff. It is a must for the dough to be gooey and loose as after some time it gets thick.add to flour,mix
    8. Keep it overnight (2 days if possible, for better result) at room temperature in an airtight container. You can keep it as such for 2-3 days. If more than that, keep refrigerated. But let it be out overnight atleast for a day. At the time of making, divide into equal sized balls, each of small lemon sized. You can use sesame oil when you roll as the dough will be slightly sticky.store,divide into balls
    9. Heat oil in kadai and once it is hot, reduce the flame to low. In a ziploc/ banana leaf piece, grease it with a drop of ghee and flatten the dough thick. Carefully drop in oil.flat,fry
    10. Once it rises up, immediately flip it and cook. Once it turns golden brown, drain from oil.Adhirasam flip,drain
    11. You must use another ladle and press it to squeeze out the excess oil as shown, as it may retain some oil in it. Repeat the process for the rest of the dough. Oil should always be in low or medium if needed.squeeze

You can store the dough for months if keep refrigerated and use it whenever needed. Even fried adhirasams can be in shelf for a week.

1-adhirasam-recipe-step by step

Why adhirasam dissolves in oil/ adhirasam breaks in oil/ adhirasam splits in oil?

Jaggery ratio is more in the dough. At times, this happens if you use too less water and syrup past the stage. My mom in law and mom says ‘paagu murugiduchu’
How to fix this? Add some more homemade rice flour or wheat flour and try again. But this will affect the end result – crispy or harder/ chewier adhirasam.
To use this dough in other ways, make nei appam. Add mashed banana, wheat flour mixed together. Incorporate to the adhirasam dough, keep aside for 30 mins or so and make batter. Pour as nei appam in ghee or paniyaram pan.

Why Adhirasam is crispy, chewy or hard?

If the rice flour gets too dry and not enough moist.
Maavu arisi is very good at retaining moisture and gets cooked in syrup to give soft adhirasam.
While our eating rice, sona masoori or any raw rice that is higher in quality, needs more water content and takes a while to gets cooked (try heating up a bit while mixing the dough in lowest flame, taking care not to let burn the dough)
How to fix this?
This cannot be fixed but the fried adhirasam can be steamed in idli plate for a while just before serving.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Raji

    One of my fav diwali delicacy… but always scared to make it on my own…my MIL makes the dough and sends it to me..and I use it as and when required. You have made these perfectly..maybe I should also dare to make these lovely adhirsams.

    Reply

  7. AISHWARYA

    Such an awesome post I am surely going to try this. I have a doubt, what if the rice powder becomes dry, can we sprinkle some water to the powder to retain the moisture?

    Reply

  15. RAKS KITCHEN

    Aishwarya, Keep it pressed so that the moisture is still there.If it dries, then just proceed making the dough. If the dough is very stiff later, then you can sprinkle milk to make it loose.

    Reply

  16. Priya

    Even i never tried making them, its scares me a lot, after many flops i dont have courage to make some, i love that sugar adhirasam too,my grandma brings me specially for every deepavali,missing her now:(.

    Prefect looking my fav adhirasam Raji,well done.

    Reply

  30. Priya

    Dear Raji,

    The recipe looks awesome. All your recipes are awesome. Your detailed recipes have transformed my life. I cannot thank you enough for your generosity in sharing your recipes. You rock!

    Priya

    Reply

  34. Unknown

    Oh, the scrolling bar of snacks is moving too fast before I can grab some from each picture !! You are so talented !! Love your blog, and tried lots of recipes from here, each one of them a success…!

    Unfortunately, in our house, athirasam is made only for death anniversaries !! So it is absolutely forbidden for me to make it for any festivals..!! Have you ever heard of this in any other family?? What a waste of such a good sweet !!

    Reply

  36. sapna

    Raji one question i have is if one makes it with the ready made rice flour how will we make the flour moist.I always appreciate your idea of making things from scratch.Looking forward to your reply.

    Reply

  37. Sowmia

    Hi ka!
    first of all i wanted to thank you so much for posting such traditional recipes like athirsam . Already I am at an entry level in cooking, but having tried some of your other recipes, whihc has never failed , i confidently tried this one . Thank god and you it came out great at the first time itself ka. To my surprise my MIL loved it very much and appreciated me . Thanks ka. I have taken you as my maanaseega guru ka. I used to tell this to my husband also.:) Thanks again ka keep posting.

    Reply

  38. Janani

    Raks you are a eeal genius Like I always say I am always hooked on to ur site love the scrolling bar in ur site all sweets look yummy. I was planning to do adhirasam had few flops before now got tips form my athai and trying to do it and seeing ur site gives me more confident thank you for the lovely post.

    Reply

  39. Sukanya

    hi raks /raji,

    i made adhirasams for the first time following your recipe and they came out pretty decent. i feared of the the dough disintegrating in oil, but it did hold onto the shape. but the problem is the inside is soft but the outer covering is pretty crisp like murukku. donno what could have gone wrong….i did everything as u hav said…am i missing something in the frying part? the outer cover did break a little here and there while frying. by the way but for your post i wud have never got the gut to try it out. i can eat adhirams like crazy. thank u so much…planning to make another batch before diwali. lemme see if i can get it rgt this time. and you are doing an awesome job here in this blog. keep up the good work. 🙂

    Reply

  40. suja m

    Hi raks

    I came across your blog while checking jeyashree's blog.. wow simply superb.. just looking at your receipes, presentation and especially your clicks makes me very hungry. u do with such an ease. great work. i am planning to make your badushas. hope it comes great like yours. Advance deepavalli wishes. keep up the good work.

    Reply

  41. sapna

    Raji i made adirasam today.The smell of the dough was very tantalizing but to my disappointment this was not come upto my expectation.Maybe too much of jaggery.It was very cripsy as in the case of masala vada but the inside was a bit too gooey.

    Reply

  43. sabina

    Hi raks am back I've posted recipe on my blog and linked you ..do check it out when you find time…thanku for the wonderful recipe instructions my family just loved the adhirasams…

    Reply

  48. RAKS KITCHEN

    Hi sukanya,
    Try making a little bit more thicker and keep the flame always in lowest possible. Flip as soon as it comes up in the oil and do not over cook. Add milk and knead again and try.
    Some times if the flour we using gets dry before we make the dough, it gets crispy. Hope this helps.

    Reply

  50. Devi

    Hi, I tried making the dough just now and I guess my syrup is either too thick or I added too much Flour. Now the dough is like puttu flour. Should I add milk right now, or should I make extra syrup and add it or should I add milk tomorrow before frying in oil. Please reply. Wishing you a very happy Diwali.

    Reply

  53. Nani Mani

    wow!adhirasam..mmmm….looks grt…my mom use to prepare this for diwali.i miss her a lot and her adhirasam too…hereafter i will prepare this on my own
    thanks for this wonderful traditional recipe

    Reply

  54. sherley

    Hi Raji,
    Adhirasam is my hubby's favorite, mine too.. I tried making adhirasam twice b4 reading ur post n it was not up to the mark.. after reading ur recipe I made it for Diwali n it turned out to b perfect.. I was complimented by my hubby n in-laws;-) all d credit goes to u.. ur tips were so useful.. thanks alot n keep d good work.. sorry for my delayed comment.. gonna do my nxt batch 2mrw, dough is ready already.. thanks to u once again.. I hv tried many of ur recipes n it always turns out b wonderful:-)

    Reply

  55. sherley

    Hi Raji,
    Adhirasam is my hubby's favortie sweet, mine too..! I tried making adhirasam twice b4 reading your post n it was not up to the mark.. after reading ur recipe I made it for Diwali n it turned 2 b perfect..! I got compliments from my hubby n in-laws 😉 all d credits goes 2 u.. ur tips were really useful.. thanks u so much.. keep d good work.. sorry for my delayed comments.. I'm gonna do my nxt batch 2mrw, dough is ready already:-)

    Reply

  63. shanmu G

    Hi Raks !!

    I just tried ur recipe…the 1st 3 samples tat I tried turned out to be crisp n the dough was too loose..so I added 2 tblp rice flour n now its jus getting seperated in oil…any tips on how to get it back in shape..please reply !!

    Reply

  64. Raks anand

    Adding rice flour later never works. Making dough before the rice flour looses its moisture is the key in making. I have no solution for adhirasam getting separated in oil. I will consult with my elders at home and get back if at all there is any solution.

    Reply

  66. Vidhya

    I tried out this recipe over the weekend and it came out perfect. The adhirasam came out so soft so please follow every single word from Raks! Thanks for the wonderful step by step recipe.

    Reply

  69. Dev Pratha

    Thanks for wonderful recipes and perfect measurements. I tried Adhirasam,Muruku, Ribbon pakoda and boondhi from your site. It came wonderful . Thank You very much to make me cook wonderful

    Reply

  70. Rohini

    Hi Raks i tried making dough for adhirasam but
    the measurement for syrup which u gave was
    not enough then again i prepared syrup and added..
    I want to know whether it should be fine…

    Reply

  71. Rohini

    Hi Raks i tried making dough for adhirasam but
    the measurement for syrup which u gave was
    not enough then again i prepared syrup and added..
    I want th know whether it should be fine…

    Reply

  73. Sarada Subramaniam

    Hi raks,
    I tried this…what I scared was happened,but it's ok,it turned out crispy and chewy,don't know what happened? One request ..next time when u make athirsam can u pls upload the full video,that will be really helpful to know the right dough consistency and thickness…thank you

    Reply

  76. Praise

    Hi Raks, just preared the dough following your suggestion it is a little bit loose & gooey .. hopefully it would get stiffer …what to do with leftover syrup any suggestions ??? thanks for sharing this receipe.. its one of my favorite sweet.

    Reply

  78. RAJESHTRAJAN

    My wife did this, now the dough too rough and not able to make as a ball and it got too dry and powered again. So we added more Jaggery then put in oil but it was melt in oil and lost its shape. too much tired and we dont know what to do with dough. We started with half KG of rice flour and now it is become 1.5 KG by adding Jaggery and rice flour repeatedly!!!!!!

    Reply

  81. Akshara S

    i tried making adhirasam today .. As soon as i dropped the adhirasam in the oil , it immediately broke in the oil… Can u guide me where did i do the mistake?

    Reply

  88. Raks anand

    You can try adding flour and milk and try again, but first try in small amount, if it works. But I would suggest to make paniyaram with it. Add little water, wheat flour, 1/2 banana.

    Reply

  92. Unknown

    Just now I prepared dough but I did mistake by doubting that I crossed the consistency because it took long time but I can form the syrup but not like round and I tried many times it form and melt . Please suggest me whether I can make with this dough

    Reply

  93. Arthi Kyanam

    I followed your recipe to the T. They turned out a little crisp(hard). A mistake I know of is I did not grind the rice fine …you can call it coarse. But they taste great. Thanks for the recipe. You made a tricky recipe sound easy. Il try again any advice?

    Reply

  94. Arthi Kyanam

    I followed your recipe to the T. They turned out little hard with a few cracks. But they taste good. The only mistake I know of is I did not grind the rice fine …you can call it coarse. Il try again any suggestions…? Thanks for the recipe you made a tricky dish sound easy…

    Reply

  104. Anu

    I made the dough yesterday and let it rest overnight. It was stiff and crumbled when I checked this morning. I am going to add luke warm milk and try frying it tonight, I am little scared..wish me good luck. Will let you know how it comes.

    Reply

  107. Raynukaa Durgam

    Hi, can I store this dough in fridge?? If so, for how many months can I keep it?? Would it affect the taste and texture?? Lastly, If I were to take this dough in flight from India to UK, would it not get spoiled??

    Reply

  108. Anu

    I added 3 spoons of heavy cream + 2 spoons of atta and a pinch of baking soda as advised by a friend. I could able to make a pretty decent adhirasams.

    Reply

  109. Raks anand

    For 1 and half months may be. Coz, my MIL told she will bring me next month 😉
    Sure it gets thickened, but you can keep in room temperature to bring back to its consistency also add little milk. You can sure fly the dough, it wont get spoiled.

    Reply

  113. Raks anand

    You can try adding a tbsp of rice flour, maida. If still it is loose, if you keep adding flour, it wont be in good texture. You can make appam with it by adding wheat flour and making a batter. (sweet paniyaram) You can add a pinch of cooking soda and banana too to make it soft

    Reply

  116. Raks anand

    To get soft adhirasams, soak for long time, say 5 hours. spread in cloth for less time without drying too much. Just 5 mins is enough. After grinding, keep the flour press and covered. Add soft ball consistency syrup until you get gooey runny dough as you see in my video. Lastly give 2 days fermentation time. Cook quickly not for long time. Hope this helps.

    Reply

  117. Khanita Bareera

    Hello i grinded rice not to a fine powder it was granulated suguar type as i mixed jaggery syrup it didnt form a dough ..it become like wet sand type ..what shall i do now?any correction i cn do ..this is the first attempt of mine..plz tel me the solution..

    Reply

  118. Raks anand

    You should grind little more finer, not like granulated sugar. You can try adding little more rice flour, ground in the same way mentioned in the post (fine flour) and add to the batter and try slightly heating the mixture (just warm it up) and make adhirsams. I am not sure about this, just a thought. If it doesnt work, add wheat flour, mashed banana (1/2) to it and a pinch of cooking soda, make paniyaram.

    Reply

  119. Priya Rajesh

    Hi raks, please reply
    I tried 3-4 times but, it was be cripy, broken in oil. Corrected with u r all above steps, but not statisfy. I have kitchen scale, so can you able to tell in gram measurements? How much gram rice nd jaggery? Because cup measurements goes to fail for me.

    Reply

  126. Minu Radhika

    Hey raks… I really love your recipes… yours is my go to page for most my cooking…!! recently I tried your adhirasam recipe but I had a issue. My batter looks gooey after keeping it for rest for two days now. Am not able to make the balls. Apparently my syrup came out perfect, still the batter is not firming up. Is there any way out?? I would be glad to hear from you. Thank you. And happy Deepavali in advance….!!!

    Reply

  127. Minu Radhika

    I tried it after adding rava (as suggested by my aunt). It came out well. Thank you for your step by step guidelines and quick response…. it gave me the confidence to try such complicated recipe. You make it look so easy…!!

    Reply

  128. Ramya Bala

    Mam, my adhirasam dough is hard, while pressing adhirasam breaks the edges( before putting into the oil) please give some suggestions, Thank you

    Reply

    • Raks Anand

      Can you try adding little milk and kneading the dough? Or even if you have some extra jaggery syrup, you can warm it and add the dough to it and mix (just until dough gets warm)

      Reply

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