Dear Sue akka, here is the recipe for Athirasam
Athirasam
Ingredients:
500 grms raw rice soaked for 1 hour
300 grms jaggery or brown sugar
tsp cardamom powder
Ghee
Method:
Drain the rice in a colander. Spread it on a paper and let it dry partially.
The rice should be slightly wet. Grind the rice and sieve it once.
Add one cup of water and make the syrup. Before it comes to boil, filter it.
Boil again stirring frequently. When the syrup is bubbling, slow the fire.
To test wheather it has come to the right stage ( patham ) , drop a little
Syrup in a cup of water. You can gather the syrup into a smooth ball. (not stiff ball)
You have to test this method several times after the syrup has come to a boil.
Off the stove. Sprinkle the flour mixed with the cardamom powder, littlt by little
And mix well. The batter must not be very stiff, a bit soft. If we make a ball from it
It must be smooth, and should not break or crack.
Pour the batter into a greased bowl. Pour about 1 tbs of ghee on top of the batter
And keep. You can make the athirasam the next day. (normally I keep for 4 days)
On the day of making athirasam, you remove the batter and knead well.
Incase your batter has harden, just sprinkle a little hot water and knead well.
Heat oil in a wok on a medium flame. Pat the dough in your palm into a disc.
Make a hole in the centre, and deep fry. The athirasam should puff up when you fry.
It will be a bit crisp on the first day. The next day it will become soft.
Well with pratice only , one can make perfect athirasam.
.
We always have some sort of snack for unexcepted visitors. One of it is Tattai.
Thattai
Ingredients:
200 grms rice flour
50 grms chick peas flour
50 grms besan flour
50 grms channa dal soaked in water for 30 minutes
1 tsp cumin seeds
tsp chillie powder
1 tsp sesame seeds
Few curry leaves crushed
2 tsp melted butter
A pinch of hing
Salt
Oil to fry
Method:
Mix everything together,add the drained channa dal.
Add water little by little to make the dough as murukku dough.
Make small lime size balls and flatten each ball as thin as possible.
Deep fry until brown and crispy.
A very nice snack for evening tea.
Cashew Coconut Burfi
Who doesn't like Cashew burfis?!…. I found a few recipes on the Internet and picked this as this was a different combination than the usual ones and needed less ghee! Cashew grinded with fresh coconut in milk gives unique taste to this burfi. This is an easier and lighter version of this rich sweet.
Ingredients:
Cashew 1 cup
Fresh grated coconut (don't add the black part) 1 cup
Milk 1 cup
Sugar as given below
Ghee 2 tbsp (Yes only 2 tbsp)
No need to add any spices to this to get the real taste of cashew. If you prefer you can add a little elaichi powder.
Preparation:
Soak the cashew in water for 6-8 hours till it is soft. Wash and drain the water. Grind it with coconut and milk to a fine paste (add only enough milk to grind it into smooth paste). Measure this in a cup. You need to add 1 times sugar to this batter. If the grinded paste is measured to 1 cup add 1 cups sugar to it. Add the remaining milk too with this. Mix everything well in a MW vessel. (If you reduce the sugar, the result may vary). Grease a plate with tbsp ghee.
Start cooking on high for 10 minutes stirring in between by adding the remaining 1 tbsp ghee at intervals. After 10 minutes reduce the heat to medium and cook for 2-3 mts only. (This may slightly differ depending on your MW power as well.) You must have reached the consistency by this time. Spread it on the greased plate and cut it.
You won't find it very heavy as the amount of ghee is reduced to the minimum. If you are going to prepare it on the stove, add more ghee (approximately 1/2 cup). It was very tasty with the rich cashew taste. Hope you will enjoy!!
My dear friends, let me give you all chilled sweet drink.
Badam Kheer.
1 cup almonds soaked for about 1/2 an hour.
6 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
pinch of saffron
chopped pistachios for garnishing.
Method:
Remove the brown skin of the almonds.
Use little milk and grind it to a little coarse paste.
Then boil the remainder milk.
Add the almond paste, sugar and safforn
and boil for about 15 minutes, till the raw smell goes.
Add in the cardamom powder. Remove and chill.
Serve with the chopped pistachios.