Athirasa (අතිරස)

Athirasa is a very delicious new year sweets in Sri Lanka. Almost all household prepared Athirasa for Sinhala and Tamil new year. Preparing Athirasa is not a difficult thing if you follow correct steps.

Ingredients

• Rice Flour- 500g
• Sugar - 300g
• Fennel Seeds - 25g
• Salt - 02 tsp
• Kappi (Cracked Rice)
• All purpose flour
• Coconut honey (Optional)
• Oil for deep frying

Method

• First of all it needs to prepare Kappi. For that put cracked rice into a frying pan and fry until it becomes light brown.
• Fry fennel seeds around 01 min and grind it well.
• Then, put small amount of sugar in to a pan and let it melt under medium heat while stirring continuously.
• When sugar is melted well and becomes dark brown add one cup of hot water.
• Then add remaining sugar and stir well to combine.
• Add salt and mix well.
• Cook this sugar syrup under medium heat until it becomes to the right level. Get a small amount from this sugar syrup to a spoon and pour it down. If it is pouring down like a thick line the sugar mixture has come to the right level.
• Get a half cup of sugar syrup to a cup and keep it aside. This can be used when adding flour.
• Add coconut honey and mix well. Switch off the flame after around 01 min.
• Add seeds, cracked rice and mix well.
• Add rice flour little by little and mix. Here, don’t add all rice flour at once. If you do so, it will be difficult to mix this properly.
• Add all purpose flour and mix.
• After adding all flour touch this mixture from your fingers. If this mixture doesn’t stick to your fingers the mixture has come to the right level.
• Apply some oil in a board or a try and transfer the flour mixture into this board.
• Then put small amount of this mixture to your pan and put water. Mix this with leftovers and cook until it becomes like a thick paste.
• Put this thick liquid into your flour mixture and mix thoroughly until this becomes smooth and nice.
• Wet your hands with little bit of coconut oil and then start making kawum.
• First, prepare small balls and keep them aside.
• Then, press these balls and make shapes like biscuits.
• Heat oil and put prepared kawum one by one.
• After putting one kawum, wait until it comes up to put the next one. If not your kawum will stick each other.
• Once kawum becomes golden brown get it out from oil and keep on a net or a tissue paper.
• Do the same for the rest of your mixture.
• When you