Athikai Paniyaram | Athika Palaharam Recipe | Jaggery Recipes

Traditional dish with Traditional name Athika paniyaram or Athika palaharam is made with urad dal, coconut and jaggery - delicious taste

I visited my mom&dad ‘s  place after about 1 ½ months, due to lockdown, though they stay just 3 kms away... 

We wanted to give them surprise visit, mom was shocked and happy to see us, she could not express her happiness.

She wanted to cook something very special for us, she remembered that I didn’t visit them even for my birthday, she immediately soaked Urad dal to prepare my most favorite dish ‘athikai paniyaram’ or traditional-Jamoons, This was the sweet she would make on all my birthdays when I was young, in fact even now ☺- loved this sweet as much I use to like them those days.

This is the sweet made of urad dal. Soak and grind as we do for Medhu vada, add only a pinch of salt, not any spice. Then dip this in a jaggery sweet payasam, soak and eat when this becomes soft. The taste is so good you will never ask for any other sweet. This also is a very healthy sweet for children as this has protein, iron and so on, I will not discuss much on nutrient value of this dish, as obviously we know all traditional dish is packed with good energy.

This traditional dish is forgotten or not-known sweet for many. Try this once to fall in love with this sweet. Vada turns out very juicy after soaking in this sweet syrup, yummy to eat and loved by kids. This makes good healthy breakfast or also as an evening snack or as an after-lunch-dessert, anytime this makes you happy.

Ingredients

Payasam

1. Coconut slices – 1/2 cup
2. Kaskas or poppy seeds or Gasagase – 1/4 teaspoon dry roasted- this ingredient can be skipped if not available  
3. Cardamom – 3 to 4
4. Jaggery – 1 cup

For Vada

1. Urad dal – soaked for half to one hour
2. Oil for deep frying

Method

Payasam :

1. On the low flame dissolve jaggery in little water and strain out any dirt/dust from jaggery
2. Grind coconut, dry roasted kaskas/poppy seeds and cardamom to smooth paste by adding water
3. Heat a pan, add dissolved jaggery, add ground coconut and required water to this (here I have used 2 cups of water) and bring to boil, let it simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes and remove from flame – this sweet syrup/payasam is ready

Vada

1. Drain water from urad dal and grind to smooth batter without adding water, if required just sprinkle very little water
2. Add a pinch of salt to this batter, mix well
3. Heat oil for deep frying, with the help of spoon drop small portions of batter in oil and fry them on medium flame until golden brown – do not fry on high heat as this will not cook from inside
4. Remove these golden balls from oil and drop them into payasam
5. Allow vadas to soak in payasam for about 30 minutes, then serve juicy vada with payasam

Note:

• Grind urad dal without water, if required very little water about a teaspoon or two will be fine

• Depending on the quality of jaggery you can filter for dust or use it as it is     

• Keep the Payasam to a little watery consistency, so that it’s absorbed by vada, if this is thick then vadas do not soak-in completely

• Make small vadas to get better juicy and sweetest balls

• Add hot vadas into payasam, hot ones absorb well

• Make sure the bottom ones do not get mashed while adding many 'vadas' in payasam. To avoid this, you can transfer some of the soaked 'vadas' to another bowl 

• Gasagase can be skipped if not available or do not like, it does not change the taste

 

 

How to Make with Step by Step Pictures

Payasam  

On the low flame dissolve jaggery in little water

and strain out any dirt/dust from jaggery



Keep the strained Jaggery syrup aside

Grind coconut, dry roasted kaskas/poppy seeds and cardamom to smooth paste by adding little water

Heat a pan, add dissolved jaggery syrup, add ground coconut paste 

and required water to this (here I have used 2 cups of water) and bring to boil, 



let it simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes 




switch off the heat after 3 to 5 minutes and the sweet payasam is ready

Vada

Drain water from urad dal and grind to smooth batter without adding water, if required just sprinkle very little water. Add a pinch of salt to this batter, mix well

Heat oil for deep frying, with the help of spoon drop small portions of batter in oil and fry them on medium flame until golden brown – do not fry on high heat as this will not cook from inside

Remove these golden balls from oil and drop them into payasam, 

once vada absorbs sweet payasam then its time to serve.

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