Akkara adisil

This is the dish that Andal used to entice Azhagar Perumal to Srivilliputhur. 
… நூறு தடா நிறைந்த அக்கார அடிசில் சொன்னேன் …. She offered 100 pots of this delicious traditional Iyengar dish to get him to come and visit her and marry her. My mother’s akkara adisil was absolutely out of this world and she would always make it in her வெங்கலைப்பானை. Since I am now the proud owner of her வெங்கலைப்பானை, of course I always make it in her pot. 
Andal also has given us the recipe for this delicious dish. 
…. ஆடை உடுப்போம் அதன்பின்னே பாற்சோறு

மூடநெய் பெய்து முழங்கை வழிவார … After donning beautiful clothes we cook rice in thick wholesome milk, sweeten and cover with ghee such that it drips to your elbows when you eat it. 

Ingredients
Rice – 1 cup
Yellow moong dal – 1/2 cup
Milk – 2 litres 
Jaggery – 1-2 cups (to taste)
Ghee – 1 cup 
Cashew nuts – 20
Raisins- 1/2 cup
Saffron – 1/8 tsp
Powdered cardamom – 1/2 tsp
Edible camphor – a pinch
 
Start off with a thick bottom pot. This is where the வெங்கலைப்பானை comes in very handy. Add a tbsp of ghee and fry the chopped cashews till they are golden brown and set aside. In the same pot, add the milk and allow to come to a boil. Add raisins and saffron to the milk at this stage itself. The raisins will turn out plump and juicy in the finished dish and the saffron will give a lovely colour to the milk.  Meanwhile, roast the rice and lentils in some ghee and add to the boiled milk. The rice and lentils have to cook in the milk till they become almost mushy. 
milk, rice and dal in the வெங்கலைப்பானை
jaggery dissolved in water

Dissolve  the jaggery in 1/2 cup of water and set on another stove. Let it dissolve fully and boil till the smell of raw jaggery is gone. Allow to cool well. Once it has cooled, add carefully through a tea strainer (to remove impurities) to the cooking milk and rice which should be fairly thick by now. Waiting till the jaggery mixture cools will prevent any curdling of the milk. Once it has come together start adding ghee one tbsp at a time while stirring continuously. I tend to go easy on the ghee and use just enough to make sure the akkara adisil doesn’t stick to the sides of the pot. Turn off the stove and add the fried cashews, powdered cardamom and edible camphor. Enjoy! Serves 8-10. 

2 thoughts on “Akkara adisil”

  1. Excellent receipe.. the rice used to make akkara adaisal is the usual ponni raw rice or maavu rice?
    If you can please let that know i can make it accoringly,,, koodaraivalli is coming up this monday
    Usha

    1. Vasundhra Rajagopal

      So sorry for the delayed reply. Hope you were able to make the akkaravadisal. I usually use ponni raw rice to make it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.