KARADAIYAN NOMBU ADAI–SALTY / SPICY

 

My husband prefers salty/spicy adai than sweet.  And, he also takes takes this adai as an evening snacks and sometimes for breakfast.  I simply toss these steamed adai in dosa milagai podi and serve.

KARADAIYAN NOMBU ADAI – SWEET

 

 

Karadaiyan Nombu or Savitri Nombu is a vratham / vrat observed by TAM-BRAMs on the last day of Maasi masam and first day of Panguni masam of Tamil calendar which is 14th March of every year.  Married women worship Goddess Gauri or Parvathi or Shakti for marital bliss and better health of husband and children. Unmarried girls perform the vratham to get ideal person as their husband.  Karadaiyan Nombu is similar to that of sowbagya Gouri vratham or Gauri Tritiya vratham of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Gangaur vrat of Rajasthan, Jyesta gouri Vrat of Maharashtra, Jitiya Puja of Bihar, Karva Chauth of all other North Indian states.  On this day, married women (in their traditional 9 yard saree called madisar) change their thirumangalya charadu (thread) and tie sacred yellow thread around their neck during the auspicious time of the day and unmarried girls tie only the sacred yellow thread. While changing the thirumangalyam charadu the following sloka is chanted:
Throram Krishhnami subhake saharitham
Dharami aham bharthu
Ayushya Sidhartham supreethabhava sarvadha

In my family, we normally fast till the thread is changed and eat only the neivedhyam prepared for the pooja which is called karadaiyan nombu adai.

NELLIKAI (GOOSEBERRY/AMLA) THAYIR PACHCHADI

 

Amla is so rich in vitamin C and I really love this pachchadi.  Well, my paternal granny would say nellikai should not be taken on sundays… I never bothered to ask why and till date I couldn’t find a logical answer for that.  She would also say not to take amla at night may be for its cooling properties and one may catch cold if taken at night.  Anyway, I like this stuff and wouldn’t bother much about the days it can be taken or not to be taken.  I took the recipe from here and made few changes to suit my taste buds.

KARUVEPPILAI KUZHAMBU / CURRY LEAVES KUZHAMBU

 

Karuveppilai kuzhambu is so simple to make and tastes so yummm with all the goodness of curry leaves.  I made this kuzhambu after such a long time and served it with aloo fry, cauliflower carrot curry and nellikkai thayir pachchadi.  This kuzhambu goes well with ven pongal and arisi upma.

KARUVEPPILAI PODI / CURRY LEAVES POWDER

 

Karuveppilai or curry leaf as called in English is so full of medicinal values yet I would always pick these out from my plate…. infact in my family everybody do that… and hence my mom started using ground kaurveppilai.  Curry leaves are so good for the eyes and hair and we all relish when this is served as thokku, podi, kuzhambu or thogayal.  I always keep stock of Karuveppilai podi at home and use it as flavouring agent in many of my side dish / accompaniments.