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.

INGREDIENTS
Rice Flour	1 cup
Water	3/4 cup
Jaggery	3/4 – 1 cup
Coconut (Finely Chopped)	1/4 cup
Black Eyed Beans (cooked)	1/4 cup
Cardamom Powder	1 tsp
Unsalted Butter	As required

 

METHOD

• Wash about 1 cup of raw rice thoroughly and spread it in a clean cloth / towel and leave it for about 2 hrs to dry completely.  Then, roast the rice in a kadai for about 5 – 7 minutes or till it emits a nice aroma.  Do not let the rice change colour.  Set aside to cool.
• Grind the roasted rice into a fine powder and use 1 cup of this ground flour.  (I don’t sieve the rice flour after grinding as I feel the coarseness of the unsift flour gives a nice texure to the nombu adai).
• Soak black eyed beans for couple of hours and steam it in a pressure cooker for about 3 whistles.  Set aside.
• In a pan, boil water and add jaggery. Once the jaggery melts, filter the water to remove impurities/sediments and place it back on heat again.
• Let the liquid come to boil again, and then add cardamom powder, steamed beans and coconut.
• Turn the heat down and slowly add the rice flour while stirring continuously to avoid lumps.
• Once the whole mixture comes together like a chappati dough or perhaps a little harder, turn off the heat.  Put a lid on and set aside to cool.
• Once the dough cools down, make small balls and flatten them with a hole in the middle.
• Grease idli plates with a little sesame oil or ghee, place the prepared adais in them and steam for about 10 minutes.
• Serve hot with unsalted butter.