Karadaiyan
nombu adai | Karadayan nombu vella adai | Inippu karadai is a steamed dumpling
prepared with rice flour, jaggery and karamani | black eyed bean. This is a
must to do dish on Karadaiyan Nombu. This dish has an interesting story which should
be mentioned here.
Karadiayan
Nombu | Savitri Nonbu | Savithri Viratham is observed in remembrance of a legendary couple Sathyavan-Savitri. Savitri who
brought back the life of her husband, Sathyavan from the hands of Yama, the God
of Death through her love, devotion, courage & intelligence. Hence this
nonbu is observed by the married women for the well being and longevity of
their husbands. Also the unmarried girls observe this fast to get the best life
partners. The name, Karadaiyan nombu is derived from the name of the dish, “Karadai”
which Savitri offered along with unmelted butter as prasad to Yama as
thanksgiving in return of her husband’s life. She prepared karadai using wild
rice (kara arisi) along with karamani & jaggery. Hence it is a practice to
do these kara adai with jaggery| sweet karadai on Karadyan Nombu.
It
is believed that the above incident happened on the cusp of Tamil months of
Masi and Panguni and this time it falls on 14th March, 2015. On the
day of nombu, all women in the family prepare these adais (both sweet &
salt version), perform pooja, tie a yellow rope (charadu) around their necks
and complete their fast by eating this sweet adai along with unmelted butter
chanting the following.
“Urugaatha
vennaiyum, oru adaiyum naan nootren
Orukkaalum
en kanavar piriyaamal irukkanume”
“உருக்காத வெண்ணெயும் ஒரு அடையும் நான் நோற்றேன்;
ஒருக்காலும் என் கணவர் பிரியாமல் இருக்கணுமே”
It means “I’ve observed this fast by offering unmelted
butter and a karadai; my husband should never be separated from me at any cost”.
The
uppu karadai is also prepared on this day but generally not offered for pooja.
Anyway I’ll post the recipe for uppu karadai tomorrow.
In North India also, similar vrat is being followed by
married women in the name of “Karva Chauth”
and they fast for the entire day i.e from sun rise to moon rise. Where ever
we are, the rituals are same and are being followed all over the world in
different names.
Karadaiyan
Nombu is generally observed by the families who follow this tradition for
years. Since I grew up in the Brahmin neighbourhood, I know all of their rituals,
customs & recipes. After I moved from my hometown I never had the opportunity
of tasting these yummy karadais. Now, my blog gives me the opportunity to
recall things which I’ve forgotten for years.
Here is the recipe for Inippu Karadai…
Ingredients:
- Rice
flour – 1 cup
- Karamani
| Black eyed bean – 2 tbsp
- Jaggery
– ¾ cup
- Grated
coconut – ½ cup
- Cardamom
powder – 1 tsp
- Ghee
– 1 tbsp
- Water
– 1 ½ + ½ cup
Method:
- Prepare
rice flour following Method 2 of “How to prepare Kolukattai Flour?”. Or if you
are using store bought flour, dry fry the flour for few minutes in simmer
without changing its colour and keep aside.
- Dry
fry karamani in simmer for 2-3 minutes until you get nice aroma of the bean. Wash
well and pressure cook these beans with enough water for 3 whistles. Allow it
to cool.
- Powder
jaggery and melt in ½ cup of water by heating. Once it dissolves completely,
switch off and filter the impurities. Keep the jaggery syrup aside.
- In
a heavy bottomed kadai, heat ghee, add the cooked karamani and saute for 2
minutes.
- To
this add, coconut and give a stir.
- To this add
1 ½ cups of water and allow it to boil.
- To
this boiling water, add the rice flour slowly but stirring quickly with a whisk
so that no lumps are formed. Continue stirring by mashing the lumps until it
becomes a mass.
- Once
it forms a whole lump, add jaggery syrup & cardamom powder. Again stir by
mashing it until everything blends together. Transfer it to a plate & allow
it to cool.
- Once
cooled, apply some ghee on your hands and knead the dough a little to make it
smooth.
- Grease
your hands with ghee | oil, make small balls out of rice flour dough and flatten
them with your palm and make a small hole with your finger in the centre.
Repeat the process for rest of the dough also.
- Steam
the karadais in steamer | idli pot for
about 15 minutes and give a standing time for about 5 minutes.
Yummy Sweet Nombu Karadai is ready for Pooja!! Serve it with a dollop of butter &
enjoy!!!
Note:
- While
using store bought flour, go in for idiyappam flour since this will consume the
above quantity of water.
- The
dough should be kneaded well by applying ghee|oil so that it should be soft and
pliable. Otherwise the adai will get cracked.
- Never
allow the dough to become dry.
- Finely
chopped coconut pieces can also be used in the recipe. I’ve added coconut
gratings since I had them in hand.
Tags: Karadaiyan Nombu recipes,
Karadaiyan Nonbu recipes, Inippu karadai recipe, Vella karadai recipe, Savithri
vitatham recipes, Story behind karadaiyan nombu, Significance of karadaiyan
nombu, Easy karadai recipe, Karadai recipe using store bought flour, Karadai
recipe using idiyappam flour, Karadai recipe using home made flour, karadayan nonbu
recipes, How to prepare rice flour for making nombu adai?, Nombu adai using
karamani, nombu adai using black eyed beans, Steamed dumpling with black eyed
bean.
