KARADAYAN NOMBU - NOLUMBADAI

'Nolumbadai' is prepared on 'Karadayan Nombu' - a festival celebrated by Tam-Brahm ladies for the well-being and long life of their husband. In a sense it is akin to 'Karva Chauth festival of North India. Girls also perform this 'nombu' - to get 'worthy' husbands in due course. ‘Nolumbadai’ and butter are offered along with betel leaves and betel nut, haldi, flowers and fruit, as ‘naivedhyam’ after which ladies tie a thick yellow thread (smeared with haldi) ( manjal charadu) around Devi (Goddess) and also around their own neck. The festival usually falls in mid March.

To save yourself from excess work on the D-day, make the rice flour a couple of days earlier.

Nolumbadai

Makes 30-32 adais

Ingredients

Raw rice - 2 cups

Jaggery - 2 cups

Water –3 1/2 to 4 cups

Black-eyed peas (karamani payaru) – 2-3 tbsp – soaked in water for an hour and pressure-cooked

Coconut pieces – 2-3 tbsp

Ghee – 1 tsp

Method

Wash and soak the rice in water for 15-20 minutes.

Drain and keep in a colander or spread on a newspaper for 10-15 minutes.

Powder it in a mixer and sieve on a fine sieve. This will give 4 cups of rice flour. Spread it for 2-3 hours.

Dry roast the rice flour well till it is very light brown. (It will give out an aroma). Cool it. This will give you 2 cups of flour. You can store this in a clean, dry bottle if you make this in advance.

Dissolve nearly 2 cups jaggery in nearly 4 cups of water in a kadhai on a low heat.

When it starts boiling, continue on low heat and add coconut pieces and pressure-cooked karamani payaru and a tinge of salt and a tsp of ghee.

Add 2 cups of rice flour gradually, stirring all the while till water is absorbed completely.

Turn off the heat and allow it to cool.

Make big lemon-sized balls of the dough.

Apply a little ghee/oil on your hand and wet it too.

Flatten each ball into adai on separate banana leaf piece and steam like idlis for 10-12 minutes. It will have a shiny glazed look when ready.

Tips –

Instead of karamani payaru, yellow moong dal can be used – it has to be roasted till light brown and soaked in water for 30 minutes. It can be added to the boiling jaggery and the rest of the procedure continued.

If banana leaves are not available, you can make the adais on wetted and oiled plastic sheet and transfer them to oiled idli plates for steaming.

You can even make the adais on wetted and oiled left palm of yours and gently transfer them to oiled idli plates for steaming. 
If the flour is not roasted well, the adais will turn out sticky.

The same rice flour is used for the sweet adai and salty adai. So make double the quantity of rice flour if you intend to make both varieties of adais.

Salty adai

Makes 30-32 adais

Ingredients –

Raw rice – 2 cups

Water – 31/2 to 4 cups

Black-eyed peas (karamani payaru) – 2-3 tbsp – soaked in water for an hour and pressure-cooked

Coconut pieces – 2-3 tbsp

Oil – 2 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

Whole red chilli pieces – 2-3

Asafetida – a pinch

Curry leaves - 8

Method –

Wash and soak 2 cups of rice for 15 minutes. Drain in a colander and spread on a newspaper for 15 minutes.

Powder it in a mixer and sieve on a fine sieve. This will give 4 cups of rice flour. Spread it for 2-3 hours.

Dry roast the rice flour well till it is light brown. Cool it. This will give you 2 cups of flour.

Heat oil in a big kadhai and add mustard seeds and urad dal.

When they splutter, add red chilli pieces, asafetida and curry leaves.

Add nearly 4 cups of water. Add the boiled kaaramani payaru and required salt and bring to boil.

Lower the heat and gradually add the rice flour and stir well till water gets absorbed.

Cool and divide into equal sized balls.

Make adais and steam like idlis for 10-12 minutes.

© Copyright 2011. Brinda Balasubramonian.