Karidayan or Karadayan Nombu is one of the South Indian festivals which is celebrated in Tamil Nadu by the tamil speaking people. This is one of the festivals that I did not celebrate before marriage given my Andhra background.
Nevertheless I take pride in saying that I have been celebrating this festival over two and half decades and also religiously dishing out the famous Adais – both sweet and savoury, which is the most significant treat of the day.
This day is very important in the lives of the ladies – both married and unmarried – the “married” pray for long lives for their husbands and the “unmarried” pray for a good husband and their longevity!!
A yellow thread is tied around the neck of the lady to signify this with a short prayer, which seeks the blessings of the Goddess for a happy married life…
The sweet adai is prepared with rice/rice flour, black eyed beans and jaggery.
Ingredients to make approximately 10
Sweet Adai
2 Cups Rice Flour
1/4 Cup Black Eyed Beans
3/4 Cup Water (to cook the beans)
1 1/2 Jaggery
1 Cup Water
1Tbs of Butter or ghee
Small Pieces of Coconut
2 Tsp Cardamom Powder
Preparation
Dry roast the black eyed beans for a few minutes and soak it for an hour
Pressure cook the beans with the three quarters cup of water for a couple of whistles and set aside
Roast the rice flour in a pan for a few minutes on a medium flame till the colour changes slightly
Bring the cup of water to the boil
Add the jaggery and let it boil for a few minutes till it starts to bubble
Stir through the cooked beans, coconut pieces and pour in the flour
Fold all the ingredients together swiftly for a few minutes
Sprinkle the cardamom powder
Take a handful of the portion of the mix and pat it into a circular shape
Steam as many as you can place in the dish or idli plate in the pressure cooker without placing the weight OR
Place it in a steamer in a dish or the idli plate
Let it steam for 5-7 minutes
Remove from the steamer and it is ready to be served
It is optional to grind the raw beans it into a coarse powder if you wish but traditionally the whole beans are used to prepare the adai!!