Karadayan Nonbu

This is a Hindu festival celebrated at the beginning of Tamil month Panguni. It is in honor of Sathi Savithiri who brings back her husband from the clutches of death God Yama. Read more about her story here at Forum for Hindu Awakening. The image below is also from their website.

For this festival, the women folk fast for their husband's health and constant companionship. They break their fast with these adais or cakes made with black eyed peas, hence the name karadai (காரடை).

Basic Ingredients

1 cup rice flour (For the flour, rinse rice in water and then dry them until it is only slightly dry, do NOT overdry)

1/4 cup dried black eyed peas, soaked in water overnight and dry roasted the next day

1/2 cup coconut (preferred form is small chopped slices)

1 cup water

1 tbsp cooking oil/ ghee

For the sweet version

1 tsp elaichi/ cardamom powder
3/4 cup jaggery (this depends on the sweetness you want)

For the salt version

1 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 green chillies (hot peppers), chopped finely
a pinch asaefoetida
salt to taste

Method


Cook the rice flour in 1 cup water in a saucepan on medium heat. Once it is mixed, add jaggery, black eyed peas, coconut, cardamom, and ghee. Mix until combined

For the uppu adai


Heat 1 tbsp oil in a saucepan. Once hot, add mustard seeds and once that splatters, add chopped peppers, asafoetida.

Add one cup water to the tempering and cook the rice flour in it with salt to taste.

Add black-eyed peas and coconut. Mix until combined.

Cooking them

Make small round balls (break the lumps of flour as you go along) and flatten them (something like idlis)- steam them in an idli cooker. This should take about 12-15 min.

Judgement

Serve them hot with some butter on top! Nothing can feel more satisfying than these...