Karadiya Adai (Sweet)

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

Sweet Adai Karadiyan Nombu

Karadiyan Adai (Sweet)

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!!