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Nombu adai
Sweet rice flour and cowpea cakes
நோம்பு அடை: steamed rice-flour and cowpea cakes, sweet with jaggery, for Karadaiyan Nombu
Karadaiyan Nombu falls on the day the Tamil month of Maasi turns into Panguni, and married women in Tamil Nadu fast for their husbands' long life in memory of Savitri, who won her husband back from Yama. The fast is broken at an auspicious minute with these adai, offered with a lump of unmelted butter and tied on with a yellow thread. The rice flour is roasted, cooked into a dough with jaggery, coconut and boiled cowpeas, shaped into small discs with a hole in the middle and steamed. A savoury batch with green chilli, ginger and curry leaves is usually made alongside. Common mistake: using raw rice flour, which makes the adai sticky; roast it until it is warm and flows like sand, and the adai are done when they turn glossy and no longer stick to a wet finger. Chef's tip: for the savoury version, swap the jaggery for 2 chopped green chillies, a little grated ginger and a mustard-seed tempering.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the adai
- 2 tbsp dried cowpeas (karamani)soaked 4 hours
- 5 ½ oz rice flour
- 4 oz jaggerygrated
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 3 tbsp fresh grated coconut
- ½ tsp ground green cardamom
- 1 tbsp ghee
To serve
- 1 ¾ oz unsalted butter (optional)cold, unmelted
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Boil the drained 2 tbsp dried cowpeas (karamani) in plenty of water for 15–20 minutes until soft but whole. Drain.
18 minStep 2: Dry-roast 5 ½ oz rice flour in a heavy pan over a low heat for 6–8 minutes, stirring, until hot, very faintly cream and free-flowing. Do not let it brown.
7 minStep 3: Heat 1 ¼ cups water with 4 oz jaggery until dissolved, strain, return to the pan and bring to the boil. Add the cowpeas, 3 tbsp fresh grated coconut, ½ tsp ground green cardamom and 1 tbsp ghee.
5 minStep 4: Lower the heat and add the roasted flour little by little, stirring hard, until it forms a soft dough that leaves the pan. Cover and cool until you can handle it.
5 minStep 5: With greased hands, shape lime-sized balls, flatten to 1 cm discs and press a hole in the centre with a finger.
10 minStep 6: Steam on a greased idli plate or banana leaf for 10–12 minutes until glossy and no longer sticky to a wet fingertip. Serve warm with a little cold 1 ¾ oz unsalted butter.
12 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 230 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 42 g
- Fat
- 6 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does nombu adai take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of jaggery?
- Dark brown or muscovado sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of ghee?
- Butter, same amount (keep the heat a little lower, butter burns sooner).
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