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Nolambu Sweet Adai
Rare
Nolambu Sweet Adai - a jaggery-sweetened rice flour cake, steamed for the Nolambu fasting day.
Roasted rice flour cooked with jaggery, karamani, elaichi and ghee, shaped into small adais and steamed.
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AMMAMMA'S NOTES.
Rice flour
1 cup
Cowpea
4 tablespoons
Jaggery
3/4 cup
Cardamom powder
1/4 tsp
Ghee
2 spoons
Dry-roast the rice flour in a pan without oil until light brown, then let it cool.
Cook the cowpea in a pressure cooker.
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and add the jaggery and cooked cowpea; boil for 5 minutes.
Add the roasted rice flour, cardamom powder and ghee, and cook until thick.
When cool, grease hands with ghee, shape small portions flat, and steam in an idli cooker for 10 minutes without weight.
Nolambu Salt Adai
Roasted rice flour cooked with green chilli, ginger, coconut and curry leaves, shaped into small adais and steamed.
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Elai Adai
Elai - leaf Adai - a steamed rice-flour cake or dumpling, wrapped in banana leaf with coconut filling.
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ONLY MADE ON NOLAMBU DAY (I DONT KNOW WHAT ITS ACTUALLY CALLED) — I LOVE THIS PREPARATION BUT FORGET ITS NAME ALMOST EVERY YEAR WITHOUT FAIL. SAVITRI MADE THIS ADAI IN THE FOREST AS AN OFFERING TO YAMA WITH ANY AND ALL INGREDIENTS AVAILABLE IN EXCHANGE FOR SAVING HIS LIFE. BEFORE THE FESTIVAL, AND BEFORE I DEVOURED IT, THATHA WOULD TELL ME THE STORY BEHIND IT AND CRACK THE SAME JOKE, AND I'D LAUGH THE SAME WAY EVERY TIME — IT WAS WONDERFUL. THATHA'S VERSION SAYS THAT YAMA LEFT SAVITRI'S HUSBAND BECAUSE THE ADAI WAS SO DISGUSTING, NOT BECAUSE IT WAS AN OFFERING.
YAMINI VENKATESAN
WHAT'S FOR LUNCH, 2026