Adai

Yesterday after the heavy snack we skipped dinner. So my plan for Adai was postponed for today. Before I start with the recipe, let me just write a little about this humble cousin of the 'world-famous' Dosai (or dosa if u prefer).

Well, I read around a lot yesterday about the Adai. And I also had first-hand information from my friend's mother-in-law who is visiting from Tamilnadu,India. Firstly, Adai is native to Kerala, one of the four southern Indian states. But it is equally popular in Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh. The aunthentic recipe for Adai calls for rice and different types of lentils. But the version my mother told me about doesn't call for rice at all, it's just all lentils. So there a lot of types of adais out there, you can try whichever one takes your fancy. Personally I feel that the Adai is heavier than the Dosai. But it's a good option to have in your recipe basket for when you didn't plan ahead but still feel like eating some dosai. Also it is a very healthy choice for the kids menu. So without further ado, the rice-lentils pancake - Adai.

Ingredients:

1 cup - idly rice or parboiled rice.

1/2 cup - Urad dal (black gram)

1/2 cup - Chana dal (bengal gram)

1/2 cup - Tuvar dal

3 - green chillies

1 tsp - jeera (cumin)

1 small sprig - curry leaves

Salt to taste

ingredients for grinding

Method:
Soak the rice and pulses for about 3 hrs. Then grind it coarsely with the cumin and green chillies. Take into a bowl and add salt to taste. For extra taste you may add 1/8 tsp hing (asafoetida) to this. The batter should be thick and coarse to touch. Heat a frying pan on medium-high heat and pour a ladleful of the batter. Spread it slightly with the flat side of the ladle till it looks like an average sized pancake. Pour 1tsp of oil all around and let the adai fry till golden around the edges. Then flip it over and cook for about 30 seconds. Then take off the pan. Repeat the process with the remaining batter.

on the frying pan

flipped adai

Serve hot with avial or coconut chutney.




My pic has adai with coconut chutney and andhra speciality ' mukkala pulusu' which is a cousin of the more famed Sambaar. Made for a very heavy and Happy lunch on this cold winter day.