Pages

Monday, March 08, 2010

Adai (savoury lentil crepe)


A typical South Indian dish, almost every household has its own recipe for adai. This is a very forgiving recipe in the sense that if you don't have any of the ingredients, you can leave it out and still come up with a decent adai. Once my aunt omitted rice and made this with just pulses and it still tasted great.
Any lentil that you like can be added to it.

What you need:
Parboiled rice - 1 cup
A handful each of:
Chana dal
Urad dal
Moong dal(whole or in the absence of it, broken)
Tuar dal
Masoor dal
Whole kabuli chana/brown chana
Black eyed beans
Cilantro stalk
Curry leaves
A tsp each of:
Fenugreek seeds
Cumin seeds
Whole black pepper (adjust to taste)

Red chillies - a few, according to your spice tolerance
Asafoetida - a marble sized piece (a heaped tsp if you are using the powder)

Soak all the ingredients except the asafoetida, corriander and curry leaves in plenty of water for 5-6 hours. If you are not using whole chana and black eyed beans, about 3-4 hours of soaking will do.
Drain the water. Add salt, asafoetida, corriander stalk and curry leaves. Grind together to a coarse paste adding water as required. The batter should be slightly thicker than regular dosa batter.
Set this aside for about 8 hours (takes much less time in hotter places) to ferment.
While it can be made without fermenting,it tastes better when fermented.

Heat a dosa griddle. Stir the batter well and pour a ladleful on the griddle. Spread into a circle. Drizzle some oil over it and cook both sides until brown and crisp.


Serving suggestions:
This can be paired with Avial, Karuveppila thogayal, tangy tomato chutney, or shallot(ulli) sambar.

This is my entry to My Legume Love Affair hosted for Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook by Superchef at Mirch Masala.

16 comments:

Unknown said...

this is a family favourite..love the addition of all the lentils..

Cynthia said...

I know I'd enjoy this for breakfast. I like that it is a very forgiving recipe.

Trendsetters said...

tasty adai..beautiful photography

Nithu Bala said...

Adai is yummy and healthy with all dhal and bean varities..nice picture too:-)

Archana Vivek said...

Looks very nice Jay.

jayasree said...

Am yet to venture out of our traditional recie for adai. Though occassionally add whole moong or mudirai. Should try fermenting too.

Hema said...

Very interesting...Must try this.

Prajusha said...

this looks healthy and yummy
www.icookipost.com

Malar Gandhi said...

Perfect fulfilling breakfast.

sra said...

Once I had mango milkshake with a peculiar taste to it - and found out that the mixer had previously been used to grind adai batter.

Somehow this is one thing I've never developed a taste for.

Red Chillies said...

Love adai now and this is a good variation.

Jayashree said...

Sowmya, I do that to up the protein quotient and the taste.
Cynthia, this would make a really hearty and filling breakfast.
Trend, nithu, uma, arch...thx....the photo was taken by hubby...
Jaya, I've used the actual traditional recipe just once....since then, I've always soaked every lentil that I have on hand.

Jayashree said...

Hema, do try and let me know how it turns out.
Prajusha, Malar...thank you.
Sra, Ewwwww.....no wonder you never developed a taste for adai. Adai flavoured milk shake would put me off both adai and milk shakes forever.
RC, thank you....loved your version too.

Sowjanya@Ruchikacooks said...

I love adai aviyal..I have just soaked the rice to make it this weekend ;)

http://ruchikacooks.com

Aruna Manikandan said...

Adai looks healthy!!!

My hubby loves to have with Avial :-)

ArunaManikandan
http://ensamayalkuripugal.blogpsot.com

Dhanya Ganesh said...

Adai is one of my fav ,looks crispy and tasty:).