Adai (Lentil based thick Pancake)

in Breakfast, Evening snack

Receipe taken from Cook and See Part 1.

Adais are thicker Pancakes , which are rich in lentils .  This is a  healthy breakfast option, is very filling and keeps your hunger pangs at bay till lunch. The batter can be made , stored and can be used anytime of the day.Usually the freshly made fermented batter is made as it is on the first day. Later onions or drumstick leaves are added for a variation. The leftover batter is usually made into kunukkus which are tea time snacks.Unlike the dosai and idly , this breakfast menu of Tamilnadu has hardly got its deserved attention.

Ingredients

  • Parboiled rice 2 cups,
  • Red gram dal, Black gram dal and Bengal gram dal altogether 1 cup,
  • Salt ¼ cup,
  • Red chillies 5 to 6,
  • Green chillies 6 to 8,
  • Asafoetida ½ teaspoon,
  • Coconut grated 1 cup(optional),
  • Curry leaves and coriander leaves chopped ¼ cup,
  • Ginger grated 1 tsp (optional).

Method

  1. Soak the rice and the dals for a couple of hours.
  2. Wash well and add all the ingredients (except coconut, curry leaves and coriander leaves) along with 1 cup water and grind to a coarse paste.
  3. Add the grated ginger ,  salt, coconut, curry leaves and coriander leaves. Mix well.
  4. Keep aside to ferment for 3 to 4 hours.
  5. Take a flat dosai iron pan and heat it. Lightly grease it. As it sizzles, take a deep ladle of the batter and spread in circular motions to make a thick dosai or pancake.  Make a small hole in the centre ,with the ladle .
  6. Drizzle oil all over the circle, and in the centre. Use oil  liberally  to get a crispy adai.
  7. Enjoy it while it is  hot.Tastes heavenly and is very filling.
  8. Adai is served with avial or  with jaggery and butter. Some relish it with molagapodi / moarkuzhambu.

Note

  1. Gingelly oil is used to make a tasty adai. Others oils are secondary.
  2. Usually rock salt is added to all batters , made at home.
  3. Usually Idly rice is used for Adai . Raw rice can also be used to make adai.
  4. In the Adai batter , drumstick leaves or chopped onions, cabbage , cauliflower , cucumber  can be added to make it tastier .
  5. Reduce the amount of green chillies or red chillies , if needed.