Adai is a dosa like dish synonymous to Tamilnadu (specifically from Chettinad cuisine, I believe) and is made using different varieties of Dal (Moong, Urad and Channa). It is a very healthy dish and usually eaten for breakfast and sometimes for dinner. I started making Adai mainly as an alternative to dosa. For dosa, as you know, the main ingredient to make the batter is rice and rice is rich in carbohydrates which in turn is one of the contributing factors in weight gain (if the intake is often, of course).
My HB is very health conscious (and that has rubbed off on me as well, sometimes ;)) and so I started my search for a healthy and easy alternative for the usual fares that we have at our home. Then I came across this Adai from the web and found it to be the perfect alternative. Making the Adai batter does not involve fermentation. So the entire process of preparing the batter to cooking Adai is very quick. Also, you don’t need a grinder to prepare the batter. A blender will suffice.
In our home, we normally have Adai with coconut chutney but by making the batter a little bit spicy (described in the cooking instructions below), you can have Adai without a side dish (how awesome is that!). In restaurants, Adai is often served with butter and Avial (another south Indian dish for which I will post the recipe sometime soon).
So try this very healthy and easy to make Adai in your home and let me know your comments.
- Toor dal - ¼cup
- Moong dal -1/4 cup
- Urad dal - ½ cup
- Idli Rice or Raw Rice - ½ cup
- Whole Red chillies - 6
- Salt-as per taste
- Shallots(small onions) – 2 (chopped)
- Hing - 1 tsp
- Cumin seeds - 1 tbs
- Chopped Coriander leaves – ¼ cup
- Water as required
- Oil required to smear around adais
- Wash and soak urad dal, moong dal, toor dal and rice together in water for 4 hours.
- Grind the soaked dals and rice, along with half a tsp cumin seeds, whole red chilli, salt and hing together until smooth. - like dosa batter.
- To the ground adai batter add chopped shallots, coriander leaves and little water.
- Mix well the batter, the consistency should be similar to dosa batter. Set aside the adai batter to rest for atleast 30 mins.
- Heat a dosa tawa, add a ladle full of adai batter to the center of tawa and start spreading the batter from center in circular motion like making dosa or pancakes.
- Smear 1 tsp oil around adai and cook on medium heat until both sides of adai are golden brown and crisp.
