Fri 17 Aug 2007
Adai, the way I make it, is packed with protein and makes an excellent snack, school-lunch and an equally good meal. It can be served with Coconut Chutney, Butter, Sambar or for some, Jaggery! It is quick to make and unlike Dosa, it does not require as much pre-planning.
Ingredients:
Rice – 1/4 cup
Whole Green Mung – 1/4 cup
Channa Daal – 1/4 cup
Toor Daal – 1/4 cup
Onion – 1/2 small
Green Chili – 1, to taste
Cilantro Leaves – 5 sprigs
Curry Leaves – 1 sprig
Asafoetida (Hing) – 1 pinch
Salt – to taste
Black Pepper – 1/4 tsp or to taste
Ginger – 1/2″ piece
Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 tsp (optional)
Oil – for pan-frying
Method:
- Wash and soak the following in in 4 cups of water for 1-2 hours – Rice, Whole Green Mung, Toor Daal & Channa Daal.
- Drain out the water.
- Add the rice and daal mixture and all of the remaining ingredients (except for oil) in a blender and grind using a little fresh water. The consistency should be that of pancake batter.
- Heat a griddle/skillet/tava on medium to high heat.
- Heat a couple of drops of oil on the griddle and once it is hot, smear and wipe off the oil with a paper towel.
- With a flat-bottomed ladle, pour a scoop of batter in the center of the griddle.
- Place the bottom of the ladle flat on the center of batter. In an outward circular motion, spread the batter evenly.
- Drizzle oil sparingly on the Adai and allow it to cook for a couple of minutes.
- Run the tip of your spatula around the outer edge of the Adai allowing it to flip over easily.
- Flip the Adai to the other side. It should be golden-brown in color.
- Cook for another couple of minutes and serve immediately with a blob of butter or chutney. Serves 4.
Tips:
- If you do not have 3-4 hours for soaking, substitute Whole Mung for the split variety (daal) with skin. You can get away with soaking for about 30 minutes.
- Originally, Adai batter is coarsely ground. This makes Adai a more hearty meal, but takes a little longer to cook. Grind it to a fine consistency to reduce cooking time and make it a little lighter and kid-friendly.
- Like many other things, which are cooked on a griddle or a tava, the first Adai is usually a trial one. Adjust your temperature and cooking time accordingly.
- Also, tradionally, Adai requires more rice, but to make it healthier, I use more beans and daals and less of the rice.
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October 11th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
hey u gals rock!! im a bad cook but i tried quite a few of ur recipes…and trust me… fantabulous!!! i was wondering in the adai uv repeated 1/4 cup toor dal twice is that a typo or do u mean 1/2 cup…thanx a ton and keep postin videos its easier…thanx a ton…love ya both!!!!!
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October 11th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
also please please post recipes for rajma curry and dal makhni…pretty please..thanx
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October 19th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Hi,am that fan of urs again.can i store leftover batter for the next day, if yes, then how?
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October 19th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Hi Aparna,
Adai is just amazing…it has a great (3-5 days) refrigerator shelf life and it freezes very well also. Enjoy!
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January 23rd, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
Thank you for all your recipes. They are all very good. Please post recipes for rajma masala.
Rgds
Hema
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February 20th, 2008 at 12:46 am
I have some tips for the adai, you can add masoor dal (red lentils) instead of tur dal and it tastes great too. Just another way to sneek in some other variety of dal. Using red chillies instead of green while grinding is a more traditional version. Thanks for your recipe, its great..
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March 14th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
[...] Vaishali, for this awesome and super healthy snack. We loved it. This dish is a close cousin to Adai, so you can check the video on that to see how the Dosa/Dosai is made. Another tip – put the [...]
March 28th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Hi! I really like your website a lot! I went to India a few times, love the food, but couldn’t make it that good back home… now it’s getting better, thanks to you! I would like to know where I can buy curry-leaves. I did find the dried ones, but I would love to be able to cook with fresh ones… I hope you can tell me where to find it.
Thanks again and keep up the good work!
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March 28th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Hi Thijis,
Thanks for your kind words! Most of the Indian/Pakistani stores carry Curry leaves in the refrigerator section. Just google Indian/pakistani stores in your area and ask them for it next time.
Thanks again and hope this helps!
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July 2nd, 2008 at 7:54 am
EXCELLENT & HEALTHY RECEIPE.
VERY EASY TO PREPARE ALSO.
THANKS A TON..
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January 8th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
hello
ur receipes sounds great….wanna to cook immediately..but i have a doubt,is rice means idli rice or normal rice
thanks
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January 12th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Hi Bala,
For this dish, any rice will do. If you have Idli rice at home, use it otherwise use regular, Ponni or basmati rice. I usually make it with Basmati rice and they come out excellent.
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March 18th, 2009 at 4:31 am
hi hetal -anuja,
your recipes are really great…….i wanted to know when you say 1 cup water, what does it mean??? I mean approximately how many ml?
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March 19th, 2009 at 4:07 am
Hi dhwani,
A “cup” is a standard US measure which is 8 fluid ounces, so approx 237 ml.
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March 25th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Hi Hetal and Anuja
Adai is one of my favourite and it is healthy too, because of all the daals. To make it kid friendly i add grated carrot, cabbage and onion. u can even put Chou Chou. (but it has water so check for the consistency). It tastes yummy.
My mom even add coconut. For healthy reason i avoid it.
sujatha
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April 1st, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Your adai video was good and a few points are, adai is usually ground coarse and a handful of coconut added to the dough tastes wonderful. a great side for adai is Gur/Vellam as we tamilians call it. It should not be spread thin on the tava.
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April 6th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Hi ladies,
Using the same ingredients of Adai we make kunukku. Grind the ingredients roughly with minimum water. It should not be a pourable consistency, but thicker. You can omit onion and add coconut instead. Pinch small balls of the mix onto hot oil and deep fry till golden brown. Its excellent with evening coffee or tea.
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June 26th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Hi Anuja & Hetal,
I liked your website, the content and the concept a lot. I appreciate you efforts in teaching us various dishes….
Everyday I come to your website and learn a new dish… looking forward to many more in future.
Thanks!!
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October 14th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Loved this recipe.But the problem I face is that the batter does’nt spread evenly on the non stick pan that I use,so I end up making a thick version.What could be the reason for that?Could you please give me some tips so that I can make it crisp.
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vineeta Reply:
April 15th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
i also face the same problem…pls replyyy
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anuja Reply:
April 15th, 2011 at 2:35 pm
Hi Rasika and Vineeta,
Non-stick tends to get hot and cold really fast and does not maintain temperature like cast-iron.
The one we have used here is a very heavy-bottomed non-stick Calphalon tawa (usually use cast-iron for dosas) and it works well.
When you work with non-stick and dosas, the temperature is very crucial – a little fluctuation and the dosa will clump up or burn…
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March 31st, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Hey Girls,
That grinder/blender looks great n handy. Which brand n model is it? I am planning to buy one.
thanks.
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anuja Reply:
April 1st, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Hi Ami,
This one is a Cusinart Blender: Here is the link to show you the details (but we did not buy it from here):
http://www.cuisinart.com/products/blenders/cbt-500.html
We have a blender in our kitchen store as well and it has dry and wet attachments so it takes care of grinding spices as well. It is a little bit more cost wise but does a lot more. Here is the link for that:
http://showmethecurry.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/30?osCsid=okv5oatpt1u9a1k5njv5hmvc35
Hope that helps
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ami Reply:
April 1st, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Thanks a lot!!!!!
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May 13th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Amazing Amazing!!! No words to explain your efforts and the details you offer. Anuja, the way you spreaded the adai was too good. Exceptional
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June 25th, 2010 at 2:38 am
hi how are you recipes are good anja & hetal way go goood job spreaded good time
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September 16th, 2010 at 11:49 am
Hi I was just wondering can we leave out onions. as we do not eat them?
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hetal Reply:
September 16th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Hi Heena,
Absolutely…the adai will still taste great.
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June 4th, 2011 at 8:02 am
I just prepared Adai dosa for my family and guests..
..
They all loved it and appreciated a lot..
Funny thing is they all were wondering.. that its made up of RICE or DAL
..
I am recently getting married.. and i m trying out all your wonderful recipies..
I must say.. your recipies are just easy and quick.. Good job ladies..
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hetal Reply:
June 7th, 2011 at 7:34 pm
Hi Priyanka,
Thanks for the feedback and congratulations to you!
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December 30th, 2011 at 2:40 am
Dear Hetal / Anuja,
This came out awesome .. my hubby and kids loved it .. i will try 2 use urad dal next time .. just to make it more healthy and tastey .. also pls send the aloo mutter sandwich recipie .. thanks a lot.
Wish u all a very happy new year.
With best regards
Purvi
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January 24th, 2012 at 7:56 am
Thank You so very much for this simple and amazing appetizer I’m a 30 years old male and I’m sure gonna try it despite having no experience of cooking. Anuja did mention in the video,”we’ve washed all our daals and soaked it in water for about an hour”. But the recipe chart says,”soak ‘em for 3-4 hours. I need to know how much longer we really need to soak the rice and lentils in water.
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hetal Reply:
January 25th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
Hi Ikrima,
Sorry for the confusion. The recipe should have read 1-2 hours, not 3-4 hours. Thanks for pointing that out…its been corrected.
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January 30th, 2012 at 4:13 am
[...] to check this site that says : Also, tradionally, Adai requires more rice, but to make it healthier, I use more [...]