Adai is a nutritious high in protein and nutrient lentil crepe from Tamil Nadu cuisine, India. Sometimes referred to by the name of Adai Dosa by people who are not natives, they are prepared with rice, spices, and different varieties of lentils such as toor dal and chana dal, and Urd dal. Adai is exceptionally flavorful and tasty and is an excellent breakfast or dinner anytime during the day. The dish is served with Chutney and avial, a mix of vegetables. It is faster and simpler than making dosa, as it doesn’t require fermentation.
Indian crepes, also known in the form of dosas, are a well-known food in South Indian cuisine. The recipe for dosas is varied—Dosas with rice, lentils, grains, or even flour. Adai is a variation similar to Andhra Pesarattu, which is made from green moong dal and spices.
If you’re looking for a nutritious meal or want to add more protein to your eating habits, these are ideal! Adai is delicious in everything you eat – because of its flavor, texture, and nutritional value.
Adai Recipe
My Adai Recipe needs rice, chana dal, toor dal, a small portion of urad dal, and moong dal. Rice can give the dosa an adai-like firm texture and different lentils give different tastes.
The red chilies, ginger, the seeds of cumin, and hing are the main spices that provide additional flavor and spice up the dish with heat. These essential spices are vital; without them, the adai you make will taste plain.
Each Tamil family may use a different recipe, with various proportions of rice and lentils. My proportions work well for my family.
The family-favorite adai recipe is made with very little urad daal, and we prefer just a tiny amount of moong lentils, which increases the taste.
Adai dosas are usually slightly thicker than thinner dosas. The dosas are crisp and delicious!
Process of Making Adai Batter
Grains, lentils, and red chilies are soaked for four hours before being ground to form a thick, delicate batter. The batter can be ready to serve immediately. It can, however, be refrigerated for between 2 and 4 hours to increase the taste.
I typically soak, mix with a resting time, and put the batter into the refrigerator the night before for breakfast the following day. Sometimes I soak them in the night before (for up to 8 hours), blend them up in the morning, and make the batter immediately without waiting.
How To Make Adai?
Soak Lentils & Rice
1. Then add the 3/4 cup rice in a bowl. Wash at least three times. Pour in fresh water, and let it soak for 3-4 hours.
2. The stalks should be removed from the red chilies, which range from 4 to 5, and add them to the rice.
3. Add all the lentils into a bowl. 1/4 cup chana dal(chana), 1/4 cup of toor dal 2 tablespoons of urad dal, and 2 tbsps moong. Clean them and let them soak in water for 3-4 hours.
Make Batter
4. Remove water from the dish and include red chilies, rice, and 3/4 to 1 teaspoon of ginger (peeled) and cumin seeds into the blender in a jar. Add 1/4 cup of water into the jar to make a rich but slightly delicate batter.
5. Be sure that all rice grains have been crushed. If your blender container is not large enough, you can move the batter into a bowl of a larger size.
6. drain the water out of the dal and add it to the blender. Pour a little water to create the batter. Begin with 1 cup of water. Add more depending on the need to create the batter thick.
7. Blend until it becomes a rough and thick batter.
8. Add the adai batter into the bowl of batter. Mix thoroughly if you’ve put the rice batter aside. Rest and cover for 2 to 4 hrs. The batter can be made into Adai immediately. Resting the batter gives a nice flavor and aroma.
9. Once prepared to prepare the adai, put 2 tbsps of chopped coriander leaves, one-eighth tsp of hing, 1 tiny onion chopped finely, and salt. Suppose you add a lot of onions; they make it difficult to distribute the batter.
10. Mix everything thoroughly. Add water for the batter to reach a consistency. The consistency should be thin but not overly thin or too runny for crisp, thin dosas. It is possible to make the batter somewhat thin for a thicker consistency.
Adai traditionally is somewhat thicker. But it’s an individual choice.
Make Adai Dosa
11. Make sure to grease a pan with oil and cook it. The pan needs to be warm enough but not too warm. Otherwise, it will be hard to spread the batter.
If you don’t have a non-stick oven, you can grease the tawa and apply the cut of an onion. This will stop the adai from getting stuck to the skillet. The batter should be poured into the middle of the dish.
12. Make the batter spread out quickly in an oblong or thin according to your preference. Use oil or ghee if you like. Once it’s cooked, it will loosen the edges of the pan.13. Cook it on the opposite side. Cook for another turn and cook until the adai becomes crisp.
The best way to serve it is hot and accompanied by Chutney. I’ve had them served with garlic Chutney. Coconut chutney, or onion chutney, is an ideal side. The leftover Chutney can be refrigerated over adai batter to take out in the next two days.
Pro Tips
• The reduction in rice can result in more adai that is soft. The rice quantity mentioned in the recipe will give you a slightly crispy Adai.
• You could substitute toor Dal as well as chana dal for one. Substituting toor dal for Chana dal can make unique and delicious Adai, but making this the opposite way will not make the best flavor.
• Adding more urad dal to the recipe will give you an uncooked taste of urad dal Adai as it doesn’t ferment the batter. It is possible to choose not to include the urad daal and substitute it for another type of lentil.
• It is possible to use only Masoor daal (red lentils) as a substitute for all lentils used in the recipe. This recipe is tasty. However, it tastes better than traditional Adai.
• The batter can be kept refrigerated for 2 – 3 days. Make sure it is at temperatures at room temperature before use. If necessary, you can add liquid as the batter gets in thickness after being left to rest.
• To get the best results, refrigerate the batter at room temperature before making the adai. Making adai with cold batter can cause discoloration or turns brown without cooking it properly.
• If you’re looking for crisp adai, make sure to add rice flour to the batter that has been refrigerated.
Ingredients (Us Cup = 240ML )
• 1/4 cup of rice (idly rice ) or short-grain parboiled rice such as sona masuri, ponni or)
• 1/4 cup chana dal (split-skinned bengal Gram)
• 1/4 cup toor dal (split-skinned pigeon peas)
• 2 tablespoons moong dal (split-skinned Green Gram)
• 2 tablespoons of urad Dal (split-skinned black grams)
• 3/4-inch to 1-inch ginger
• Four to five red chilies (l choose a less spicy variety and adjust according to the preferences)
• 3/4-1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/8 teaspoon Hing (asafoetida)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (adjust the amount to suit your needs)
• It is necessary to use water to batter
• 2 tablespoons oil or ghee, if required
• 1 onion chopped finely
• 2 tablespoons of coriander leaves, cut finely
Cooking Steps & Instructions
- All the lentils, chana toor, urad, toor, and moong dal, into an enormous bowl. Clean them well and repeat the washing several times.
- After that, add chilies and red peppers to the rice. Make sure you soak them in enough water. In it for between 2 and 4 hours. It is also possible to leave them in the dark for up to 8 hours.
- Place rice in a large bowl, and wash it a couple of times. The rice can be left to soak for between 2 and 4 hours or up to overnight.
- The baking batter for adai
- If you’re in the process of grinding your batter, remove the liquid and wash them properly.
- Combine the red and rice in a blender container with 1/4 cup of fresh water. Blend until a rough paste or a thick batter. Add additional water if needed. It must be a thick batter. Pour it into a bowl.
- Include cumin, dal, and ginger in the container. Add 1/4 cup water to mix to create a dense and coarse batter.
- You can add additional water as needed.
- Mix all this into the rice batter. The batter should be dense but of a spreading consistency. Rest between 2 and 4 hours. There is also the option of not resting.
How to make adai?
- The pan should be heated. Put a couple of drops of oil in the pan and then spread it across the pan using the help of a kitchen towel. The pan should be heated at a moderate temperature.
- As the skillet heats up, cook, add diced onions, salt coriander leaves, and hing into the batter. Combine everything thoroughly. Test the taste and then adjust the salt.
- If you would like to create thick adai, then the consistency of the batter should be dense but with a spreading consistency.
- Suppose you prefer adai with a thinner consistency and want to add water as required. Mix thoroughly to improve the consistency to a thinner batter that is not flowing. The batter needs to be spread onto the pan.
- Adjust the flame until it is medium. Check that the pot is very hot.
- Make a ladle of batter on top and apply it to the pan quickly, like dosa. Then spread it out to a thickness or thinness of adai you like.
- Incorporate 1/2 tsp oil or ghee to the edges. Cook over a medium flame.
- After it has been cooked one way, the edges loosen off the pan a bit. Then, turn it over and cook the opposite side. Be sure to cook it on both sides until it is crisp.
- To make your next adai ensure that you heat the pan thoroughly; it must be warm but not hot enough to smoke.
Serve dosa adai with coconut chutney or any other Chutney.
