adai - dosa’s cousin

i first had this at my in laws….amma makes it a point to cook up all of K’s favourites while we are visiting…and rest be assured that adai will be on the breakfast menu atleast twice….initially, for someone who felt even rava dosa was a contamination of dosas, it was a shock!! (ofcourse, now K claims that i can make a dosa out of water even!!………….quite a compliment me thinks!!) …..the flavours and texture of adai was so different from what i was used to….then i tried making friends and savouring the flavours instead of battling them…..i also don’t quite get the formula right because for me it is a matter of what is easily available on hand….so this isn’t true to the recipe that amma follows….I just throw together 2-3 dals in equal proportions with ½ cup of rice that’s it….it’s also a great way of using up the small measures of leftover dals….i love the convenience of a dal dosa, because there is no process of fermentation. the dals have to be soaked for a couple of hours and the batter when ground is ready to use immeditely. not just this, since it is full of lentils, it is high on proteins and makes for a filling a nutritious breakfast…..i also looked at and was immediately hooked on to shyam’s tomato chutney.… this is what we had the adai with, and a spot of kobbari kaaram….the combination is great and the tangy sharpness of the chutney really enhanced the flavour of the adai. So here goes…this one’s off to the dosa mela….in a sense I am kind of dreading the roundup….being the dosa freak that I am….i might want to try them all out!!

For the adai’s (makes 20)

½ cup parboiled or regular rice

½ cup each of any three kinds of lentils / dals ( I used masoor or red gram, channa or Bengal gram and whole moong with the skins)

2-3 whole red chillies

¼ t of asafetida

Salt to taste

Soak the dals and rice for 3-4 hours or overnight. Grind with the red chillies, salt and asafetida to make a thick batter, adding 1 cup of water. At my mother in law’s place the adai’s are thicker and crisper than dosa, I prefer them thinner so add water according to your preference.

Place a non stick / cast iron skillet on a medium flame and heat.

Place one large spoonful of batter and spread to make a pancake / dosa.

Drizzle a little oil on the corners ( I omit this since I use a non stick tava)

Cook till crisp and brown, turn over and cook on the other side too.

Serve hot (taste and texture is much better) with chutney, sambhar or podi

You can add cumin seeds, finely chopped fresh coriander, green chillies and grated ginger too…go on!! Experiment!!