South Indian cuisines are famous in most of the countries. Every food prepared in these South Indian states bring unique and rich flavor to the simplest ingredients when they are used in the dishes. Apart from the curries, they are also famous for breakfast. While dosa is well known worldwide, there’s another dish from the state of Tamil Nadu, adai which falls into the same category because of its similarities. Dosa typically refers to the version made with rice and lentils, many other versions exist too. The difference is that adai batter is not fermented and usually eaten with jaggery or aviyal. Also, adai texture is fluffier and thicker than dosas.
Health benefits
Black gram or urad dal contains a high amount of magnesium, potassium, folic acid, and iron. Black gram helps the body to energize and keeps you active. It is also rich in fiber content which aids in improving digestion. Pigeon pea/toor dal also contains very high fiber and reduces the risk of chronic diseases.
Fenugreek is another rich ingredient that contains healthy polysaccharide. It is helpful in breaking down body fat and sugar metabolism in the body and has high galactomannan. Hence, it helps in weight loss by making your stomach feel fuller.
Ingredients
cup – rice: 1
cup – toor dal/ pigeon pea: 1/4
cup – chana dal/ yellow gram: 1/4
tbsp – urad dal/black gram: 2
tbsp – mung dal/green gram: 2
tsp – fenugreek seeds: 1/4
dried red chili: 5
tbsp – finely chopped onions: 2
tbsp – finely chopped coriander: 2
tsp – ginger paste: 1/2
tsp – cumin seeds: 1
pinch – asafetida / hing: 1
tsp – salt: 1
oil
How To Make Adai Recipe
- Soak toor dal, chana dal, urad dal, mung dal, fenugreek seeds for 2 hours in warm water. They can be even soaked overnight.
- Soak rice in a separate bowl for 5hrs or
- Blend all the soaked stuff by adding red chili and water as required.
- Transfer the batter into a large mixing bowl.
- Add chopped onions, coriander, ginger paste, cumin seeds, asafetida and salt to the batter. Mix well.
- Check for the thick flowing consistency, add water if required
- Take a Tawa, pour a ladleful of batter and spread gently.
- Spray 1tsp of oil on adai.
- Allow it to cook on a medium flame
- Flip the adai and let it cook another side by pressing gently
- Fold the adai dosa. It can be served with coconut chutney or peanut chutney or ginger chutney
Adai taste great when they are served hot. Pack them in insulated containers or steel lunch box so you can eat it warm after a few hours.
Trivia
Fenugreek extract is used to prepare syrups like maple, rum, and butterscotch. It is also used in curry powders, other spice blends, and pickles.
Toor Dal is the most widely used pulses in India. It is also used commonly across Asian countries, especially in vegetarian dishes. It is one of the many lentils and belongs to the category of legumes (pulses/beans) known for their nutritional value since ages.