Adai | Lentil Dosa | Lentil Flapjacks

Adai is a delicious protein-rich rice and lentils pancake from the South Indian cuisine. A vegan dish.

The recipe shared here is a basic adai recipe that I make. Each household has its own proportions and the types of lentils they use. Also, the spices and seasonings added can vary from family to family. Adai is served with a variety of things like Idli Podi, homemade butter, jaggery, aviyal or even a choice of fresh chutney on the side.

Tips For Making Adai

Making adai is very easy. Rice and lentils are soaked and then ground to a slightly coarse batter. Also unlike making dosa you don’t need to ferment the batter. However, allow the batter to rest for about 1 to 2 hours as this helps in giving the adai a better taste and texture.
If you ferment the batter like dosa, then what you get is adai dosa, which also tastes delicious. If you want to make adai dosa, then ferment the batter for 4 to 7 hours and then make healthy adai dosa.
For soaking lentils you can soak them for 2 to 3 hours or even overnight.
Herbs and spices can be added less or more as per your requirements.
For the rice you can use either regular variety of rice or parboiled rice.

Ingredients:
2 cups rice,
1 cup urad dal,
½ cup tuar dal,
¼ cup chana dal,
1 inch size whole asafoetida,
3-4 whole red chillies,
5-6 curry leaves,
Salt as per taste

Method:
1.) Soak the rice and lentils for approximately 7-8 hrs.
2.) In a separate bowl soak the asafoetida and red chillies in half a cup of water.
3.) Grind all the ingredients in a grinder to form a paste. It should be mildly granular in consistency. Add salt to taste.
4.) Chop curry leaves, and add to the paste.
5.) In a non stick tawa, put a ladle full of batter and spread it like pancake.
6.) Serve it hot with jaggery, homemade butter, and spiced tomato chutney.