Adai, also called Adai Dosa, is a protein-rich South Indian pancake made with rice, mixed lentils, herbs and spices. The Adai recipe involves soaking rice and lentils, then grinding them to a semi-coarse batter. Unlike regular dosa, the batter is not fermented.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 130 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 160 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Breakfast, Main Course, Snacks
  • Cuisine: South Indian, Tamil Nadu

Ingredients

  • ½ cup regular rice (or idli rice or parboiled rice)
  • ¼ cup chana dal ((split and husked bengal gram))
  • ¼ cup urad dal ((split and husked black gram))
  • ¼ cup tuvar dal ((tur dal, arhar dal, pigeon pea lentils))
  • 2 dry red chilies (- byadagi or kashmiri, seeds removed)
  • 1.5 cups water (- for soaking)
  • 1.5 teaspoons chopped ginger
  • 1 generous pinch asafoetida ((hing))
  • 1 chopped green chili (- optional)
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds (- optional)
  • ⅔ to ¾ cup water (- for grinding or add as required)
  • ⅓ cup onions ((finely chopped) or finely chopped or pearl onions or shallots)
  • 2 teaspoons curry leaves ((chopped finely) or or 8 to 10 curry leaves, chopped)
  • ¼ cup coriander leaves ((chopped))
  • ¼ cups grated coconut (- optional)
  • salt (as required)
  • oil (as required)

Method

Soaking rice and lentils

  1. Rinse and then soak regular rice or idli rice, chana dal, urad dal and tuvar dal and dry red chilies (byadagi or kashmiri) in 1.5 cups water for 2 to 3 hours. You can also keep overnight.

Making adai batter

  1. Later drain all the water and add the rice, lentils and red chilies in a grinder jar.
  2. Also add chopped ginger and hing. At this step you can also add 1 green chili and ½ teaspoon cumin seeds.
  3. Add ⅔ to ¾ cup water and grind to a semi coarse medium-thick batter. Do not make the batter fine.
  4. Take all the batter in a mixing bowl. Cover and keep aside for minimum 20 minutes or till 1 to 2 hours.
  5. Now add finely chopped onions (or pearl onions or shallots), chopped coriander leaves and chopped curry leave. You can also add grated coconut.
  6. Add salt as required. Mix very well.

Making adai

  1. Heat a cast iron skillet or tawa and spread a bit of oil on it.
  2. Take a ladle full of the batter and pour the batter on tawa. quickly spread the batter to a round circle.
  3. With a back of a spoon make a small dent or hole in the center. This helps in cooking the adai evenly.
  4. Drizzle some oil in the center as well as on the sides.
  5. Cook on medium-low to medium heat till the adai is crisp and golden. Then flip them. You can also cover it with a lid and then cook.
  6. Cook the adai on the second side till it is cooked well and has golden brown spots. Flip and then serve. Make adai in batches this way.
  7. You can serve protein-rich adai with some white butter, jaggery, idli-dosa podi or avial. You can also pair it with coconut chutney or tomato chutney or tomato-onion chutney.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.