is surely my favorite meal! I go through phases – cereal phase, oatmeal phase, PB&J craze, eggs on toast and more recently a deep love for protein-rich Adai – a South-Indian Lentil Crepe. I used to follow my moms recipe for the longest time and then a dear friend and culinary co-enthusiast shared her recipe with included whole lentils. After some permutations and combinations of both variations, I have arrived at this delicious recipe that really works for me.
So here goes (along with my first video demonstration!) – Adai – South-Indian Lentil crepes 🙂
tuar dal/yellow pigeon peas – 1/4 cup
moong dal/split green gram without the skin – 1/4 cup
akha moong dal/whole green gram – 1/4 cup
akha urad dal/whole black gram – 1/4 cup
rice – 1/2 cup
dry red chilies – 6-7
curry leaves – 6-7
jeera/cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
asafoetida – 1 teaspoon
salt to taste – about 1 and a 1/2 teaspoons
oil of your choice to cook the adai/crepes
Servings: about 5 (10 Adais)
Note: You can substitute other types of lentils of your choice and also play with the rice to lentil proportion to see what you like best. It almost always works!
Procedure:
1. Making the Adai batter:
a. Soak the rice and lentils in water overnight or for 6-8 hours.
b. Drain excess water.
c. Finely grind the soaked lentils and rice along with the other ingredients (chilies, curry leaves, cumin seeds, asafoetida and salt). Adjust salt and spice to taste.
You can use the batter right away or you can let it ferment for 6-8 hours and then refrigerate for later use. You can store it for 4-5 days in the fridge.
2. Making the Adai:
a. Heat the flat pan on medium to high heat.
b. Once hot, pour a ladle full of batter in the center of the pan and spread out in concentric circles (see video below for illustration).
c. Pour a few drops of oil (about a teaspoon per adai) along the edged and in the center. The oil is essential to cook the whole lentils well.
d. Once the edges begin to brown, flip carefully to cook the other side. Each side will take a minute or two to cook. You can adjust the duration based on how crisp you would like the adai. Longer = crisper.
e. Once both sides are cooked to your preference, fold carefully in half and serve.
All done!
Hearty flavorful Adai (South-Indian Lentil Crepe) is ready to devour 🙂
Adai is served traditionally with fresh white butter and vellam (jaggery). I like it with yogurt and some sorta pickle or spicy chutney.
I could eat adai everyday! One of the nicest things about a protein-rich breakfast like this is that it sustains you much longer and I can actually wait until lunchtime to eat lunch.
To breakfast:)
