This is the first day of our Mega Marathon when we blog about Flatbreads & More. As I declared yesterday, I am doing A to Z of Dosais thanks to a mutiny by the husband and daughter. My original dish for A was to be Appam which is not only my favorite dish but also that which has been on my to-do list for more than 2 years. But I can’t begin to tell you how big a disaster it turned out to be when I tried it. I couldn’t even salvage one decent looking appam to click a picture. So, with a heavy heart I had to abandon it. The problem was that I had multiple dishes for some other letters but I was so confident of my appam making skills (can’t believe myself!) that I had no backup dish for the letter A. Can you imagine a more chaotic beginning to a month long mega marathon? Well, actually I can thanks to the other mega marathons I have done and survived.
Anyway, so I finally figured that Adai starts with A and also surprisingly I hadn’t posted the recipe yet despite the frequency of it being an early dinner or late breakfast. This recipe is a combination of my mother’s and mother-in-law’s. I kind of picked up stuff I liked about each recipe and made one for myself.
Makes 6-7 Adais
WHAT WE NEED
3/4 cup Toor dal / pigeon pea lentil
3/4 cup Chana dal / Bengal gram
2 tbsp Urad dal / Black skinless lentil
2 tbsp Masoor dal / Red lentils
3/4 cup Raw rice or Little Millet
2-3 Dried red chillies
1-2 Sprigs of Curry leaves
A pinch of asofoetida
Salt
Oil
Water
WHAT TO DO
- Wash and soak the lentils along with the dried red chillies in water for 3-4 hours
- Wash and soak the rice / millets in water for 3-4 hours
- If you do not have enough time, soak them in hot water for half an hour
- Add salt and grind the lentils, chillies and rice to a coarse mixture
- Add chopped curry leaves and asofoetida and mix well
- Add some water to make a thick batter
- Heat a tava and pour a ladle full of batter on it
- Spread it in a circular shape but not too thin
- Pour oil around the adai and also a few drops on the batter
- After 2-3 minutes, use a steel spatula to disengage the adai from the tava and turn it over
- Simmer the gas and let it cook for a minute
- Take it off the heat and repeat the same procedure for the rest of the batter
- Serve warm with avial, butter or jaggery
- Enjoy!
NOTES
- I have made this recipe with rice and millets and it tastes good with either option
- Keep the ratio between the lentils and rice anywhere between 1:1 and 2:1. The taste will differ but it will be good
- You can also mix up the lentils as you like. If you like any one of the lentils more, you can increase the quantity and reduce the quantity of the other lentils accordingly.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 92
Bread Therapy 
Thats an incredible theme, A to Z dosais, sounds wonderful. Am sure you gonna rock with this theme SowmyaNutritious and protein adai looks absolutely prefect to finish my dinner.
LikeLike
I was expecting International flat breads from you Sowmya as you are a bread master 😀
But seriously, this theme is far better in the sense that I’ll get to learn so many dosai from you
LikeLike
I was also expecting International flatbreads from you Sowmya! Adai is such a classic favorite and I love mixing and matching the lentils and millets and rice when making it. Love the vellam, vennai and aviyal on the side. Nothing can eat these combinations.
LikeLike
Good one, Sowmya. I have had appam in my to-do list for more years than I can count and I cannot imagine the stress of a failed recipe before the mega bm. Good that you could come up with Adai as a backup.
LikeLike
Appam is still on my to do lists , but truly Adai is such a lovely , nutritious breakfast , and you have got a scrumptious one here . I am already hungry , looking forward to the series which would be a great learning experience .
LikeLike
A nice surprise Sowmya. I thought you will be doing International theme. I know you will do great in this theme too. Waiting for all your dosas this month. Between the adai looks awesome and it is one of most fav breakfast dishes.
LikeLike
Excited to see 26 different varieties of dosas’s from you. The adai looks very delicious and tempting.
LikeLike
I’m so glad you’re doing the dosa pancake version. I really need to learn more types of chilas or adai. A tempting beginning to the Marathon, would have never thought of using toor dal for adai or chilas.
LikeLike
ye Adai came first in my mind to start this BM. This is such a protein-packed breakfast and very healthy. Great to see that you have used dals which are not commonly included in adai. Looking delicious.
LikeLike
I love Dosas and I am so glad you picked up that theme..:)..We love appam and make it alternate sundays and love the spongy texture. Though I am so fond of Adai, we dont’ make that often and also ours is a thinner version, so surely bookmarking this..
LikeLike
I assumed you would be doing an international theme Sowmya!Can’t wait to see the other dosa varieties in this series. Adai is such a protein packed breakfast and a good pick for the day.
LikeLike
Wow.. great start of mega marathon with dosa or crepes… Looks so yumm and tasty. Healthy recipe.
LikeLike
He he ! Same pinch on the dosa series , Sowmya although I am not officially part of the BM group but decided to post the series anyways 🙂 appam ditched me terribly too ! But I think this Adai does justice to the alphabet . I loved the golden hue here
LikeLike