Adai recipe, learn how to make adai recipe, a protein-packed lentil pancake or dosa that’s popular in South India, particularly Tamil Nadu.
The plate of adai above is from my Amma. She made it and the two chutneys, my uncle took the pic, and they sent it over to me a few months back. I kept meaning to post the adai recipe but that never happened.
Then I went back home for Christmas vacation and Amma made it again because I love adai (or ada as we call it) but TH is not a fan and so I have never tried making them myself at the time of writing this. Edited to add: this has changed now, of course. I have sine then used Amma’s adai recipe many times and even made this spinach adai , a healthier and really tasty variation.
But they are delicious and protein-packed although not really an instant option. Just like regular dosas, some prior planning and soaking needs to happen to get them going.
More interesting and different dosa recipes:
Sago dosa
Jowar dosa
Instant rava dosa
Instant wheat dosa
Adai Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup of par-boiled rice I have tried raw rice and that turns out well too
- 1 cup of whole skinned urad dal / ulutham paruppu / uzhunnu parippu
- 1 cup of mix of toor dal or peas dal and channa dal
- 5 dry red chillies
- A few curry leaves
- 8 shallots sliced thin or use 1 small onion
- 1/4 tsp of asafoetida powder / perungaayam
- 1/2 cup of grated coconut optional
- 1 tsp of salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
- Gingelly or Indian sesame oil for cooking the adai
Instructions
- Soak the rice, urad dal, and the mixed dals separately in water for at least 2 hours and a maximum of 4 hours. Add the red chillies to one of the bowls and let them soak as well (or you can just add 1 tsp red chilli powder when grinding the dals).
- Grind the urad dal first with little water. It doesn't need to be a smooth paste just more or less so. Then grind the rice, again not super smooth but just ground well.
- Finally grind the mixed dals along with the chillies to a paste. Use adequate water to let them grind. You can add in the coconut at this stage too, if using.
- Mix these together along with salt, asafoetida, chopped shallots, turmeric, and curry leaves torn roughly. Mix well with enough water to make a batter that's the consistency of dosa batter.
- Pour one ladleful on an oiled griddle or tawa and spread into a circle. Make sure the dosa is not too thick.
- Flip over after a minute or so and cook the other side until golden brown.
- The above is one way of doing it, just like regular dosas, but I prefer the lacy dosas that amma makes. For that, add more water to the batter and make it much more watery. You won't be able to spread them on the griddle so just pour on it starting from the outer circle, filling the gaps as you go. With this method you end up with lacy adai with crispy edges and it's just delicious.
- We usually serve adai with chutney but avial is a popular combination too
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Soak the rice, urad dal, and the mixed dals separately in water for at least 2 hours and a maximum of 4 hours. Add the red chillies to one of the bowls and let them soak as well (or you can just add 1 tsp red chilli powder when grinding the dals).
2. Grind the urad dal first with little water. It doesn’t need to be a smooth paste just more or less so. Then grind the rice, again not super smooth but just ground well.
3. Finally grind the mixed dals along with the chillies to a paste. Use adequate water to let them grind. You can add in the coconut at this stage too, if using.
4. Mix these together along with salt, asafoetida, chopped shallots, turmeric, and curry leaves torn roughly. Mix well with enough water to make a batter that’s the consistency of dosa batter.
5. Pour one ladleful on an oiled griddle or tawa and spread into a circle. Make sure the dosa is not too thick.
6. Flip over after a minute or so and cook the other side until golden brown.
7. The above is one way of doing it, just like regular dosas, but I prefer the lacy dosas that amma makes. For that, add more water to the batter and make it much “looser”. You won’t be able to spread them on the griddle so just pour on it starting from the outer circle, filling the gaps as you go. I hope the pictures below explain this.
The batter should be loose enough to spread as you pour and cover up the gaps and you can help it along the way by filling the gaps. This way, the crepes take much longer to cook but the patience is worth it. You end up with lacy adai with crispy edges and it’s just delicious.
We usually serve adai with 2 types of chutneys – red chilli chutney and thick coconut chutney (as shows in the first picture) or some random curry that’s left over.
Traditionally, Tamilians serve adai with . In fact, most restaurants serve adai-avial as a combination like puttu and kadala. I don’t think that’s done in Kerala though, correct me if I am wrong.
Oh boy, I am craving adai now. Too bad I have to go bury my face in some unhealthy snacks at work instead!
For adai recipe in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Urdu etc please use the Google translate button in the sidebar.
when i make this recepie the batter is little bit bitter.how it happens?
Finally made these last night- a big hit with TH and my 18 mo. old. It took a lot of thinning out to get the batter the proper consistency, I must not have added enough water during grinding. By the 3rd dosa, crispiness was achieved!
Thanks for another winner for my rotation!
We eat this adai with butter nd even jackfruit jam or Chaka varati!! It tastes yum.
Hi Miss Nags- a frequent lurker, I'm coming out of the shadows to third or fourth the request for the chilli chutney recipe in the pic as the accompaniment- looks awesome! Making these adai will be my weekend food project 🙂
On a side note, thanks for all your work on this blog- my husband is Indian, Gujarati from Mumbai, and a very picky eater! And you don't know how many times you have saved me with dinner & lunch ideas – I had just begun learning Indian cooking techniques when we met (so different from Western/French based methods) but books don't help with those little tips like a sister or mom would know, that you give. So, thank you thank you!
All the best,
Kate, Sunnyside NYC
i keep forgetting to ask my mom for the chilly chutney recipe. will do this weekend when i call her. also, it's very sweet of you to take the trouble to learn your husband's taste in cooking and the techniques. it's definitely very different from western-style cooking. glad the recipes help. don't hesitate to ask any questions or for help when needed 🙂
Hi Nags
Do you know how to make sponge dosa. If yes then please post its recipe.
hii
can u please share the chutney recipie.. it looks yummmmmmmmmmy
hii Nags..
can u please share the chutney recipie..
Hi Nags, I have been browsing through your blog for a few days now. Made the kathirikkai poriyal, which was super good.
How long does the ada batter stay? Do I have to make it fresh every time?
When amma makes at home, she adds tapioca(kappa) while grinding the batter. It comes out really nice.
i think it can stay fresh for a day in the fridge. haven't kept it longer. never heard of adding kappa to the adai batter, very interesting!
wow, that looks superb and so tempting 🙂
My dosas never come out well. Have come across wonderful recipes but sigh! So I am gonna just drool over your pictures and move on 😀
Chef Al dente
Ongoing event – Gimme GREEN!