Adai - A protein rich breakfast

I did not know this is one of my favorite breakfast until I realized my mom making it every time I go home on a short break from college. I guess, I have too many favorites to keep track of. :-) This adai is a flavorful combination of rice and lentils with sauteed onions and hing. This is a very filling breakfast that you will not even think about a mid morning snack if you have this for your breakfast.

Sorry for the dull pictures. 

 

This recipe will yield approximately 6 adais.

Ingredients:

1. Idli rice - 1 cup

2. Mixture of dhals - 1 cup (I used uradh dhal, moong dhal, toor dhal and channa dhal in equal amounts to fill the cup)
3. Onion - 1 medium chopped finely
4. Dried Red chillies -2
5. Hing - a generous pinch
6. Salt - as needed

Method:

1. Soak rice and all the dhals together at least for 4 hours. Grind them into a coarse mixture with dried red chillies and salt and less water. When you touch the better it should feel like a mixture of coarse rava/sooji. The batter should be a bit thicker than idli batter.

2. In a hot tawa, add a teaspoon of oil. Add onions and saute till it get soft. Do not let it turn brown.
3. Add the sauteed onions with a generous pinch of hing to the batter.
4. Heat an iron griddle or a dosa pan, spray some cooking spray or oil.
5. Pour a spoon full of the batter and make a thick adai. Sprinkle oil on the sides of the adai. Keep the heat low. I kept it in 3 all the while while cooking adai. This is make the adai nice, crispy and golden brown. Lift it and see if the adai has turned golden brown and crispy.
6. Gently flip it over, add another spoon full of oil to the sides. Adding oil the second time is really optional. But this enhances the crispiness and taste. Remove it from heat once the other side turns crispy and golden brown.


Note: Adai tastes best as soon as you make the batter. Unfortunately, the adai doesn't come out well if the batter is stored in the refrigerator and used later. 

Serve it with coconut chutney.

I am sending this entry to Srivalli's "Breakfast Mela"