Monday, November 12, 2007

eat adai with ada




adai belongs to the dosai genre.not as frequently made either at home or in a restaurant as the normal dosai. nevertheless, a popular morning breakfast in many households in tamil nadu. while idli and dosai have only one dal in the batter which is black gram dal (urad dal), adai has three dals in the batter. black gram dal (urad), red gram dal (tur) and bengal gram dal (chana). our cook gb adds green gram dal (mung) as well. to make it a formidable foursome of lentils. when compared to the dosai, adai is packed with more proteins.

if you want to make say about six adais,here is the recipe.take one medium-sized cup of parboiled rice and equal proportion of chana,mung and tur dal. udad dal should be twice the quantity of chana or mung or tur dal. soak them together in water overnight. grind to a coarse batter with red chillies,green chillies,salt and asfoetida adding enough water to get a proper dosai batter consistency. keep the batter thick. some ferment the batter. some don't.

heat on adai tawa and keep the heat at moderate.pour a tsp of oil on the tawa and smear it with a piece of cloth.pour a ladle full of batter in the middle. with the base of the ladle spread the batter to form a thick circle. make a hole in the centre. add 2 tsp oil in the centre and around the adai. wait for the underside to get properly roasted. it will take a golden brown colour. the top will be slightly cooked. loosen the edges with the spatula and carefully turn it over. add a tsp of oil and cook the other side.till well roasted.serve hot with molagapodi(gunpowder) and jaggery mixed with butter.many thanks to andu paatti for her tips.

there are some variants like when finely chopped onion is mixed with the batter or chopped fenugreek leaves are added to the batter at the time of making the adai. you can add also two tbsp fully grated coconut to the batter.

adai is one of my favourite breakfast dishes.when i was young we had a lady cook from srirangam who insisted on making adais everyday for breakfast. maybe that has rubbed off on me. one thing is certain. you will not feel hungry for about six hours after consuming two adais with its accompaniments. follow it up with coffee or a glass of buttermilk.

that is called eating adai with ada (panache). a power breakfast 'extraordinaire'.

8 comments:

David J said...

Oh! I'd love to try this! It looks great!

scribe said...

Gopal Shett:
Kai thari saanga, punn, one of the best "adais" available is from Grand Sweets in Gandhinagar with its cholesterol-dipped oil and slimy avial, and you are assured of an expedited heart ailment!
But, then which is better? Quality or quantity? Last month we had reason to discuss this adai item when RVR and Kamala (from Bangalore) visited me in Chennai
Cheers,
Rangarajanbhai (from Frankfurt).
Btw, I also responded to your Monsoon blog of 2004 two days ago.

Aarthi said...

Yes I love adais too and it is true that once you eat it you will full for a while :)
I really enjoyed reading your adai post.... thanks :)

gs said...

hello david
do try it.you will not regret it.two for breakfast will see you through the day.

gs said...

hello david
do try it.you will not regret it.two for breakfast will see you through the day.

gs said...

namaskar rajanbhai
tumcha purvi email je mumbai cha paus var hota,te milali.tumhi maaza "koozh" cha blog vaanchla ka? te vaanchun maala email techavar paatva.

gs said...

hello aarthi
thanks for your comments.did you read my post on "koozh".i would like to know whether you have ever tasted "koozh".

David J said...

Ahh yes of course I'd love to but where could I possibly find a specialty like this in Darwin?

I'll have to devise a cunning plan to infiltrate a social network of people who are actually familiar with this special food, then somehow convince someone who is capable of preparing the food that they simply must make some for me to sample.
May not be as difficult as it sounds.
If I mention this in casual conversation, see if anyone is familiar with the dish then wham, before they know it I'm invited for breakfast! lol
It's gotta be worth a try.