Padhuskitchen


Protein and Iron rich Adai recipe

by 101 Comments

Adai is made of lentils and rice. It is usually prepared for breakfast and is filling and healthier than dosa. I have added a handful of drumstick leaves to increase the nutritional value. So this adai is rich in iron also. It is very simple to prepare and does not need much planning as for dosa. It goes well with avial, chutney, jaggery and butter. You can grind a handful of soaked chick peas/garbanzo beans along with rice if preferred but I did not add. Adai with butter- hmmm heavenly. Today we will learn how to make adai (Tamil style) following this easy recipe with step wise pictures.

South Indian Adai- step by step pictures

Adai Recipe/Adai Dosa Recipe (Indian Lentil Crepes)


Adai

 Prep Time : 10 mins (excluding soaking time)

 Cook Time : Less than 5 mins per adai
 Yields: 6-7 adais
 Recipe Category: Breakfast
 Recipe Cuisine: South Indian
 Author:

   Ingredients needed

   Raw rice – 1/2 cup
   Par Boiled rice (Puzhungal Arisi)- 1/2 cup
   Tur dal – 1/2 cup
   Bengal gram/channa dal – 1/4 cup
   Urad dal – 1 tbsp
   Green chilli -2
   Red chilli -3
   Ginger -1 small bit
   Asafoetida/hing -1/4 tsp
   Salt as required
   Oil for making adai ( sesame seed oil preferable)

   Ingredients to add to the batter 

   Onion -2-3 finely chopped
   Coconut -2 tbsp grated
   Curry leaves – little
   Grated carrot -1/2 carrot (optional)
   Drumstick leaves -handful (optional)

Preparation

Soak rice and dal together for 4- 5 hours.

Grind it coarsely along with red chilli, green chilli, ginger, hing and salt. The batter should not be thick nor watery.

Add finely chopped onions, few tender curry leaves, grated coconut and drumstick leaves to the batter. Adai batter is now ready.

Adai RecipeSurprise your kids like this. Bring your ears closer, this is just to make them eat. Tomato chutney becomes red sea.

Method

Heat a griddle or a non stick tawa and pour a ladle of batter and spread it in circular motion. Drizzle a tsp of oil around the adai. Make 3-4 holes with the back of the ladle and drizzle little oil on the holes also.  Let it get cooked.

Once cooked, flip it over to the other side and drizzle another tsp of oil around the adai. Let it get cooked.

After both sides are cooked well, remove from tawa and serve it hot with chutney or butter or jaggery or idly milagai podi.

Adai

Enjoy the adai with butter and chutney.

Note– Add finely chopped onions and coconut only to needed batter. You can refrigerate the rest of the batter. The batter stays good for 2-3 days if onions or coconut are not added to it.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  15. Bindhu Unny

    Adai looks very yummy. Liked your blog and its presentation.
    I've a minor suggestion – You've mentioned adai as a South Indian recipe. I think it's a popular one in Tamil Nadu. As I am from Kerala, I know the ada there is not spicy and not made using lentils. Instead, it's made of rice flour and stuffed/mixed with coconut and jaggery/sugar. I guess it'll be better if you mention the specific area of the recipe's origin instead of giving a general region. Apologies, if I offended you.
    🙂

    Reply

    • Parvatee

      Actually you are only partly correct. In Kerala we do make ada dosa…and it is made with chillies! The ratio of lentils and the types of lentils vary of course. (we use toor, urad and rice in ada dosa). Ada, the sweet of course is different and is not a dosa. I am from Kerala.. 🙂

      Reply

  22. Abhilash Pillai

    good prepration.

    Here we have adai with jaggery and coconut stuffings. This is new and appears crisp.

    I have often a dish similar to this called as onion uthappam. It looks something like this but I am not aware about the recipe of that dish.

    I like it very much.
    When I get time may be on weakends I will try your recipe of adai.

    Reply

  24. Dolly

    Beautiful presentation. That will surely make my kids eat. I did not know there could be so many variations in preparing Adai.

    Thanks for your comments on my blog.I'm a fairly new blogger too. You have an impressive selection of recipes for being a new blogger. Keep up the good work.

    Reply

  28. Oraphan

    That looks so amazing! I love how you decorated the dish with happy face, so adorable.
    Your blog is so wonderful, I found so many easy recipes here. Can't wait to look through your blog. Thanks for stopping by my blog and for the lovely comment:)

    Reply

  30. Rohini

    Thats such a cute presentation Padhu.. No doubt kids will fall for them! 😉 Adai with butter, wow, lovely combo!
    Btw, buddy, Please collect your awards from my blog! 🙂

    Reply

  37. Sanjana

    Adai with butter and chutney looks amazing… something I would love to eat! The little salad pics are a great way to get little ones to eat veggies too 😀 great job! Thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving such a lovely comment, I really appreciate it! Great blog, I'm definetely following you, Padhu! Do stop by my blog often 🙂

    Reply

  47. KavyaNaimish

    wow Padhu I loved the way U presented the food for ur kids…they must be excited cing them….1st time here…will c all ur creative ideas n will write back again…Happy New year to u n ur family

    Reply

  48. Suma Rowjee

    Hi Padhu! Thank you for visiting my blog! You have decorated all your dishes very creatively. Would love to try out this Adai sometime. Can raw rice be used as a substitute for the boiled rice? I normally do not stock boiled rice at home. Will be following you.

    Reply

  55. PadhuSankar

    There is not need to ferment but if you like it a bit sour you can leave it for 4-5 hours and then prepare adai. Usually I grind it in the afternoon to make adai for dinner.

    Reply

  59. akshaya

    really very good presentation…its a healthy recipe and one of my favorites…we can also sprinkle…grated paneer…while serving….just for a change….otherwise this itself is filling…great!!

    Reply

  68. Unknown

    Love Adai. Your recipe is great. You also capture such wonderful and mouth watering photos. Your blog is a great motivator for cooking enthusiasts like me. Thank you and keep it coming.

    Reply

  69. APD

    Hi, I have tried.so many recipes of yours and i am fan of your recipe .especially j want to thank you for the kids recipe ideas.

    Reply

  70. Aswathy Asok

    Hi Padhu, just wanted you to know that I gained confidence in cooking after trying our your recipes. Keep up the good work. Just wanted to know whether we need to use an actual dosa grinder to make the batter or do we just use a mixie?

    Reply

    • Padhu Sankar

      Thank you so much Aswathy. Glad to know that you found my blog useful. You can grind for adai in mixie. For idli and dosa also, you can use the Indian mixie but I personally prefer the grinder as it gives more volume to the batter.

      Reply

    • Unknown

      The common feeling among many fine cooks is :- For adai batter, you can use the mixie since you'll be using the batter soon after. For dosa and idli, where you need to ferment the batter overnight, it is best to use a grinder. The mixie heats up the batter a little and this affects the final taste, the texture/consistency etc. A little finicky perhaps, but I think it's true.

      Reply

  71. Raji

    Hi, I tried this..taste wise it came out well…but I didn't get the same color..it was kind of pale yellow…not sure why…
    Anyways I have tried many of your recipes…really awesome..keep up the good work…Thanks

    Reply

  72. deepali kubal

    Hi Padhu.. I tried the Adai recipe today for breakfast.. It really turned out awesome. Its really filling and power pack..
    Rava Dosa i like a lot.. its my favorite.. your recipe made it turned out to be wonderful…
    Thanks a lot.

    Reply

  74. Unknown

    Hi Padhu! I usually make very good adai but this time, when I soaked for adai, I poured boiling hot water from the kettle on all of the grains (I was in a rush, what was I thinking?) and my guess is that the rice got cooked. I still ground everything to a paste and tried to make the adai but it did not work. What can I do with the batter now? I would hate to throw it all away! Any suggestions you could give would be greatly appreciated!

    Reply

    • Padhu Sankar

      You can use mixie for grinding adai batter. Add little water and grind it slightly coarse (not too coarse).Adai tastes heavenly when you add lot of finely chopped onions.

      Reply

  77. Unknown

    I enjoyed all the recipes from your blog .thank you for your beautiful and clear explanation. Especially health mix for my kids worked very good.go ahead and give us more recipes

    Reply

  79. Aru

    Thanks for the recipe, Padhu. It came out wonderfully. Though I admit I did not use green chillies and red chillies but used chilly flakes instead.

    Reply

  85. Seetha Lakshmi

    Hello madam, I have tried some of ur recipes and they came out really good. Here in this adai recipe it's mentioned parboiled rice.i want to know if Sona masoori rice is parboiled rice and if I can add dat for batter..

    Reply

  86. Radhika

    Hi, when I was searching for a recipe for Adai, I decided to try out this one because rice and dal quantities are almost equal(I was looking for high protein. Now, this is the version I always make. I think the boiled rife is what makes it not so hard and delicious. Though I do soak the boiled rice for almost double the time as the rest of ingredients to make it easier for my mixer. Thank you

    Reply

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