How To Make Adai (Lentil Crepes)

Step 1:

Here is what you need: 1/4 cup rice, 1/4 cup chana daal, 1/4 cup whole green mung, 1/4 cup toor daal, half a small onion, one green chili (optional), few springs of cilantro, one sprig curry leaves, one pinch asofoetida, salt to taste, 15 to 20 black peppercorns, half inch piece of ginger, half teaspoon fenugreek seeds, one cup water, oil for pan frying.

OK we've gone ahead and soaked all our daals, and the rice and the seeds. We washed it and soaked it for about an hour. And now we're going to just grind it. We're going to pretty much put everything in. So, the daals, the green chilis, the peppercorn, the onion, ginger, a little bit of salt and hing and the curry leaves, and the cilantro.

We're going to just put a little bit of water and grind it. We'll put a little at a time. We're just going to mix it. OK, we've ground our batter. It's approximately like a pancake mix kind of consistency. We've used one cup of water. And I've also gone ahead and started heating up our skillet or tawa. I'm going to season it a little bit with some oil. If you have a flat pan it works the best. Then you wipe it. Pour it in the middle. In a circular motion.

The wonderful thing about adai is that unlike dosa, you don't have to ferment it. So besides the soaking time, it's a nice quick appetizer idea or snack idea. You don't have to wait around for it to ferment and then use it. Drizzle some oil on it so that it cooks. I'm just going to wait for it to cook on the bottom side and then flip it around very carefully. It's starting to get a little golden on the bottom side; you can see it. I'll flip it around. I'm going to take a flat spoon and just loosen the edges and flip to the other side.

We're going to let it cook on this side for a couple of minutes. These usually taste best warm so it might seem like a tedious effort but you want to make them and serve it, make it and serve it and they will be nice and soft. Also, we've used the three types of daals but you know, a lot of times when you have just a little bit of daal left over, it's not enough to make a dish or anything, this is the perfect thing. Just use it up no matter what daal it is. You can even use the yellow mung daal instead of the whole. The soaking time is a little bit less for that. I use split one, split green mung is wonderful with the skin. You get extra protein and fiber.

Let's check on it. I think it should be done. You just want it lightly brown. Then I'll just turn it around and it's ready to go. Our adais are ready and we're serving it with some chutney powder. It can be bought at any Indian store--chutney powder with a little bit of oil. It just tastes wonderful! So join us again on another episode of ShowMeTheCurry.com. Adding a pinch of spice to your life!