Spinach Adai

Adai is a lentil based savory crepe that closely resembles the popular Dosai, differing from it on one major aspect - adais are thicker than dosai, and are hence not as crispy. But true to every other less-oilier, less-crispier food, adai is a very healthy combination of par-boiled rice, lentils, and other protein rich pulses like bengal-gram dhal and urad dhal. Due to the heavy concentration of protein, Hing (asafoetida) and ginger are usually added to aid in digestion. And of course, as always, to give it some flavor and spice-kick, red chillies, curry leaves, and vegetables such as spinach, onions, tomatoes, and bell-peppers are usually added. To make a wholesome meal, I added spinach to my adai batter last week.

Ingredients

1. 2 cups of par-boiled rice
2. 1 cup of toor dhal
3. ¾ cup of bengal gram dhal
4. ¼ cup of de-husked urad dhal
5. a small piece of ginger
6. 5 red chillies
7. 2 teaspoons of Hing
8. A couple of sprigs of curry leaves
9. 2 cups of chopped spinach
10. 2 teaspoons of salt
11. some sesame oil

Preparation

1. Soak the par-boiled rice, toor dhal, uradh dhal, bengal gram dhal and red chillies for 4-6 hours.
2. In a mixer/grinder/blender, grind the soaked dhal/rice along with the chopped spinach, red chillies, ginger, Hing, curry leaves, and salt. Add about a cup of water and grind the mixture into a paste that is neither too soft, nor too coarse. Neither too light nor too dense. The consistency should be such that the batter does not pour when tilted, nor does it stay together as a lump when tilted.
3. Taste for seasoning, and add more chillies or salt as required.
4. In a skillet (ideally a cast-iron one), drop 1.5 ladles of batter into the center and gently spread it into a circle with the back of the ladle. As I said earlier, adais are not spread too thin, for when they cook they tend to be stiff. They will be soft, chewy and reasonably crispy if they are made slightly denser that dosais (very close to how thick a pancake is). Spoon some sesame oil around the edges of the adai, and tear a hole at the center to ensure even cooking. Cook on medium heat, else the adai will burn on the outside and remain raw on the inside.
5. After 3-4 minutes, flip the adai on its other side. Gently press down on the adai to cook and crisp the other side just as well.
6. In about 3 minutes time remove the adai from the pan and serve with chutney, sambar, rasam, yogurt, pickle, chilli-powder, or other such side-dishes that complement its flavor. 

   

My mom has adai with jaggery and a few ripe pieces of banana. Odd combination, one might think! But it is actually a very common and traditional combination. I never like it though, because I want something mushy and liquid-y to contrast the dry adai. Yogurt, sambar and rasam are my personal favorites.

While adding vegetables such as onions, bell-peppers, carrots, tomatoes etc., do not grind them with the batter. Instead, finely chop them and sprinkle some on top of the Adai as it cooks on the skillet. Carefully turn the adai on either sides and press down to ensure the vegetables cook and char in the heat.

Adai batter is much quicker to prepare than dosai-batter, and it also lasts for a few days in the fridge. It is ideal to store some when confronting a hectic week that leaves little time for elaborate cooking!