Adai

One of the few things I really enjoyed discovering after moving to Chennai was this concept of TIFFIN.
Tiffin usually refers to the small meal eaten in between major meals. Or any hot light snack taken at any time during the day. In Tamil Nadu, often the main meal i.e lunch is eaten first thing in the morning. So at about 2 or 3 in the afternoon, when the tummy starts making demands for food, then a light snack is called for. This snack could be a variety of dosas, idly, sandwiches, upma, khichadi, pongal, vada etc. Adai features as a major dish in the tiffin listing.
Adai is a thickish dosa made of different dals ground together. Adai is traditionally served with a little blob of white freshly churned butter, jaggery and a chutney.
It is normally a dense and not too crispy styled dosa. It can be really filling.
On the nutrition front, it is a dish which is rich in proteins because of its high dal/lentil content.




Recipe:

Ingredients

1/2 cup moong dal
1/2 cup toor dal
1/2 cup chana dal
1/4 urad dal
2 cups raw rice
4 red chillies

4 green chillies chopped finely
2 onions chopped finely
handful of Coriander leaves chopped finely
3 sprigs of curry leaves chopped finely
1/2 inch piece of ginger chopped finely
a pinch of asafoetida
salt to taste

Soak the dals, rice and red chillies for about 4 hours.
Grind to a coarse paste. Add the remaining ingredients.
Heat the dosa tava ( griddle) till medium hot. Put a tablespoon of oil on the tava. Spread a spoonful of the batter on the tava till flat and like a pancake.
Pour a little oil on the sides and on top of the dosa. When the bottom turns golden brown, turn over and fry the other side too. Serve hot with jaggery, butter and a chutney of choice.