Adai and More Kozhambu, wholesome and nutritious..

If it's Sunday, it does not have to be Aaloo-Poori ...

Adai with butter,jaggery and 'more kozhambu' 

Adai is the more buxom and wholesome  cousin of dosai. It is also a more nutritious one, made of three varieties of lentils and rice .

The “side” or accompaniment can vary. In an average South Indian home, it is often had with  mulagaipodi—more famous as gunpowder and oil, for breakfast. On days that are leisurely for the mother making it, you will find a chutney, or “morekozhambu”—a South Indian version of karhi, made with sour buttermilk.

Children are  given a dollop of white home made butter and  some “gur” or “vellam”—jiggery. Perhaps because along with the rice and lentils, we soak a few dry red chillies and peppercorns.

Jaggery , vellam or gur

 At Udipi joints and restaurants serving it, the butter comes  in a neat little parcel made of bright green banana leaf. And the side dish is …hold your breath, avial, a variety of vegetables  in a gravy of coconut,jeera and green chillies, tempered with coconut oil.

That is the combination that the Sharavana Bhawan  serves it --- in Delhi only after 7 pm. I have waited there from 5.45 onwards, whiling away time over a cup of coffee or fresh lime, for them to serve my order of adai, almost 90 minutes later.

While it is the best option if one wants to have it desperately, home made adais, called kal adai – adai made on stone—is unmatched in taste. Restaurants tend to grind the soaked raw ingredients rather too fine!

Here goes the recipe

FOR THE ADAI

Arhar dal- 1 cup

Urad dhuli-1 cup

Chana dal-1 cup

Ordinary rice-3 cups

Dry red chillies—a few

Pepper corns –a few

Salt to tast

Curry leaves- a few

Oil—a little bit

Wash and soak  all the dals and rice, red chillies and pepper corns  TOGETHER for no more than an hour. Grind coarse, but in a way that it can spread on the tawa. Let in rest for about 15 minutes. Add curry leaves and salt.

Coarsely ground batter

Spread out a bit thick,see the "eye"

If you want, you can add finely chopped onions,grated carrots, finely chopped cabbage, to make it even more nutritious, and full of fibre. An aunt of mine used to grate Kraft cheese too!

Place a heavy tawa on the gas, and when it is hot, temper it by spraying some water. Pour two ladels of the batter, and in swife circular movements, spread them out. The “adai” should not be thin like a dosai, keep in mind.

Drizzle oil on the side. When it looks like it can safely be flipped over without it falling apart(about two minutes after you’ve spread it out), flip it. A minute later, transfer it to a plate, and serve with the side dish of your choice.

Flipped

I made the  “more khozhambu” because I did not have all the variety of vegetables it takes to make “avail”

"More Kozhambu"

MORE KOZHAMBU

Ingredients

Cubed Pumpkin or Ashgourd—Half a cup full

Cubed Carrots(they were lying handy)-Half a cup full

1.Boil the vegetables in some water, in  a heavy bootom pan, till they are cooked, adding a pinch of turmeric.

2.Grind together the following, in a  blender:

Sour yoghurt- Half a cup, 

Grated coconut- 3 tablespoons full

Green chillies-3 or 4

Arhar dal-half a teaspoon

Dhania seeds-half a teaspoon

Jeera –half a teaspoon

Rice—a quarter teaspoon

Water- One cup

3.Add the coconut –yoghurt mix to the boiled vegetables, and stirring continuously(otherwise it will split), let it come to the boil, and switch off the “more kozhambu”

4.For the tempering and garnish:

Coconut oil—2 teaspoons

Red chillies—one or two

Curry leaves—a few

Mustard seeds—a quarter teaspoon

Fenugreek seeds—a quarter teaspoon

When the coconut oil comes to a smoking point, add the red chillies, then the mustard seeds, then fenugreek seeds. Finally add the curry leaves,.

Top the “more kozhambu” with this, and it is ready to be served.

Sauted  lady’s finger—okra/bhindi—is also a good vegetable with which to make this dish.

Adai with vellum and butter, and more kozhambu