Quinoa Oat Adai

Adai, a savory crepe made with rice and lentils originates from southern Indian cuisine. Traditionally adai is made of rice and three to four different lentils, you can find the traditional recipe for adai here.Unlike the traditional dosai, adai batter has the benefit of not needing to be fermented, making it quicker to make. In addition the spices and lentils lend a wonderful flavor to this crepe making it delicious without any additional side dishes or chutneys if you want to have it that way :-)

In the past I have made adai with oats and barley, but for quite a while now I have not experimented further with this crepe. Recently when I planned to make adai, I thought it would be nice to see how quinoa works in adai. This adai turned out soft and delicious and the lentils, quinoa and oats give this adai a great flavor  and texture.If someone in your family does not care for the taste of quinoa then this is a great way to sneak it in as the quinoa does not have a very pronounced taste in this dish.




Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Quinoa Oat Adai
1 cup brown basmati
1/3 cup split pigeon peas (tur dhal)
1/3 cup mung lentils (yellow moong dhal)
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup quinoa
soak together for two to three hours

7 dry red chilies (or to taste)
6 Thai or Indian variety green chilies (or to taste)
ginger 1 inch piece
salt to taste
1/8 tsp asafoetida (hing) (optional but recomended)

a few tsp of sesame oil to shallow fry the adai

In a large bowl, mix all the grains well. Fill with water, swirl with your hand a couple of times and drain water.

Fill the bowl with enough water of about an inch above the grains and let the grains soak for about 2 to 3 hours.

The copyright of this content belongs to Veginspirations.com

Drain the grains, and grind along with red chilies, green chilies and ginger in batches using a blender. Use water as required while grinding. The batter should be of pouring consistency but not too runny, a little on the thicker side.

Traditionally lentils for the adai batter are ground very coarsely and you can see some of the lentils visible in the batter, that is supposed to be part of the appeal of adai. But I prefer my adai a little softer and smoother so I grind adai batter a little like dosa batter only slightly thicker and very slightly coarser. When I take a little batter between my thumb and finger,  the grains feel a little like fine semolina (rava) 

When the batter is ready, add salt and asafoetida and mix well.

Heat a flat pan/ griddle/ tawa and when hot, pour a small quantity of batter in the center and quickly spread in a thin circle. Add a few drops of sesame oil on top and around the batter.

Let the adai cook, until the lower portion begins to brown to a goldenish color, then flip the adai and cook the other side. Remove when the other side begins to get a few pinkish/ brownish spots on it.

Serve hot with chutney of choice or molaga podi or jaggery


Yields approximately 16 to 17 adai


Notes

Use red chilies and green chilies to taste, my current batch of both red and green chilies are not very hot so even with this quantity I get only a very mild spice in the adai.

If quinoa is not available you can increase the quantity of lentils to substitute for that.