Adai is a protein rich South-Indian breakfast made with a lot of lentils and rice. It is a type of dosai but slightly thicker than the regular dosai. I use a combination of lentils for adai. The raw rice makes it crispy. I make it even more nutritious by adding murungai keerai / moringa leaves. Murungai keerai has a lots of health benefits. It is rich in iron, calcium, beta-carotene, zinc and Vitamin B. It is good for the skin, hair and regular consumption helps in good health.

Murungai maram / Drumstick tree / Moringa tree is commonly grown in many households. When it is really satisfying and healthy to grow our own produce in the convenience of our homes, it is worth trying to start a small terrace / backyard garden. My mother-in-law grows a variety of vegetables in her terrace garden at Tuticorin. She also grows various herbs. Whenever we visit Tuticorin, we get to taste these fresh vegetables grown in our backyard and terrace. We had a murungaikai / drumstick tree at our backyard. The murungaikai from that tree tastes delicious. The leaves from the tree is murungai keerai. We are fortunate enough to find fresh murungai keerai in the US. The cleaning consumes a bit of time, but totally worth the time and effort.

My favorite way of adding murungai keerai to my diet is by adding it to adai batter. My family loves this dish. I prefer giving adai as breakfast for my kids as it is filling and nutritious. I am so satisfied with this recipe as it is healthy and tasty. Do follow the steps and enjoy with your family!

Grinder Method

Adai Batter

Ingredients

• Chana dal – 1/2 cup
• Toor dal – 1/2 cup
• Moong dal – 1 handful
• Idli rice – 1 cup
• Raw rice – 1/4 cup
• Dry red chillies – 8
• Asafoetida / Perungayam / Hing – 1/2 tsp
• Moringa leaves – 1 cup (Packed tight)
• Big onion – 1
• Curry leaves – 2 or 3 sprigs (the more, the better)
• Salt – 2 tbsp

Procedure

Grinder method

• Measure chana dal, moong dal and toor dal and add it to a bowl. Wash it well and soak with enough water.
• Measure idli rice and raw rice and add it to another bowl. Wash it well and soak it seperately.

• Soak dry red chillies in water. It helps in easy grinding.

• Let both, the dal and rice soak overnight or for 5-6 hours.
• Before grinding, wash the rice and dal again and strain the water.

• In a grinder, add in the soaked red chillies without water, 1 tbsp salt and asafoetida.

• Slowly add in the water used for soaking the red chillies. Grind it smooth.
• Once it is ground smooth, add in the soaked rice without water. Sprinkle water slowly and grind the rice smooth.

• Switch off the grinder. Add in the mixed dal.
• Then switch it on and grind it to a coarse consistency.

• Sprinkle water if the batter looks very dry.
• Transfer the batter to a vessel.

• Prepare the ingredients to add to the adai batter.

• Chop onion and curry leaves and add it to the batter. Then, add in the murungai keerai and 1 tbsp salt and and give a good mix.

• The batter will be thick.

• Heat a dosai pan / cast iron pan and add a ladle of batter. Spread it slowly to make a circle shape. Add oil to the sides and cook on medium flame. Flip and cook for another 3 mins.

• Serve hot with some jaggery / palm sugar for side. Aviyal is also an excellent combination for adai. My favorite is a spicy red-chilli and onion chutney.
• Enjoy!

Mixie Method

• Add in the soaked dry red chillies, 1 tbsp salt and asafoetida in a large mixie jar.
• Grind till the chillies are ground smooth.
• Add in the washed rice and add 1/2 cup water. Grind till the rice is smooth.
• Then add dal and grind it coarse using pulse mode a couple of times.
• Transfer it to a vessel.
• Add in the chopped onions, curry leaves and murungai keerai leaves.
• Add in 1 tbsp salt.
• Follow the adai making procedure mentioned in the grinder method.

Notes

• If you don’t have murungai keerai, increase the quantity of curry leaves.
• You can add some coconut pieces if you like.
• Do not skip raw rice. It gives a nice crispy texture to the dish.
• You can also substitute sona masoori rice instead of idli rice.
• I will soon update the pictures for mixie method.