Vegan Adai (Tamil-style Crispy Lentil & Rice Savory Pancakes)

Food Stories is a column in which Best of Vegan community members share recipes from their cultures and personal stories connected to those dishes. Today, Supriya of Supriya Raman Kitchen shares her recipe for Vegan Adai โ€“ a Tamil-style crispy lentil & rice savory pancake that’s a nutritious, filling, comforting, and incredibly flavorful Idian dish.

This recipe was featured in Supriya’s profile for the new weekly BIPOC Portraits series by Val and Mani Latifi, where they profile vegan creators and shed light on the unique challenges BIPOCs face in making the decision to embrace veganism. Click here to see the full article.

Vegan Adai (Tamil-style Crispy Lentil & Rice Savory Pancakes)

This is adai. It’s a dish that’s commonly eaten as a tiffin, i.e. a snack or in-between meals. Over the years it became breakfast and brunch. It’s made from a batter of soaked lentils and rice that are ground with aromatics and herbs to then be made into a crispy thin pancake. The sizzling adai batter on a cast iron tawa instantly transports me to the lazy weekend mornings of my childhood.

Lentil batter-based breakfasts have several versions across various states in India, and Adai is Tamil food or food from the state of Tamilnadu. The subtle yet amazing thing about Indian food is the ingenuity in the variety of ways of using lentils and rice. There are more than a dozen types of lentils and rice and prepared in particular combinations, they lend to a plethora of unique dishes.

The subtle yet amazing thing about Indian food is the ingenuity in the variety of ways of using lentils and rice.

Adai is nutritious, filling, comforting, and incredibly flavorful. It’s a dish with easily accessible ingredients that I hope you’ll make and enjoy! Eating them truly homestyle would be with molagapodi (a toasted chili powder made with dried red chillies, sesame, lentils, and a combination of spices) that is mixed with gingelly oil, i.e. Indian sesame oil. It is also eaten with jaggery, which is an Indian native crystal dark brown sugar. This meal is crispy, crunchy, fluffy, salty, spicy, sweet, savory and so much more!ย 

Note: This is a recipe for a basic adai batter, which is perfect as is. But we often add herbs and veggies to it. Commonly used are onions, cilantro, and curry leaves. You could also add cabbage, carrots, or spinach.

Vegan Adai (Tamil-style Crispy Lentil & Rice Savory Pancakes)

Vegan Adai (Tamil-style Crispy Lentil & Rice Savory Pancakes)

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Author: Supriya Raman | Supriya Raman Kitchen

Ingredients

  • 2 cups white rice
  • ยพ cup channa dal - split gram
  • ยพ cup toor dal - split yellow pigeon peas
  • 2 tbsp urad dal - split black gram
  • 2- inch piece ginger - roughly chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 10 dried red chillies - use 5 for milder spice
  • 1 tsp asafoetida powder
  • 3 tsp coarse salt
  • 1 red onion - finely chopped
  • Handful of cilantro - finely chopped

Other veggie options:

  • Curry leaves
  • Cabbage
  • Spinach

Instructions

  • Add all three lentils to a mixing bowl. Rinse thoroughly a few times until water runs relatively clear. Soak them in warm water. Next, rinse and soak the rice in a separate bowl. Let both soak for at least 3 hours, ideally 4 hours.
  • Add the soaked rice into a blender, along with ginger and 1 tsp salt. Add 1 cup of water and blend to a really smooth batter. Pour into a large mixing bowl and set aside.
  • Add soaked lentils to the blender, along with garlic, asafoetida, 2 tsp salt, and dried red chillies. Grind with ยฝ cup to a coarse paste. The idea is to blend them just until the chillies and garlic have incorporated well. You may need to do this in two batches.
  • Add ground lentil batter in with the rice mixture and mix thoroughly. This is the basic batter which is perfect as is. We often add herbs and veggies to it. Commonly used are onions, cilantro, and curry leaves. You could also add cabbage, carrots or spinach. I added about a cup of finely chopped onions and a handful of fresh cilantro. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, heat your cast iron tawa over medium heat. Preheat for 5 minutes over medium heat. You could use a non-stick pan as well. Traditionally, cast iron was used for both health and culinary reasons. The crispiness and crust that forms in an iron pan is wonderful.
  • Keep a little cup of canola oil handy. Once the cast iron pan is heated up, make sure it stays at medium heat. Spoon a tsp of oil and spread all over the pan. Use a rounded ladle to pour in one ladle full of batter to the center of the pan. Use the back of the ladle to evenly spread the batter from the inside out into a thin circle. If the batter sticks too much to your tawa, it means the heat is too high
  • Using a flip spatula, create a small hole in the center of the adai. This is done to enable more even cooking. Drizzle a tsp of oil all around the adai, and some in the center hole. Let it crisp for about a minute or two. Once you see golden crispy edges, flip it over and press down gently all over. Continue cooking the other side for 5 minutes. Repeat, make them all and serve piping hot with chutneys or podi.

Notes

This is a recipe for a basic adai batter, which is perfect as is. But we often add herbs and veggies to it. Commonly used are onions, cilantro, and curry leaves. You could also add cabbage, carrots, or spinach.
Find more of Supriyaโ€™s recipes on her website and Instagram.
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Vegan Adai (Tamil-style Crispy Lentil & Rice Savory Pancakes)

Recipe and photos by Supriya Raman.

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