A is for Adai & Aviyal

Inspired by Nupur's A-Z of Marathi food, I'm thinking of doing an A-Z of Tamil food. I love the traditional South Indian foods; some are so elaborate and some so simple, but they're mostly vegetarian and really nutritious and healthy. I try to keep the preparation as authentic and straight-forward as possible. There are so many other wonderful foods in Tamilnadu that go way beyond the typical fare found in restaurant menus. I've tried making many of these, some have come out amazingly well and some not so well..I've failed miserably many times to create the exact flavor of my Grandmother's Vathalkuzhambu but always end up making pretty decent 'pavakai pitlai'.
This is going to be aother humble attempt in trying to cook up Tamil food, everyday food, special occasion food, except this time I'm going to document it and learn from other bloggers as well.
I'm a Tamil Iyer and am most familiar with the foods prepared in a Iyer home. I'd love to learn about the differences between Iyer & Iyengar cooking. I've a soft corner for anything 'Chettinadu'. On my A-Z journey, I'm going to try to include some Chettinadu recipes also.

A is for Adai & Aviyal

Adai is this wonderful dosa like crepe. I'm calling it a crepe, because
its round and cooked like a crepe. Its not thin like a crepe. I hate to
refer it as Lentil pancake, its nothing like a pancake. An adai when served
with avial makes a wholesome, nutrituous meal.Aviyal is a medley of boiled vegetables (think carrots, beans, cauliflower, potatoes, peas, squash etc) simmered in yogurt, coconut gravy. And its so easy to make the batter for adai, no need to toil over
fermenting the batter in the cold winter months.
Heck, even the amount of lentils dont have to be measured correctly, the more the lentils, the merrier the Adai is !!
I do follow my mom's measure though:
2 cups Idli rawa ( Par-boiled rice for those who want to make it the
elaborate way)
3/4 cups Tuvar Daal
1/4 cup Channa Daal
1 teaspoon methi seeds
2 teaspoons Urid Daal
5-6 dried red chillies
10 curry leaves
1 inch of peeled ginger, chopped into small pieces.
Pich of Hing
Salt to taste

Soak the Daals for about 2 hours and Idli rawa for about 1 hour. Blend
everything together. Make sure not to over blend, just give it a good
whirr a couple of times and that's it. The batter should be coarse to touch
and the Daals shouldnt become mushy. That's what makes the adais real
crisp. Once the batter is ready, you can make adais immediately or the next
day. The batter stores very well in the fridge for upto 2 weeks.

Now to make adais for 2 people:
Mix 1 cup batter with 1/4 cup finely chopped onion.
Other optional extras: 1 teaspoon Finely chopped ginger (ginger is supposed to
thwart the gassy effects of Lentils. I've my doubts though !!), 1 green chilli.
And a good heavy iron griddle - this is the most important, in my
opinion.
An iron griddle works better than a non-stick pan. Maintaining the heat
to cook adai evenly is what makes the difference.


Heat the griddle. To test the heat, sprinkle water, it should sizzle.
Take a ladle ful of batter, pour it in the griddle and spread it
evenly. This should not be very thin or very thick. Poke holes with a spoon
throughout the adai. Pour oil around the adai and into the holes. And let it cook
for upto 3-5 minutes. Flip it around and cook evenly on the other side. The
result should be a golden brown adai, crisp on the outside and soft on
the inside. Serve with a pat of butter and Avial on the side. Can also be served
with Sambar & chutney.

Adais can also be made with Fresh methi leaves, coconut, spinach. But
nothing comes close to Adais made with onion.

I made a simple Kootu (vegetables & Moong Daal) to go with adai today.


I'll post the recipe for aviyal later.