When it comes to breakfast, I am firmly in the savory camp. My playbook involves a spiced strata, breakfast burritos, savory yogurt parfaits, or anything from the dosa family, especially adai. Making dosa batter is generally a days-long process starting with a long soak of three parts rice to one part lentils, blending them, and leaving the batter to ferment in a warm spot for 6–8 hours. Adai flips that ratio. Made with three parts mixed lentils to one part rice, the batter is ready to use right after blending, with no fermentation needed. Adai is a food I grew up eating, particularly when company turned up to our house unannounced. Adai’s higher proportion of lentils also makes it a protein-packed start to the day.
If you like a fluffier style, you can make your batter on the thicker side. Love crispy, lacy dosas? Dilute your batter so it’s thin like milk, which helps you spread it paper-thin over the pan. You can eat them on their own, but my favorite way to eat adai is with a side of sambar or dosa podi. While typically made with ponni rice, a special varietal popular in South India, adai is just as effectively made with any other type of parboiled rice. Parboiled or converted rice has been partially cooked in its husk before being dried and packaged. With a more golden hue than regular white rice, parboiled rice is considered to be higher in resistant starch, with a lower glycemic load than its counterpart.
Read More: A High-Protein, Low-Carb Dosa Recipe to Fuel Your Mornings
Recipe information
Total Time
40 minutes (plus soaking)
Yield
6 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Rinse ⅓ cup Carolina Gold or other parboiled rice, ⅓ cup toor dal (pigeon peas), ⅓ cup urad dal, and ⅓ cup yellow split peas in a fine-mesh sieve until water runs mostly clear. Transfer to a medium bowl, pour in 3 cups hot water to cover, and let soak at least 2 hours and up to 4 hours.
Step 2
Transfer rice mixture, including water, to a blender; reserve bowl. Add one 1" piece ginger, peeled, coarsely chopped, 1 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¾ tsp. Morton kosher salt, 2 tsp. ground asafetida, 1 tsp. cumin seeds, 1 tsp. Kashmiri chile powder or Hungarian hot paprika, and ¼ tsp. ground turmeric and blend until very smooth, about 5 minutes. Pour batter into reserved bowl. The consistency should be similar to heavy cream. Add water a few tablespoons at a time to adjust consistency if needed.
Step 3
Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium. Lightly brush skillet with melted ghee or clarified butter. Ladle ¼ cup batter into pan and quickly spread batter outward in a circular motion with ladle to make a 6"–7"-diameter circle. Sprinkle some finely chopped white onion and finely chopped cilantro on top if desired. Drizzle ½ tsp. melted ghee or clarified butter over. Cook until outer edges of adai begin to look dry, about 2 minutes. Using a heatproof rubber spatula, carefully loosen adai (it should be crisp and brown underneath) and fold one half up and over so ends meet to make a semicircle. Transfer to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining batter and remaining 5½–6½ tsp. melted ghee or clarified butter and more onion and cilantro if desired (you should end up with 12–14 adai total).
Do Ahead: Batter can be made 1 week ahead. Transfer to an airtight container; cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before using.
