Adai is my favorite tiffin for 2 reasons. Unlike dosa batter this does not need fermentation and one can come up with different varieties of healthy adai recipes.
In general adai is also a savory crepe like dosa, but the ingredients are different. Dosas are made with a combination of white par boiled rice, white raw rice and urad daal, whereas adais are made with rice, channa daal and toor daal and also spiced with green and red chillies. Adai can be prepared as soon as the batter is ready.
For the past couple of months I have been substituting brown rice for white rice to prepare Brown Rice Pongal and Brown Rice Bisi Bela Bath.
Another dish is adai and I feel that adais with brown rice tastes better than ones with white rice. I have also been using a mixture of beans (like pinto, soy, black beans, kidney beans) instead of the regular daals for preparing adais. So this time I thought why not combine brown rice and these beans to prepare adais.
In the US you can find this ready made mix of legumes in the canned beans section. It's called the 16 beans mix, which is used to make beans soup . You can simply use any combination of beans you have at home. I also had some barley, so added that too. The adais tasted very good.
Something very funny happened at home the day I prepared these. While watching TV if some ad shows up for some meat/seafood stuff, my son asks me whether we can eat it and I tell him we cannot eat it because it is "non-vegetarian". This has been happening for about a month now and he knows that we can't eat anything "non-vegetarian".
The day when I prepared these adais, I gave him. As usual he did not like it and I was coaxing him to eat few bites. He gave me an answer which I didn't least expect. He told me that "it's non-vegetarian and we should not eat it". That was unbelievable! I was wondering whether we were as smart as these children when we were younger. At least I was not!
Recipe
Brown Rice & 16 Beans Adai Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Brown Rice
- ¼ cup Barley (I used Pearled Barley)
- 1 cup 16 Beans Mix
- 2 and 1 or as Aer Taste Red & Green Chillies
- 1-2 tablespoons Grated Ginger
- As Per Taste Salt
- ⅕ cup Grated Coconut OR Finely Diced Onions
Instructions
- Wash and soak the brown rice, barley and chillies together and the beans separately in water overnight. I was going to prepare adais for the next day's dinner.
- In the evening next day drain both the rice and the beans separately in a colander and reserve the water.
- In a blender/Indian Mixie first take a small portion of the rice, chillies and grated ginger and grind it until the chilies are finely ground. Then add the soaked beans, remaining rice, little water and grind it until you get a coarse batter.
- Add water little by little as necessary while grinding the rice and beans because if too much water is added the ingredients will not be ground properly and evenly. If using coconut, it can either be blended together with the rice and beans or you can simply mix it after transferring the batter to a bowl.
- Unlike dosa batter which is very smooth the batter for adai should have the texture of semolina/sooji.
- Transfer the batter from the blender to a large bowl and add salt; mix thoroughly. Now you may also add the finely chopped onions, if using.
- Heat a non stick tava or an iron griddle (preferred for adai).
- Once the pan is hot enough take about ⅓rd cup of batter in a ladle and add it to the center of the tava and spread it thin using the back of the ladle. Add ghee/oil/ around the crepes and flip it to the other side. I spray the crepes with non stick cooking spray instead of using ghee/oil. Once it is cooked on the other side too it is ready to eat.
My Notes
- In my cooking I use a combination of red and green chillies because it gives a very good flavor to the dish.
- My mother found this brilliant idea of replacing coconuts with carrots in most of the dishes, especially if you are grinding some masala. Simply replace grated coconuts with grated carrots and increase the quantity of chilies and the dish tastes great. So I decided to use finely shredded carrots instead of coconut in this adai. The adai tasted great. But just make sure that you use 1 or 2 extra chillies otherwise it would be sweet.
This is my entry for: My Legume Affair hosted by Srivalli. The even originally created by Susan.
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Kalyani Balaji says
I don't have words to describe my happiness.Thank God I found such an awesome,unique absolutely stunning blog.I am awestruck and running short of words after looking into your recipe index.I am also a pure vegetarian but I love to bake.You deserve a great applause MAM!
Madhuram says
You're very welcome Kalyani. 🙂
Anusha says
Hi,
This is very tasty. I did not use ginger or coconut or carrot and I did not have barley, it still turned out awesome !!!!
Thanks for a healthy recipe
Anusha
Manju says
Thanks for the awesome recipe. Tried it and loved it.
Happy while eating it that it is a healthy version of the adai.
Madhuram says
You're welcome Manju.
Mona says
Wow, that looks great.
Vaishali says
Nice idea using so many beans, Madhuram. I love adai too, and will be sure to try it out with a variety of legumes next time.
You should also try kootu with those beans. It's so good.
bee says
we make something similar often. the next time i want to make it with hulled barley.
Soma says
For some reason i am yet to make myfirst adai.. i did not grow up eating this, so just enjoy this when someone feeds me... but its so healthy I need to make this myself sometimes..love ur version, full of flavors.
Yes I can understand Soma. It's like that for me for some North Indian dishes.
Aparna says
Adais make it to out breakfast table at least once a week, in different varieties. Its very filling too.
I also tend to keep adding lentils/ beans depending on what I have on hand.
These deep red ones look lovely. Maybe that's why your son thought he could get out of eating them by making them non-veg! 🙂
The shredded carrots gave it that reddish orange color.
Srivalli says
Thats such a colourful bowl with the beans..thanks madhuram
You're welcome Srivalli
Sweatha says
Thanks for the soup recipe Madhu,Its good one and easier in the pressure cooker 😛
You're welcome Sweatha.
Deepa says
Yours looks much better than the one I make that usually has bown rice and a few beans...
Thanks Deepa.
Supriya says
I too make brown rice & mixed beans adais...tasty & healthy. Yours look wonderful. And the ready-made bean mixes work very well for this. Loved the funny comment from ur son...my daughter is that way too.
Thanks Supriya.
Sweatha says
Hurray,I have just bght the 16 bean mix.Looks lovely,though I must add I am not an adai person,but this is healthy and would love to try this. 😛
You could prepare soup then. What I do is, in a pressure cooker I add the soaked beans, frozen mixed vegetables, canned tomatoes, vegetable stock, some uncooked pasta, italian seasoning, pepper and salt. Leave it for 1 whistle. Hot minestrone soup is ready in no time without much work also.
Laavanya says
I love adai for precisely the same reasons and use brown rice and every bean i can lay my hands upon... Looks awesome.
Thanks Laavanya.
Priya says
I too love adais for the same reason as u told, with 16 beans quite healthier, lovely n never tried too...dunna whether am able to find out here this 16 beans mix..
Priya, you can mix up green peas, black-eye beans, kidney beans, measure to 1 cup and use it instead.
Cham says
Other than eating plain brown rice, i found the idli and adai version works well with brown rice, but never tried the mixed beans, love the 2 nd shot 😉
tbc says
Adai is a favorite here too. We like to have it for dinner sometimes. Unlike dosas, 1 or 2 of these will fill you up, so it's less work. We like ours kinda thin.:)
I like it thin too.
Ashwini says
Very healthy and creative adias..addition of beans is really good one.
Jennifer says
This is really a very creative recipe, as all the ingredients are accessible pretty much any where in America- well known to Americans and hence can be easily made by anyone!
Welcome to my blog Jennifer. Yes anybody can prepare these adais.
Usha says
Adai with 16 beans sounds super healthy 🙂
Yes it is super healthy and tastes good too.
Priya Sriram says
Hi Madhuram... Adai with 16 beans! Thats awesome 🙂
Definitely gotta try! Sure, try it with tomato, gives extra flavour...
Thanks for stopping by my blog...
Thanks Priya. Will definitely try it.
mahimaa says
adai is my fav tooo.. i will try this next time. have a bag of mixed dals.
Sure Mahimaa, give it a try.
Cilantro says
I have made adai with the beans mix but not with brown rice. I am going to try it next time. After seeing all the recipes with brown rice, I am tempted but I am yet to buy them.
Better get it Cilantro. You won't be disappointed.
Malar Gandhi says
Oh boy thats a colorful adai...all the beans are plump and colorful, love it.
I guess the carrots gave that extra orange color.
jaishree says
Brown Rice and 16 Beans Adai is new to me..looks healthy and tasty.will try this.Nice entry:)
Thanks Jaishree.
Asha says
I posted a brown rice Adai too, love the 16 beans addition. Looks yum and healthy too! 🙂
Thanks Asha, it was yummy.