Adai - Lentil Dosa

There were days when we hated a particular dish during childhood and would cry to eat 'em when mom says it's good for our health. Later when we start cooking, we make them over and over again, saying that it's so delicious. I am sure you all would have been thro' this. I don't know what makes the food we dislike in childhood to be an all time favaourite when grown up. Once such thing is "Adai" to me. I have literally fought with my mom to make me something else when she prepares Adai during my childhood days. But when i started cooking, it's tastes heavenly now(Don't know why???). Since our everyday meal is based on my husband's likes, food i hate the most has now become my ultimate favourites.
Adai, as we call as lentil pancake, is a mix of four types of lentils and rice.
It is a protein rich diet since it contains lentils. Apart from proteins, adai also contains dietary fiber. It's also an ideal diet for diabetes. This tiffin is mostly made in south india. It's also a tradition to make Adai on the festival of lights(Karthigai Deepam). The proportion on which the lentils are added alongwith rice gives it the crunchy, rich taste. Here's how i make it.


Raw Rice - 1 cup
Chana dal - 3/4 cup
Toor dal - 1/2 cup
Urad dal - 1/4 cup
Moong dal - 2 tbsp(1/8 cup)
Red chillies - 5 nos.
Onion - 1 medium, finely chopped
Curry leaves & corriander leaves
Coconut pieces - 1 tbsp finely chopped
Salt to taste

Soak rice and dals alongwith the red chillies for 2 hours. Grind into a coarse batter adding little water at a time. Do not add lot of water to the batter, let it be thick. The dals should just be split while grinding and not ground to smooth. Add salt, mix well and set aside for atleast 4 hours. Adai can be made in the same day on which it was ground. There is no need for fermenting.
Heat a dosa griddle. Mix finely chopped onions, curry leaves, corriander leaves, finely chopped coconut pieces. Pour the batter in the griddle and make it as dosas. Coat the sides of the adai with oil. Let it be there for two minutes on one side in medium heat and flip it over to the other side. Let it become crunchy. Cook on medium heat since the batter is thick, it might take sometime some time for this to cook. The coarse texture of dals and rice in the batter will give it a crunchy taste.
Serve it with Coconut/Peanut chutney, powdered jaggery, and chutney podi(Milagai podi). Traditionally in south indian hotels, Adai is served with Aviyal(A coconut curry made with vegetables). I like my adai with sugar and ghee mixed together.