Barley and Oats Adai

I recently came across this recipe for making adais with oats and barley.  The recipe was really simple and I had all the ingredients on hand.  Since I had just made adais recently, I bookmarked the page and decided to make this the next time I made adais.

One day last week, I soaked all the ingredients before going to work, so that I could make the batter in the evening when I got home.  Usually, by the time my husband gets home, there will be some signs of cooking and he will get a sense of what is in store for dinner.  Because I had already made the batter and had made the chutney, there were no signs of any prep work happening for dinner.

The conversation went something like this:

Him: “What’s for dinner?”

Me: “Well, I've made the batter for adai - Oats and barley adai.”

Him: “Vara vara ne enakku kuthirai sapadu than podare” (now a days you are only giving me horse feed for dinner!)

Once the adais were made though, he loved them. He thought they were so good that a couple of days later, he made himself a few with the left over batter!  He said they were really easy to make and tasted great. 

The recipe is almost exactly from here.  I did not have spinach, and so substituted amaranth leaves instead. I also increased the amount of dals I used.

I have reproduced the recipe here for easy reference.

Here is what you need (recipe source – Veg Inspirations):

• 1 cup brown rice 
• 1 cup rolled oats
• ½ cup pearl barley
• ½ cup masoor dal) 
• ½ cup moong dal
• ½ cup toor dal
• 3 – 4 green chilies
• 4 dried red chilies
• salt to taste
• ¼ tsp. hing (asafetida)
• 1 cup amaranth leaves, chopped 
• oil for making the adais

Here is how I made it:

1. Mix the rice, oats, barley, and the lentils in a bowl.  Rinse these a couple of times, add water and let it soak for 3 – 4 hours.
2. Drain the water from the mixture and grind this to a coarse paste with the green chilies, red chilies, salt, hing, and greens, adding little bit of water.  You may have to grind these in batches, depending on your blender capacity
3. Heat a tawa or a griddle.  I like using my cast iron griddle for adais.
4. Pour a ladle full of batter onto the heated tawa and spread it out.  It should be slightly thicker than dosas.
5. Make a small hole in the middle and drizzle oil around the adai as well as in the center. 
6. Wait for a few minutes – maybe about 3 - 4 minutes and then carefully flip it over.
7. Cook on both sides till the adai is crispy.

Sever hot off the tawa with chutney of your choice.