Vegan Adai Dosa Recipe

Whole Food Plant Based Adai Recipe

Course: Course 3 (Grain Dish) for Lunch & Dinner Meals
Cuisine: Tamil Recipe from South India
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4 People

INGREDIENTS

1 cup Red Rice
1/2 cup Toor dal / Thuvaram Paruppu
1/2 cup Chana Dal / Bengal Gram Dal / Split Chickpeas / Kadali Paruppu
1/4 cup Urad Dal / Ulutham Paruppu
1/4 cup Moong Dal
1/4 cup Peanuts
1 tbsp Methi / Fenugreek Seeds
2 dried Red Chillis
2 Onions
1/4 cup Coriander Stems & Leaves chopped
1 inch piece Ginger
1 tsp Black Pepper Powder
4 tsp Miso Paste
1 tsp Asafoetida / Perunkaayam / Hing
2 drops Sesame Oil to season tawa

INSTRUCTIONS

How to Make Adai Batter / Adai Maavu

1. Soak red rice, methi seeds, peanuts, and the four dals separately, overnight or at least for 6 hours.
2. Using a wet grinder, grind the dals to a thick paste with peanuts, dried red chillis, methi seeds, and just enough water, then add rice and grind until rice is ground to broken rice. Stop grinding and do not allow rice to be ground to a flour.
3. Peel and chop onions into small pieces. Chop coriander stems & leaves into small pieces. Peel and chop ginger into tiny pieces.
4. Mix chopped onions, coriander stems & leaves, chopped ginger, black pepper powder, miso paste and asafoetida into adai batter.

How to Make Adai Dosa / Adai Dosai

1. Spread one or two drops of oil on a clean, dry iron tawa to season it. No more oil is needed after this step to make adais. Heat the iron tawa / dosai kallu until a drop of water splashed on it dances around instead of evaporating immediately.
2. Spread a ladle of adai batter / adai maavu on the iron tawa, about 5mm thick.
3. Once the batter on top dries out, turn it over and cook for a minute.
4. Once cooked on both sides, remove from stove and allow to cool completely, then serve fresh with chutney, sambar, or radish mustard stir fry!

Plant Based Chef Pro Tips for Best Adai Recipe

1. Adai Maavu / Adai Batter should be thicker than regular dosa batter, and adai dosai is thicker than regular dosai too.
2. Vegetables can be grated and mixed in, and so can green leafy vegetables, like amaranthus and drumstick leaves.

Nutrition Science Highlights for WFPB Adai Recipe

1. Why Miso Paste? Miso paste is fermented & salted soya bean paste. American Heart Association Maximum recommended maximum daily salt intake of 3.75 grams per person to minimise risk of high blood pressure, stomach cancer and chronic kidney disease. In addition to helping us restrict salt intake, replacing salt with miso paste also helps by neutralising the negative effects of salt by soya phytonutrients. You can easily make fresh miso paste at home by mixing 100 grams of cooked soya paste with 10 grams of salt, or 10 tablespoons of cooked soya paste with 1 tablespoon of salt. If making at home, ensure to use immediately, or freeze in batches to use later. Or, simply use 3.75 grams of salt or less per day per person and add 18 to 20 grams (dry weight) of soya beans in any dishes, spread through the day!
2. Why whole grains? Whole grains are healthier than refined grains such as white rice, refined flours, maida, rava, etc., as the bran layer is intact, with all its vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Whole grains have been found to be protective against a whole range of chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and lifestyle-related cancers.
3. Why cool grains? When cooked grains are allowed to cool on the counter or in the fridge, the starch crystallises to form resistant starch. This can be eaten by our good gut bacteria and also reduces the glycemic index (the rate at which glucose is absorbed), making the whole grain even healthier. For the same reason, parboiled whole grains can be used as well.
4. What's wrong with roasting? The brown color we get on roasting whole grains, tubers, legumes, or nuts is due to the formation of carcinogenic AGE compounds. We can reduce the formation of these compounds by roasting on a low flame, adding spices and herbs, and removing browned portions of dosa before serving and enjoying them.
5. Why nuts instead of oil? Whole foods are healthier than processed foods. When nuts are pressed and oil is extracted, fiber and phytonutrients are lost, along with many other nutrients. Therefore, whole nuts are much healthier than oils, whether cold-pressed or refined. In addition, they provide the oil content we need to absorb fat-soluble phytonutrients from other whole plant foods! This may be why nuts are used to garnish nearly every traditional Indian dish!