Thick, rugged mixed-dal adai darkened with ragi, studded with whole dal and red chilli, cooked slow until the base is properly crusted.

Ingredients

From the TrooFoodz pantry

• Sprouted Ragi Flour 1 cup

Fresh

• Chana dal, soaked 3 hours ½ cup
• Toor dal, soaked 3 hours ¼ cup
• Urad dal, soaked 3 hours ¼ cup
• Dried red chillies 5
• Ginger, roughly chopped 1 tbsp
• Asafoetida ½ tsp
• Curry leaves, torn 2 sprigs
• Onion, finely chopped 1
• Grated coconut 3 tbsp
• Sesame oil 4 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Grind coarse

   Drain the dals and grind with red chilli, ginger and asafoetida to a coarse batter — you want visible broken dal, not a purée.

2. Hold back some dal

   Reserve two tablespoons of soaked chana dal whole and stir it in at the end. Those are the pieces that give adai its bite.

3. Add the ragi

   Whisk in Sprouted Ragi Flour with enough water to make a thick batter that mounds on the ladle rather than pouring off it.

4. Season and rest

   Fold in onion, coconut, curry leaves, whole chana dal and salt. Rest thirty minutes; adai improves with a short rest but never ferments.

5. Spread thick

   Ladle onto a medium-hot tawa and spread to about the thickness of a coin. Make a hole in the centre so the middle cooks through.

6. Cook slow

   Pour oil around the rim and into the hole and cook four to five minutes on medium-low until the base is dark and crusted.

7. Flip and finish

   Turn and cook two to three minutes more. It should feel firm and sound hollow when tapped. Serve with avial or jaggery.

Why this works

Adai is a batter, not a dough, but it is deliberately thick and unfermented, so the cooking is slower and lower than a dosa to let the dals cook through. The coarse grind keeps texture in the finished adai — smooth batter makes something closer to a pancake. Ragi flour deepens the colour and adds malt, and it also thickens on standing, so the rest period is doing real work.

Make it your own

• Sprouted Ragi Flour → Sprouted Bajra Flour Warmer and faintly bitter; excellent with jaggery on the side.
• Grated coconut → Chopped drumstick leaves More savoury and traditional in Tamil homes.
• Dried red chillies → Green chillies Sharper, fresher heat and a lighter-coloured batter.