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Air Force ex-officer reveals passion for cooking by whipping up adai with a twist
K T Achaya, an eminent food scientist, nutritionist and food historian of our country, wrote in his book The Story of Our Food that the concept of blending different types of proteins by mixing cereals and pulses was known during the Aryan times in 1500 BC.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
It is now well-known that such food items contain higher amount of proteins than only cereals or pulses. In addition, during the preparation of such dishes, a mixture of the ingredients is allowed to ferment, so that it becomes easily digestible and more nutritious.
One example of such blended food is adai. Achaya describes it as a shallow-fried circlet of “the Tamil country. The thickly ground batter consists of almost equal parts of rice and as many as four pulses.” The initial reference to adai can be traced back to 1st century AD and it is described in the Tamil Sangam literature between the third and sixth centuries AD, as a snack served by vendors on the seashore. Silappadikaram too depicts a scene along the beach where vendors are selling crisp adais — this shows that street food in India has a history.
I’d like to narrate one such incident from the pages of the past about Air Commodore Kalyanaraman (Kelly), a retired officer of the Indian Air Force. A simple man whose life revolved around precise timing, he also took great interest in cooking, especially traditional recipes. To facilitate this passion, he went on to design and created a dream kitchen with all the possible gadgets one could think of — yet it has an old-fashioned grinding stone in corner.
I was invited by him for a traditional breakfast, where he whipped up delicious adai, mixing traditional and modern elements to create an innovative recipe. His wonderful hospitality and tasty food made the whole outing an adventure to enjoy and remember.
He made a masala, leafy, vegetable adai, which is often eaten on the days of amavasai or no moon, when meals are typically restricted to phalaharam (tiffin items) or fruits. Apart from black pepper, cumin seeds and asafoetida, Kelly used a whole range of leafy vegetables, green and red chillies, ginger, grated carrots, small pieces of coconut and broken groundnuts, to enhance the taste.
Kelly’s Kadambam Adai
Prep time: 3 hours
Cooking time: 5 minutes for each adai
Serves: 4-5
Calories per serve: 290 per medium-sized adai
Ingredient
Boiled rice: ¾ cup
Raw rice: ¾ cup
Urad dhal: ¼ cup
Bengal gram: ½ cup
Tuvar dhal: ¼ cup
Moong dhal: ¼ cup
Cumin seeds: ½ tsp
Red chillies: 10
Ginger, grated: 2 tbsp
Curry leaves: ½ cup, cut finely
Hing (asafoetida): 1 tsp
Fresh coconut: ½ cup, chopped into small pieces
Spinach: 1 cup, cut finely
Methi (fenugreek leaves): ¼ cup, cut finely
Drumstick leaves: ¾ cup, cut finely
Cabbage: ¼ cup, cut finely
Carrots: 2, grated
Small onions: 1 cup, peeled and cut
Green chillies: 5, chopped finely
Black pepper powder: 1 tbsp
Jaggery: 1 tbsp
Coriander seeds: 1 tsp, whole (roasted)
Salt: as required
Cilantro: ½ cup, chopped finely
Gingelly or coconut oil: as required
Unsalted butter: ¼ cup
Roasted peanuts: ½ cup, chopped into small pieces
Method
- Soak the rice and dhals together for five hours.
- Soak red chillies with it.
- Drain it and grind it with ginger, curry leaves, asafoetida, black pepper, cumin seed and salt together.
- Grind it coarsely. No need to ferment the batter.
- Add finely chopped spinach, methi leaves, drumstick leaves, cabbage, green chillies, cilantro, curry leaves (half) and shredded carrots.
- Powder the coriander seeds and add to the mixture.
- Add the diced peanuts too.
- Mix everything well; the batter is ready to use.
- Heat the tava and pour two ladles of the batter and spread in a circular motion.
- Spread 2 tsp of oil around the dosa and place a lid over it to cook one side.
- Now, turn over and cook on low to medium flame till it turns brown and crisp.
- Serve hot with unsalted butter and jaggery.
- It can be served with peanut chutney too.
Kitchen Tip
- Use a non-stick tava for best results if making for first time
- Cook only on medium or low flame, splashing water on the tava before each adai
- Do not store batter when veggies are added. It will spoil easily.
— Chef Ramaa Shanker is the author of Festive Offerings to the Gods:
Divine Soul Recipes
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