Oats adai ~ Dhal dosa with oats ~ Savory Indian crepes with lentils and oats

Adai or dhal dosa (savory Indian crepes) is traditionally made with rice and a few types of lentils. It is one of my favorite types of dosa, because it tastes amazing, is a good source of protein and is much quicker than the regular type of dosa because it does not require any fermentation. Another reason I like adai is because it allows me a lot of flexibility with regard to ingredients, without making a difference to the taste, making it easy for me to sneak in a few "non traditional" ingredients like quinoa, barley , oats and cracked wheat making for healthier adai:)

This one with oats is one of the first experiments I tried with adai, I thought I had already posted it here, and only recently noticed that I haven't posted it here....yet. In this version I just powder quick oats and add it to the batter, it gives the adai an instant boost of nutrition and fiber. This way I get to use some of the oat flour that I powder and keep for using in my bakes :)

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1/2 cup raw rice (chawal/ arisi)

1/3 cup split black gram lentil ( udad dhal/ ulatham parappu)

1/3 cup split pigeon peas ( tur dhal / tuvaram parappu)

1/3 cup split chick pea lentil ( chana dhal/ kadalai parappu)

1/2 cup quick oats (see notes)

3 dry red chilies (or to taste) (lal mirch)

3 green chilies (or to taste) (hara mirch)
1 tsp chopped ginger (adrak/ inji)

Salt to taste (namak/ uppu)

A little sesame oil ( til ka tel/ nella ennai) to shallow fry the adai

Soak the first four ingredients ( rice + lentils ) in sufficient water for about 3 hours.

Powder quick oats in a mixer/ spice grinder/ blender to a fine powder. Keep this aside. If you have ready made oat flour that can also be used in this recipe.

Drain the soaked rice + lentils. In batches, grind along with red chilies, green chilies, ginger and enough water to make a thick batter. The lentils need not become fine and smooth, a little coarse texture gives more crispy adai. Grind the lentils to semolina/ rava texture.

Add the oat flour and blend once or twice. Add water if required to adjust the consistency of the batter. Batter should be of pouring consistency but not too thin. If in doubt err on the side of thicker batter, you can always add water if needed to achieve desired consistency.

Add salt to taste and mix well. To make adai, heat a flat pan/ tawa/ griddle on medium heat.

When hot, pour a ladle of batter in the center and quickly spread into thin even circle. Pour a few drops of sesame oil around the circumference of the adai. Allow it to cook until the lower side become golden brown, flip over and cook the other side until it gets tiny brownish spots.

Remove and serve hot with any chutney of choice, molaga podi/ spice powder/ chutney powder or just plain honey.

Notes:
You can also soak this quick oats or rolled oats if you have that, along with the rice and lentils and grind together with chilies and ginger etc as I did for this adai

If you are looking for Adai/ Dhal dosa recipes, here are a few more