Thavala adai with a easy ready mix that you can prepare ahead and just mix with hot water to make delicious evening snack or a special dinner. Full video recipe.
Another recipe which I have heard a lot and wanted to try for a long time. I was so happy and have no words to thank Pavithra vijayaraghavan who shared her mom's way of making thavala adai. She even sent a picture of the end product on how it turns out. It is really tempting just by it looks and the procedure of making the adai.
Recently I posted a picture of rice upma adai in my instagram, how much many of us love it. If you are one of them then you must try this too. Even if this is new to you, it's definitely worth a try. Such a traditional dish which I wish I have learnt from the elders from our family. Nevertheless, I am so glad I could try this out from my reader friend.
I was asking my mom if she had made, she said she haven't, but told she have heard about the making. In Tamil, thavalai means a water pot. May be they used it in some way to make the adai or because of its looks? If anyone knows how it is made traditionally and how it got the name thavalai adai, let me know in the comments please 🙂🙏🏽.
Recipe card
Thavala adai
Equipments (Amazon Affiliate links)
Ingredients
- 1 cup idli rice
- ½ cup toor dal/ thuvaram paruppu
- ¼ cup chana dal/ kadalai paruppu
- 1 tablespoon moong dal/ payatham paruppu
- 5 red chilli
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- Salt
- Oil as needed
To temper
- 2 teaspoon Oil
- ½ teaspoon Mustard
- 1 tablespoon ginger chopped
- ⅛ teaspoon Asafoetida
- 1 Sprig curry leaves
Instructions
- First powder red chilli, black pepper and salt* coarsely.
- Add cumin seeds, rice, toor dal, chana dal and moong dal. Grind until coarse, rava like texture.
- Transfer to a bowl. Pour boiling hot water to the mixture and mix to make thick batter.
- Keep aside for 1 hr. Temper with Mustard, asafoetida, ginger, curry leaves.
- Add grated coconut and mix well. Adjust the consistency with more hot water as it would have become thick after resting 1 hr.
- The batter should be thicker than the regular adai batter.
- Heat a heavy bottomed pan/ kadai, preferably iron.
- Spread a thick adai over greased kadai.
- Pour 2 tablespoon of oil around and cook covered in lowest flame for 3 mins approx.
- Open the lid and carefully flip and cook again for 2-3 more mins. Drizzle oil around again while cooking.
- If needed, poke holes here and there for even cooking. Longer you cook in low flame, more crispier. But never be stingy over oil. Transfer to serving plate carefully.
Video
Notes
- If storing for later use, you can skip salt, add later.
- This adai needs more oil for perfect crispy, tasty results. You can use oils with healthy fat such as sesame oil or coconut oil.
- make sure to powder evenly as coarse rava texture. Do not powder to fine flour.
- When texture of the ground mixture is right, while adding hot water, there will not be any lump formation.
- The mixture should be almost half cooked while you add hot water.
Thavala adai method:
- First powder red chilli, black pepper and salt* coarsely.
- Add cumin seeds, rice, toor dal, chana dal and moong dal. Grind until coarse, rava like texture.
- Transfer to a bowl. Pour boiling hot water to the mixture and mix to make thick batter.
- Keep aside for 1 hr. Temper with Mustard, asafoetida, ginger, curry leaves. Add grated coconut and mix well. Adjust the consistency with more hot water as it would have become thick after resting 1 hr.
- The batter should be thicker than the regular adai batter. Heat a heavy bottomed pan/ kadai, preferably iron. Spread a thick adai over greased kadai.
- Pour 2 tablespoon of oil around and cook covered in lowest flame for 3 mins approx. Open the lid and carefully flip and cook again for 2-3 more mins. Drizzle oil around again while cooking. If needed, poke holes here and there for even cooking. Longer you cook in low flame, more crispier. But never be stingy over oil. Transfer to serving plate carefully.
- 💡You can heat a tawa side by side and flip the adai over it to avoid breaking and fast the process as you can cook 2 simultaneously.
Serve with idli milagai podi the best as she suggested. Can also have it with chutney, sambar.
Sumija says
Nice Raji. My MIL does it as upma (no ginger though) instead of adai. It tastes so delicious. I make upma as my husband like a lot. Next time I'll try this. I have just heard the name so far.
vidhya das says
In my family ,we make even thin dosas using this batter! Even soaked javvarisi will be added to batter whole making adai!
While making idli,half of the kadai will be filled with the batter n cooked. After sometime it gives nice crispy base(kids use to fight for this)remove it and again cook to get some more crispy base,and it goes on thrice!thick base vessels will give good taste!
[email protected] says
Wow sounds really tempting
Ramya says
Hi, was discussing about this recipe just a few minutes back with my MIL. She said in olden days the batter used to be filled in a kind of cylindrical container coated on the inside with oil and kept to be steamed for about an hour. Then it would be taken out and sliced like bread. Hence the name I guess!
Raks Anand says
Oh, so good to know 🙂 Thank you for taking time to write here and share the info Ramya.
Usha says
We add curds after the hot water gets fully absorbed. Then season the batter.
Raks Anand says
I will try that next time, sounds nice. But will it stick if we add curd?
Ila says
My mil recipe includes roasted semiya, ravai and javarisi in equal quantity soaked in the dal mixture. Thanks for sharing such a traditional recipe
Raks Anand says
Wow, that sounds so delicious. Must try that way too.
Niveditha says
Our pati cooks it by keeping a round vessel filled with water over the thick oiled container. Since these small patties arranged in the bottom oiled vessel cooks based on the water pot up it is called thavalai Ada.
Raks Anand says
Thank you for sharing!