Stuffed Adai Rolls: A twist on the wholesome breakfast of Tanjore royals
It was in the royal, heritage kitchens that some of the most delicious and aromatic dishes came to life — sometimes by accident, and the rest by choice and precision.
By : migrator
Update: 2019-11-23 18:55 GMT
Chennai
The royal cooks were a dedicated lot, who spent their whole time in the firewood kitchens, investing all their energy in creating dishes to please the royals. Be it the Mysore pak, which was an accidental discovery in the royal kitchens of Mysore (now Mysuru), or the wholesome warriors’ breakfast adai, which was meant to offer great muscle strength.
The high protein dish is said to have been discovered by one of the Brahmin cooks during the period of Rajaraja I of the Chola Empire (947 AD to 1014). The cook is said to have combined millets, kambu rice and lentils to create a crisp dosa-like pancake.
When tried by the members of the royal household, the dish was termed a roaring success. It was then served with clarified butter. The name adai came when the cook supposedly exclaimed a daan, meaning ‘that is so’ in Tamil, which later became ‘adai’.
The lentil and rice dosa has had many versions ever since. I invented my own after reading about the dish from various books. New York was my testing ground, where I demonstrated at various restaurants a variety of heritage recipes from India.
Cooking in New York was a totally different experience. No helpers, many fresh Indian herbs weren’t available, and one had to make do with what was available.
James Beard Award-winning cooking teacher and chef, Julie Sahni, and I had hosted a big fundraiser dinner at Shaan restaurant, which was located at Times Square in Manhattan. The dinner was in aid of the homeless in New York, and for an education project in Bihar.
Then Mayor of New York city, Rudy Giuliani (current personal lawyer to US President Donald Trump), famed filmmaker Mira Nair, and many other bigwigs from the city were attending the dinner. For starters, I had chosen to play around with the traditional adai, and remembered reading about adai rolls in a book.
I had modified it by adding chickpeas and black peas so it becomes a nutritious snack. I had used vegetables as a filling in some, and chicken mince in a few other.
The dish became a huge hit and turned into a favourite for Giuliani, who has Italian roots. I decided to share the vegetable version of the delicious adai rolls with you all.
Stuffed Adai Rolls
Preparation time: 6 hours (5 hours soaking)
Cooking time: 30 min
Serves: 5-6
Calories per serve: 160 cal per piece
Ingredients
Ponni boiled rice: ½ cup
Bengal gram: ½ cup
Split yellow lentils: ½ cup
Boiled chickpeas: ½ cup
Chickpea flour: ¼ cup
Asafoetida: a pinch
Salt: to taste
Green chillies: 3
Garlic: 4 cloves peeled
Ginger: ½ inch cube
Coriander seeds: 1 tsp roasted
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp roasted
Grated coconut: 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Cumin powder: 1 tsp
Refined oil/coconut oil: 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Drumstick leaves/spinach: 1 cup
Shredded beetroot: 1/4 cup
Shredded carrot: ¼ cup
Shredded cabbage: ¼ cup
Green peas: ¼ cup
French beans: ¼ cup chopped
Water: ¼ cup
Green coriander: ½ cup finely chopped
Shallots: ½ cup finely chopped
Method
- Soak the rice and lentils with asafoetida and two red chillies for five hours.
- Grind the lentils with half of the green coriander and boiled chickpeas. Add salt to taste. Make a thick batter and set aside.
- Grind coconut, green chilli, ginger, garlic, turmeric powder, roasted coriander seeds and cumin to a fine paste. Do not add more than a table spoon of water.
- Combine the two mixtures and set aside.
- Take a saucepan and add a table spoon of oil.
- When hot, let the mustard seeds splutter, and then add the shallots, vegetables and greens. Saute for a few minutes.
- Add in the spice powders, salt and cook for a few minutes on low heat. Sprinkle water to avoid burning.
- Remove the vegetables into a bowl.
- Place a tawa on heat and pour one teaspoon of oil. Once hot, spread two tablespoons of batter thinly to form a small cutlet.
- Now, take a spoonful of the cooked vegetables and spread on the batter.
- Pour over another two tablespoons of batter on top to cover the veggies.
- When the adai is cooked on one side, turn over carefully and add oil if required while cooking on the other side on low flame.
- Remove the roll and serve with grated coconut and fried shallots. You can also garnish the dish with green leaves, be it drumstick leaves, spinach or coriander.
- Serve the rolls with mint or tomato chutney.
Kitchen Tips
- You can use minced chicken or minced prawns cooked with spices instead of vegetables
- Never leave the batter outside as it will ferment. Use it fresh or store in a refrigerator
— Chef Ramaa Shanker is the author of ‘Festive Offerings to the Gods: Divine Soul Recipes’
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