A healthy and delicious adai prepared with horse gram, rice, and black urad dal! It’s now quite easy to incorporate horse gram and black urad dal with this adai recipe.
After ghavan, the next recipe in my dosa series is the horse gram adai, or as we say in Tamil kollu adai. Adai is a thick savory pancake prepared with lentils and rice. I have shared the regular adai recipe, and here is another one with horsegram or kollu.
I have added some spinach and shallots to make it more healthy and spiced it up with green chilies. It’s a delicious adai, and you can relish it with honey or jaggery or with ghee.
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Horse Gram | Kollu
Horse gram, popularly known as kollu, is one of the healthiest and protein-rich lentils. It is predominantly served for the racehorses hence the name horse gram. But it’s safe for humans too.
I grew up eating kollu chutney a lot, and I started exploring different kollu/horse gram recipes in my kitchen. You can find horse gram rasam powder, ulava charu/horse gram rasam, ulava charu biryani (Ulavalu means horse gram in Telugu), and horsegram stir fry recipes on my blog.
I am adding this kollu adai to my kollu recipe repertoire.
Ingredients required
Idli rice and horse gram – I have used an equal measure of idli rice and horse gram.
Black urad dal – Instead of skinned urad, I used the whole black urad as it’s highly nutritious. After soaking, I did not remove the skin hence the adai color is different. Do you know the whole urad has a higher protein value than most legumes? It is also an excellent source of dietary fiber, vitamin B complex, and other minerals.
Green chilies – I have used green chilies to spice up the adai. You can use dried red chilies, too, and in that case, you can soak the dried chilies along with rice.
Shallots and spinach: Adding moringa leaves to adai is quite common, but I went with regular spinach. You can add moringa leaves or vegetables like grated carrots or finely chopped spinach. But do not go overboard with the veggies. Just add a little.
Apart from these ingredients, we also need salt, water, and oil or ghee to prepare the adai.
Frequently asked questions
Typically we grind the adai batter slightly coarsely, giving a fantastic texture, but there is no harm in grinding it smooth. If you prefer thin and crispy adai, grind it smooth.
Oh yeah, absolutely. I love incorporating black urad in everyday cooking, so I went with that. You can use skinned whole urad too.
You can add grated carrots, finely chopped cabbage, other greens, or bell peppers. But like I mentioned before, do not go overboard with the vegetables. Add a little for the flavor and texture. The cooking time of the adai also increases with more vegetables.
Of course, yes. In fact, I first made it as dosai without adding any vegetables. I added fenugreek and made it like regular idli-dosa batter by grinding it in a wet grinder. The batter ferments well, and you can make both idli and dosai. When I made dosai, we felt we could add more vegetables and spice them up. And that’s how the idea of adai came, and as it’s not fermented, it’s easy to make too without prior planning. But of course, you need to soak the lentils, and there is a bit of planning involved.
I think I have answered the most common questions. Do let me know if I have missed any or if you have any questions in the comment section.
Side dishes for this dosa
In restaurants, you can find the combination adai and avial. But we love our adai with coconut chutney, jaggery or honey. You can also serve it with ghee and jaggery.
Dietary specifications
The batter and the dosa are naturally vegan and gluten-free. If you are not particular about the vegan diet, you can use ghee to prepare the dosa and serve with ghee.
Like any other dosa, this horse gram adai is best when enjoyed hot. I won’t recommend making this dosa ahead and storing it. Prepare the batter well ahead and make the dosa as required.
How to make horse gram adai
Soaking and preparing the batter
- Pic1 – Rinse the rice, horse gram, and black urad separately until the water runs clear. Now add the ingredients to a bowl with sufficient water and soak for atleast 8 to 10 hours.
- Pic 2 – After 8 hours, drain the water. Add ¼ cup of water to the blender and black urad and half of the horse gram mixture and grind it. Add water as required.
- Pic 3 – Transfer the batter to a bowl and grind the remaining horse gram and rice together with green chilies. Add water as required while grinding. Overall I used 1.5 cups of water while grinding.
- Pic 4 – Transfer the batter to a bowl, rinse the mixer jar with ¼ tbsp, and add it. Add salt and mix well.
Make the adai
- Pic 1 – Add finely chopped shallots and spinach to the batter and mix well. If needed, add ¼ cup of water.
- Pic 2 – Heat a well seasoned cast-iron pan, and when it is hot, reduce the heat to medium-low. Take a ladle full of batter, pour it on the pan, and spread it gently.
- Pic 3 – Spread some oil around the edges let the adai cook. The cooking timing differs depending upon the thickness of the batter and veggies added; when the adai is fully cooked, the color will change. You can flip the adai then.
- Pic 4 – When the top part is fully cooked, loosen the edges, flip the adai, and cook for 30 to 45 seconds. Now flip the adai and remove it from the pan. Similarly, make the rest of the adais with the remaining batter and serve hot.
Recipe notes
- If the batter is thick, thin it down by adding 2 to 4 tbsp of water. Thicker batter will yield thick adai and if you prefer that way, go for it.
- I have mentioned the water measure I used; please adjust as required. The amount might vary as per the rice quality.
- Adjust the salt and green chilies to taste. Instead of green chilies, you can use dried red chilies too. In that case, soak it along with rice.
- If you are not following a vegan diet, you can use ghee to prepare the adai.
Explore other dosa varieties
PS: If you try this horse gram adai, please don’t forget to comment and rate this recipe. If you have any questions, please leave a comment, and I will get to it ASAP. Make sure to follow me on my Pinterest for more healthy and delicious ideas! Follow me on Instagram or join my Facebook Group for more recipe updates! You can also sign-up for my newsletter for weekly updates.
📖 Recipe
Horse Gram Adai | Kollu Adai Dosai
Equipment
- 1 Blender like Blendtec
- 1 Tawa or Griddle
Ingredients
Instructions
Soaking and preparing the batter
- Rinse the rice, horse gram, and black urad separately until the water runs clear. Now add the ingredients to a bowl with sufficient water and soak for atleast 8 to 10 hours.
- After 8 hours, drain the water. Add ¼ cup of water to the blender and black urad and half of the horse gram mixture and grind it. Add water as required.
- Transfer the batter to a bowl and grind the remaining horse gram and rice together with green chilies. Add water as required while grinding. Overall I used 1.5 cups of water while grinding.
- Transfer the batter to a bowl, rinse the mixer jar with ¼ tbsp, and add it. Add salt and mix well.
Make the adai
- Add finely chopped shallots and spinach to the batter and mix well. If needed, add ¼ cup of water.
- Heat a well seasoned cast-iron pan, and when it is hot, reduce the heat to medium-low. Take a ladle full of batter, pour it on the pan, and spread it gently.
- Spread some oil around the edges let the adai cook. The cooking timing differs depending upon the thickness of the batter and veggies added; when the adai is fully cooked, the color will change. You can flip the adai then.
- When the top part is fully cooked, loosen the edges, flip the adai, and cook for 30 to 45 seconds. Now flip the adai and remove it from the pan. Similarly, make the rest of the adais with the remaining batter and serve hot.
Notes
- If the batter is thick, thin it down by adding 2 to 4 tbsp of water. Thicker batter will yield thick adai and if you prefer that way, go for it.
- I have mentioned the water measure I used; please adjust as required. The amount might vary as per the rice quality.
- Adjust the salt and green chilies to taste. Instead of green chilies, you can use dried red chilies too. In that case, soak it along with rice.
- If you are not following a vegan diet, you can use ghee to prepare the adai.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
The adai tasted fabulous! Thank you for the recipe.
Thank you :-)
I have horsegram in my stock most of the time because we like making stirfry for lunch. I must try this adai then…
Please do try. I am sure you will love it.
I have also made kollu dosa for the dosa series and I used millet instead of rice and the crispy dosas were our most fav dosas ever. I shall try out the adai version with vegetables too. Good one.
Thanks Harini.
Gonna try this recipe.. I have a pack of horse gram and was looking for recipes. This is perfect recipe to it up and also a healthy protein packed breakfast .
oh yeah. I hope you give it a try.
Healthy one
Thanks
Healthy adai with horse gram, Perfect for weight loss !!
Thanks :-)
Afantastic recipe as usual. I love to include horse gram for its proteincontent and adai is a great way to have it often! The adai looks amazing!
Thanks Radha.
Of all the grams, I love Kollu. Its my Kongu roots probably. This dosai is so good and so easy too. Well made, Vidya
Thanks So much Anu.
This is such a healthy adai Srividhya, love kollu and the greens that’s gone in…will be a wonderful power packed breakfast for sure!
Thanks so much Valli.