Cauliflower Oats Adai

(Cauliflower- Oats Savory Pancakes)

Prep time: 6 min approx             Cooking time: about 4 min for each adai          Makes :6 adais
 

This recipe was inspired by Sharmi’s Oats Recipes collection.. After seeing them (visit her collection here), I was tempted to try my own version of the oats adai a little while back.. It was peak cauliflower season in North India and so I thought, why not cauliflower in adai? And to keep it light (in fact, truth was I did not have the preparation time to soak the dals. Hence the excuse :) ) , I avoided the pulses too.. But the batter needs something to hold together, right?
So, added just a couple of tablespoons of rice flour. And the cauliflower needs just a little preparation. So, I guess savory pancake is a more apt name than adai.

Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:

Oats, any variety – 1 ¼  cups

Cauliflower – 200 gm

Onion – 1 medium sized, chopped finely

Ginger – 1 inch piece, chopped finely

Green chilli – 1, chopped finely

Red Chilli powder – ½ tbsp

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Riceflour – 2 tbsp

Oil – 1tbsp for the masala and a little more to toast the adais

Salt to taste

Method:

Cut the cauliflower into florets and pulse in a mixer till it is shredded to fine chunks. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a kadai and fry the onion till transparent. Then add the ginger and green chilli and saute. Now add the pulsed cauliflower, turmeric and chilli powders and salt. Mix well until combined and let it fry for 2-3 minutes. Keep giving a stir occasionally to avoid burning. Meanwhile, soak half the quantity of oats in water for 2 minutes using just the required quantity of water to immerse the oats. Then grind this oats, the rest half dry oats and the rice flour together into a fine paste, adding salt as required. Cool the cauliflower masala and mix it into the batter uniformly. Heat a tawa and pour a ladleful of thick batter and spread it a little into a pancake. drizzle oil and cook well on both sides on medium high heat. 

The next time, I tried it, I used just one cup of oats and added a handful of beaten rice(aval) when grinding and that came out well too. This adai does not require a side dish and can be eaten just as it is. But if required, u can serve it in the traditional way with avial or curd or milaga podi. It is very soft to the mouth and is served best when slightly cool since it firms up better when it cools.