yummy everyday meal: Thavala Adai - Tanjore /Thanjavur Special

For letter T,there were various options such a thavala vadai,thenga mangai pannai sundal,thakkali rasam and many more.But I chose Thavala adai,a famous evening snack popular in Tanjore/Thanjavur Brahmin house holds.
Its a kind of pan fried patties/pancake made with ground rice and dhal.This thavala adai can be made in number of ways,in some house holds its made like a thick pancake in a shallow bottom pan.Here I shared the pan fried version and this is quite addictive when it is served hot along with coconut chutney.Off to the recipe................

Thavala Adai

Basic Information

Preparation time 10 minutes

Soaking time 2-3 hours

Cooking time 25 minutes

Makes 6-7

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Raw rice/pacharisi	1/2 cup
Toor dhal/thuvaram paruppu	1.5 tbs
Channa dhal/kadala paruppu	1 tbs
Salt	3/4 tsp
Cumin seeds/jeergam	1/2 tsp
Black pepper/milagu	3/4 tsp
Coconut(grated)	4 tbs
Mustard seeds/kadugu	3/4 tsp
Urad dhal/uluthamparuppu	1 tsp
Asafoetida/perungayam	a pinch
Curry leaves/karivepillai	few leaves
Oil	3-4 tbs

Method

Rinse the rice and couple of times in water and soak it for 2-3 hours minimum.After the soaking time drain the water completely and grind it coarsely in a blender along with salt,cumin and pepper.Add water if its needed.Heat a pan with 2 tsp of oil and do the tempering with mustard seeds and urad dhal.Toast the curry leaves and add the asafoetida powder.

Add in the grated coconut and fry it for a minute.Add around 11/2 cups of water,let it boil.To this add the ground rice and dhal paste.Mix it well.

Let it cook till all the water gets absorbed.Put off the flame and let it sit for 2-3 minutes.When the batter is warm enough take a lemon size ball on a greased sheet or banana leaf.Grease the palms with water and gently press the ball and flatten it.Make a hole on the center of the flattened disc.Make 2-3 disc and keep it aside.

Heat a dosa griddle add a tsp of oil and transfer the flattened disc to the griddle.Drizzle a tsp of oil and cook it in a medium flame for couple of minutes.Then flip gently it to the other side and drizzle a tsp of oil.Cook it till both the sides gets nice and golden.Remove it from the pan.Continue for the rest of the dough.

Serve it hot with coconut chutney.

While cooking the ground batter do not cook it till it becomes dry,otherwise its difficult to flat and make the disc.
When the flatten discs are cooking do not flip it often,otherwise it may break and get cracked.
Grind the rice and dhal to a bit coarser consistency.
Cook it with a generous amount of oil to get the adai crispy.