This lentil omelette or adai is a South Indian vegan breakfast. Made with a mix of lentils and rice, it does not require fermentation. Hence, it is a quicker and nutritious breakfast.
It is a versatile recipe as you can use any lentils you have in your pantry. I keep varying it. This time I used a mix of 5 lentils which included mung beans, black lentils, pigeon peas, split chickpeas and red lentils.
You can use lentil flours too if you have them at hand along with rice flour. That way you do not need to soak the lentils.
Adding a bit of rice gives the omelette an easy spreadability and a nice texture too. I have added some basic spices, herbs and veggies. Again, you can play around with what you prefer.
You may also like: moonglet pancakes, Idli recipe, Rava Dosa, Besan Cheela, Medu Vada.
Ingredients
Lentils: I have used 1.5 cups whole lentils that included 0.5 cup mung beans and 0.25 cups each toor dal or pigeon peas, red lentils, black lentils and chana dal or split chickpeas.
Rice: ½ cup regular rice is used.
Spices: 1 tbsp. ginger and 2 green chillies are used to flavour the vegan omelette.
Veggies and herbs: I used 2 tbsp. chopped dill, a sprig of curry leaves and 1 onion finely chopped in the recipe.
Salt to taste is also used.
Oil: To shallow fry the omelette, vegetable oil is used.
Variations and Substitutions
In place of rice, millets or oats can be added. You can use lentil flour or even chickpea flour in place of the lentils here. You can use multiple lentils or use only single one depending upon what you have in your pantry.
Use any herbs of choice though dill does add an extra something. Skip green chillies if you don’t like heat.
You can add other veggies like grated carrots or chopped greens to the batter.
Serving Suggestions
Traditionally this vegan lentil omelette or adai is served with sambar and coconut chutney. But you can serve with any chutney, dip or pickle.
It is perfect as breakfast or a light meal. You can also pair it with dal and some veggies or salad on the side for a wholesome meal.
Instructions
Wash and soak the rice and lentils separately for about 4 hours. Drain them and grind them to a fine paste along with ginger and green chillies (if using) and water.
Form a runny batter. Add chopped dill, finely chopped onion, chopped curry leaves and salt. You are ready to make vegan omelette. The batter looks more green due to more mung beans used.
Take a skillet and heat it. Make sure it is well seasoned. You can use a dosa tawa too. Spread some oil all over it. Now using a big ladle take about 2 ladles of the batter onto the skillet. Spread it out like a crepe or an omelette.
Add a few drops of oil all over. Then cover and cook on low heat till it is nicely crisped up. Remove the cover and flip the adai to cook on both sides till browned. You can apply some more oil if needed.
Your lentil omelette or vegan omelette is ready. Enjoy with ketchup, chutney or dip of choice.
Expert Tips
1. Soaking the lentils especially whole lentils helps in easy grinding and a good consistency to the batter.
2. You can use millets or millet flour in place of rice.
3. If making instant omelette or dosa, you can use lentil flours and rice flour. That way you do not need to soak and grind them.
4. You can use any greens or herbs of choice.
5. Let your batter be thick but of runny consistency.
6. If you like, you can add some fillings like sautéed tofu, mushrooms or anything else, of choice.
7. Season your cast iron skillet or dosa tawa well so that the lentil omelette cooks evenly and turns out golden brown.
8. You can store the batter in the fridge for upto 3 days. It may become thicker on storage so dilute with water and use.
Here’s the recipe card:
📖 Recipe Card
Lentil Omelette or Adai
Equipment
- 1 Skillet
Ingredients
- ¼ cup pigeon peas or toor dal
- ¼ cup split chickpeas or chana dal
- ½ cup mung beans or sabut moong
- ¼ cup black lentils or whole urad dal
- ¼ cup red lentils or masoor dal
- ½ cup rice
- 1 tbsp. ginger
- 2 green chillies
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tbsp. dill chopped
- 1 onion finely chopped
- Oil as needed
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Instructions
- Wash and soak the rice the rice and lentils separately for about 4 hours. Drain them and grind them to a fine paste along with cumin seeds, ginger and green chillies (if using) and water.
- Form a runny batter. Add chopped dill, curry leaves, finely chopped onion and salt. You are ready to make vegan omelette.
- Take a skillet and heat it. Make sure it is well seasoned. You can use a dosa tawa too. Spread some oil all over it. Now using a big ladle take about 2 ladles of the batter onto the skillet. Now spread it out like a crepe or an omelette.
- Add a few drops of oil all over. Then cover and cook on low heat till it is nicely crisped up. Remove the cover and flip the adai to cook on both sides till browned. You can apply some more oil if needed.
- Your lentil omelette is ready. Enjoy with ketchup, chutney or dip of choice.
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