1 cup rice
1/3 cup urad dal
1/3 cup chana dal
1/3 cup yellow split peas
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red chili powder
1 large onion (opt)
1 carrot (opt)
1/4 cup coconut, grated (opt)
Directions
Mix rice, chana dal, urad dal, and yellow split peas in a large
vessel. Soak in a lot of water for about 2 hours.
Grind the soaked mixture with chili powder and salt coarsely, without
adding much water.
Ferment for about 3 - 4 hours, then refrigerate or freeze. In cold
weather, the fermenting process might take longer, and it might be a
good idea to ferment in an oven (the pilot light will keep the
mixture warm).
Add either onions (finely cut), carrot (grated) or coconut before
preparing.
Freezing Notes
If freezing, only ferment for about an hour. The mixture will have
to be left out for a while before being ready to use.
Rajeev Krishnamoorthy, rajeev@twain.EE.CORNELL.EDU
Servings: 6 servings
Adai Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Asian; Indian
The History of Recipes
It is quite feasible to track the history of transcribed cooking instructions way back into history, in truth as far as ancient Egypt, and quite possibly further than that. Having said that, these, old records were just very basic hieroglyphic recipes for preparing food.
In fact, the oldest recipe discovered so far, according to experts are some tablets in Sumerian which show the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made people feel exhilarated and blissful. Progressing into Roman times around 25BC a man called Apicius created a number of documents detailing recipes cooked by the Romans. In his publication, Apicius describes how the roman meals were separated into hors d`oeuvre, main course and afters, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Aspicius also describes how the Roman chefs were skilled in the use of many different herbs and spices, including many that are still in use today for example bay, mint and dill. Later on, we have some recipe books dating from the 14th Century ; a recipe book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another titled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are a little misleading though, these are not about the spicy food that is served today, but rather accounts of the types of food eaten by the nobility of that time. Later on in the 1400s, knights returning from the crusades brought us many foods, spices and herbs from middle-east cuisine, including rosemary and coriander. These new culinary innovations caused an increase in cookery books, some of which still exist in private libraries. For the centuries that followed, the rich families of Wesstern Europe competed to offer the most exotic banquets, and because of this the best cooks and their recipe collections became highly prized. Notwithstanding that, it wasn`t until the nineteenth century the formal cooking and recipe publications really came of age. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, devoted much of their lives to assembling, verifying, and recording the recipes of their peers. By the advent of the twentieth century, cooking publications are in great demand, due to higher levels of literacy, people having more leisure time and disposable income. |
We hope you enjoy this Adai recipe.
