More is More - 16 Bean Adai

Bag of 16 kinds of Beans

• Do you want to add more protein to your diet?
• Do you want to eat more whole grains?
• Do you want to increase your fiber intake?
• Do you want to feed your family traditional dishes that they love eating?
• Do you want a quick lunch/dinner/brunch option that you don't have to slave over?
• Do you want to use up that bag of brown rice you bought, but is lying unused in the pantry?

If you answered "Yes" to any of the above questions, read on....

Ever since I saw this post in Linda's blog, I was intrigued. I have always had a love-hate relationship with beans. I love beans of all kinds, but tend to over indulge on them. When I am on a bean-loving phase, I make all kinds of bean dishes without respite for days on end - dals, sprouts, salads, koshambir and so on, till I am so full of beans(excuse the pun!) that I cannot look at another bean in the eye. I veer away from beans and stick to vegetables till the enchanting allure of beans draws me to them again.

When I saw Linda's post for a 16 bean soup, I knew that it was a recipe I had to try. If 1 bean is good, 16 beans has got to be better, right? So, a bag of 16 bean soup mix came home with me on my next trip to the grocery store.

I soaked the beans for the soup and then had a sudden change of plans. I thought of the perennial favorite of my husband - Adai. Typically Adai can be made with 3 beans (actually lentils, but who is checking?) but why not with 16? So I soaked 1 cup of brown rice (yes, that bag of brown rice that's been sitting in the pantry for ages) along with the beans and threw in a handful of udad dal to act as a binding agent. This is in case the beans didn't form a homogenous mass. I wasn't sure if the beans would bind together without some binding agent like udad dal.

I flavored the batter with a good dose of fresh ginger, some red and green chillies, a handful of fresh cilantro and was estatic when this batter turned out crisp, crunchy, absolutely delicious Adai!

Who says you can't have it all? With this 16 (umm..17) bean Adai, you can have both taste and nutrition!

According to the packet, the bean soup mix contains the following:

• Northern
• Pinto
• Large Lima
• Blackeye
• Garbanzo
• Baby Lima
• Green Split Pea
• Kidney
• Cranberry Bean
• Small White
• Pink Bean
• Small Red
• Yellow split pea
• Lentils
• Navy
• White Kidney
• Pearl Barley
• Black Bean
  

Keen readers will notice that there are more than 16 items listed above. My guess is that some are not beans!!

And to leave you similing, here a little poem my son came home singing when he was in 3rd grade:

Beans, Beans, the musical fruit
The more you eat the more you toot
The more you toot, the better you feel
So eat some beans with every meal

Yes, 3rd graders are very amused by such jokes :-)

16 Bean Adai with tomato pickle and Spinach Chutney

Ingredients:

1 cup of 16 bean soup mix
1 handful of udad dal
1 cup brown rice (I used organic long grain)
6 dried red chillies (caution: reduce if you prefer the Adai less spicy)
1 green chilli
1 inch piece of fresh ginger root
a handful of cilantro leaves
5-6 curry leaves
scant 1/2 tsp asafoetida powder (to reduce the aforementioned "tooting")
salt to taste

Method:

1. Soak the beans and udad dal in 6 cups of water for 2 hours
2. After 2 hours add the rice and red chillies and soak for another 2 hours
3. Drain and grind to a coarse paste in the blender with the ginger, green chillies, cilantro. You can add the soaking water to get a pancake batter like consistency.
   
4. Add asafoetida and salt to taste.
   
5. Tear the curry leaves into 2-3 pieces and add to the batter.
   

Notes:

• Make adais right away or store the batter in a tightly covered container for upto 1 week
• You can add finely chopped onions to the batter before making the adai
  
• Follow the instructions in this post for step-by-step instructions to making the adai