7 Day Recipe Marathon - First Day - Aaichi Dhiradhi (Mixed Flour Pancakes made as per my mother's recipe)

Wishing you All Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year Ahead!!!!!!!!!
Like I said in my previous post, I am back to blogging thanks to Nupur Of One Hot Stove who came up with a wonderful idea to host a 7 day recipe marathon from 25th December,2009 to 31st December,2009.
7 recipes in 7 days...........sounded extremely interesting. So I decided to join in

Here's list of participants for the marathon.
My first recipe is a traditional Maharashtrian breakfast dish .No surprises considering the fact that I am a Maharashtrian.

My first recipe is Aaichi Dhiradi(Fixed Flour Pancakes made as per my mother's recipe)
My mother basically makes dhiradis from combination of different flours so that the dish gets more nutritive value.
But before I tell you about her recipe of making dhiradis, let me try to explain what exactly are dhiradis.Its a marathi word used for describing pancakes.
It's a lovely comfort food which is extremely satisfying to your palate having enough nutrition and yet can be made almost instantly.It seriously can be cooked in a jiffy.What more could one ask for ? It's perfect for a quick morning breakfast or for instant evening snack.
Basically, there are different ways to prepare dhiradis.
The traditional and most common way involves mixing rice flour with salt, red chilli powder or green chilli with a clove or two of garlic finely chopped into small pieces and water (or some curd/yogurt) This mixture can also be mixed in buttermilk which gives it good consistency.This is generally mixed before hand and then the mixture is poured out on hot tava/frying pan/griddle. It is to be cooked with a lid on the tava. After the mixture is cooked from one side, flip it so that the second side gets finely cooked. This time, the lid is not required.
Voila, steaming hot rice flour pancakes are ready in a jiffy.
My mother modified the recipe and added a few ingredients to make amazingly tasty mixed dhiradis.
Here's her recipe which I follow to the T :
Mixed Flour Dhiradi (my mother's recipe)
Ingredients -
Whole Wheat Flour ( kanik or atta) I use Sakas Atta ( 3 measures / cups)
Rice Flour( Tandulyachi Pithi) ( 2 measures/cups)
Gram Flour (Besan) (1 measure/cup)
Cloves of Garlic (optional as per taste) finely cut into small pieces
Shredded Ginger ( optional as per taste)
Salt as per individual taste
Red Chilli Powder 1 teaspoon or 2 green chillies cut into small pieces.
Chopped Coriander leaves (optional)/cilantro
Oil
Method -

Take whole wheat flour, rice flour and gram flour in proportion of 3:2:1.That's 3 measures of whole wheat flour with 2 measures of rice flour and one measure of gram flour. Mix them finely. Add few finely chopped cloves of garlic and some finely shredded or chopped ginger. Ginger garlic paste can also be added but i prefer adding small pieces of ginger & garlic instead of fine paste as it is crunchy. Add salt as per taste and preference & one teaspoon of red chilli powder or 2 green chillies in the mixture. Add chopped leaves of coriander / cilantro(again optional but i would recommend it as it tastes great). Add water to this mixture and mix the batter thoroughly. Ensure that the consistency of the batter is thicker than the one we make for bhajiyas/pakodas. Heat some oil and add one teaspoon of hot oil to the batter.(this is called adding "mohan") Mix the batter well and heat non stick tava or griddle. Pour the batter on the tava (the consistency of the mixture being poured is thicker than the one for dosas)
Add some oil to sides as it gives good crispy feel to the dhiradis.
Cover with a lid and let it cook properly.
When the one side of dhirade is cooked properly, flip the dhirade. The second side should be cooked without the lid.(oil may be added to the sides)
When both the sides are properly cooked, the dhirade is ready to eat.
This no-frills dish is basically simple comfort food with ample nourishment which can be made in a jiffy.
Like I said earlier,what I personally like about this dish as it is very easy to cook, very few ingredients are required and also no before hand preparation are required whatsoever. It is dish that can be made instantly (in the style of 2 minutes Maggie)

Aai, this dish is for you.

Have a great weekend and see you tomorrow for the next recipe.