Pesarattu (Moong Dal Dosa)

Today was a one of a kind foodie day. It started with bread for breakfast, idli for lunch and dosa for dinner. The dotzy was finally confused and called her dinner brunch! I have been inundated with whole green moong dal (green gram) after I ended up buying it every time I visited the Indian grocery store over the past two months. I could not remember that I had bought it already. I have been asking friends to help me use it in bulk and one of my sweet friends S suggested Pesarattu. I thought that was going to be a long drawn process and procrastinated on the idea till another friend S told me how easily it can be done. The clincher was the fact that this is an instant dosa mix (if you have soaked dal handy) and I love a no prep recipe.

The word "Pesarattu" is derived from "Pesaru" which is what Moong dal is called in Telugu and "Attu" which is what Dosa is commonly called in Telugu. Pesara Pappu is what the yellow split moong dal is called. So Pesarattu is simply a moong dal crepe or dosa. And might I add a yummy one at that. The only prep required for this dosa is soaking of moong dals for atleast 6 hrs or even overnight. If the moong beans have sprouted it is healthier.

The beauty of this recipe is that you can add flavours as you please. Add in mint to get a fresher flavour or coriander to get the friendly homely taste. Add in onions and carrots to enhance the flavour.

I think this batter may work well with tomato as well although we might have to spread the batter thicker and sprinkle fine cut tomato pieces on top while on the skillet. I am also going to try this with avocado the next time and avoid rice flour altogether.

Pesarattu (Moong Dal Dosa) 

Servings: 20 Dosas
Prep Time: 8 hrs (soak time) + 10 mins for grinding Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients 

3 cups sprouted Moong dal
1/2 cup Rice flour
1/2 cup Water
1 1/2 tsp Jeera powder
4 Green chillies
A bunch of Coriander
1 Medium sized Onion (optional)
1 Medium sized Carrot (optional)
Salt to taste

Instructions 

Grind all the ingredients together till you get a fine paste. Add more water as required to make it easier to grind and to get it to a spreadable batter consistency.
Add finely chopped onions and grated carrot to the batter and mix well. This step is optional.
Heat a skillet on medium flame.
Pour a ladle of batter in the center of the skillet. Using the back of the ladle (it has to be a heat resistant material ofcourse) spread the batter outward in one continuos circlular motion without lifting the ladle away.
If onion and carrot have been added, be slower with the spreading as it the batter is denser and it may clump.
Allow the dosa to cook till nicely browned on the bottom.
Using a large heat resistant spatula flip the dosa and cook it for a couple of seconds on the other side.
Serve dosa hot with Chutney and / or Chutney powder.