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Pesarattu or Green Moong Dal Dosa

Pesarattu or Green Moong Dal Dosa

by Shyamali Sinha

Pesarattu, this savoury, crispy but not flaky Green Moong Dal Dosa or Green gram Dosa comes to you from Andhra Cuisine. It is a well-known protein-rich vegetarian Breakfast. But I often go back to this recipe for those days when I am looking for my low-prep and fast meal recipes for Brunch, lunch or dinner.       

Why do I call Pesarattu or Green Moong Dal Dosa a low prep dish?

Because for prep work, all I need to do is, wash and soak the lentils for a minimum of four hours to make a batter. That’s it! 

What if The Lentils are soaking for a longer time than four hours?

Your Dosa won’t be crispy!

When I say crispy, that doesn’t mean flaky like regular Dosa. What I mean is that not soft like a crepe. Longer soaking time causes beans to absorb more water and become soft.

To make them crispy,  you can either add rice flour, semolina or soaked Poha into the batter. Else instead of Pesarattu, you can cook mouthwatering Kolkata style Tadka dal😁 or  Indian spice flavoured Green Moong Dal. Win-win situation, isn’t it?

Mung Bean after soaking for 4 hours

No fermentation or leavening agent is required. 

It’s 2021, and by now, the world has explored that Dosa is a crispy, savoury crepe from South Indian cuisine. But this is not the typical Dosa that  Indian restaurants sell in Western countries, or you find in any local South Indian restaurants in Indian big cities.  We need fermented rice and lentil batter to make Dosa. But, here in this recipe, no fermentation or leavening agent is involved in making this Greem Gram Dosa or Pesarattu.

What goes in it?

Ingredients for Pesarattu or Green Moong Dal Dosa
Ingredients for Pesarattu or Green Moong Dal Dosa
  • Mung Bean or Green gram or Moong Dal –  Pesara means Mung bean or Moong bean in Telugu, and Attu means Dosa! Hence it is called Pesarattu, and It is also known as Green Moong Dal Dosa. No, I don’t know Telugu. I got this information from this blog😁 !  These whole Moong dal or Mung beans or Green gram are small, round, olive green colour beans. Since the husk is not removed, the green colour is retained.  Moong Dal is one of the primary sources of vegetarian or vegan protein in Indian meals. We need to soak it for four hours. If you want to fasten the soaking process in half, then soak it in hot water for two hours. 
  • Ginger, Green chillies, cumin seeds–  These are the essential aromatics in Indian vegetarian cooking.
  • Hing-  An aromatic that hugely grows in Afghanistan, Iran but is massively used in Indian vegetarian cooking. We often buy it from an Indian shop.
  • Ghee- In my opinion, it is the best fat for Indian dishes, especially for vegetarian dishes. 

Alternatively, you can use Coconut oil for a Vegan diet. 

  • Onion, Coriander leaves- Chopped red onions, coriander leaves and green chillies are always great for toppings. But when we pierced a thick chunk of onion into a fork, then used it as a brush to spread ghee on the pan, it released an exquisite flavour. 

How to make Pesarattu or Green Moong Dal Dosa?

How to make the Batter?

Put soaked Mung bean, green chillies, ginger, cumin seeds into a blending jar, add ¾ cup of water gradually and make a smooth paste. Then transfer the batter into a mixing bowl, add Hing, salt and maybe ¼ cup water, mix well.  The consistency of the batter would be pourable and spreadable. However, it is difficult to spread thick batter! But, too thin, then Dosa will tear when you flip it. 

Dosa batter
Pesarattu batter
Green moong dal dosa batter consistency
Consistency of the batter

It is good to use the batter immediately, but you can store the batter in the refrigerator for 2-3 days if you want. However, the colour of the batter would change.  

And you need to add either semolina or rice flour to the after to make crispy Dosa.

 But, make sure to bring the batter to room temperature before you make Dosa or Pesarattu. 

Let’s talk about the skillet or Tawa!

You can make Dosa on a non-stick skillet.  But I prefer to make my Dosa or Chilla on a cast-iron skillet. So if you are new to use Cast iron skillet or Tawa for making Dosa, I have written a detailed post about how would you know that if your skillet is well heated for making Dosa or  “ How to season a cast-iron skillet or Tawa for crepes, Chilla or Dosa? Please check the post Moong dal Quinoa Chilla

How to make the Dosa?

Process of making Green Moong Dal Dosa
Process of making Green Moong Dal Dosa

First, heat the skillet over medium heat. Then add ½ tsp of Ghee and spread it to the Tawa or skillet. Next, reduce the heat to low before pouring the batter on the skillet. Then pour  ½ cup of batter and quickly swirl to spread it. 

Drizzle melted Ghee all around the Dosa. Over medium heat, cook the Dosa until the top side dries.  You don’t need to flip and cook the other side if there is no moisture left on the top side. All you need to add is toppings. But if there is moisture left on the top side, then flip it and cook until both sides are dry out. 

Chopped onion, green chillies and coriander leaves are the best Dosa toppings. Fold the Dosa and serve right away with your favourite chutney.

Pesarattu or Green Moong Dal Dosa
Pesarattu or Green Moong Dal Dosa

What to do if the Dosa Sticks to the skillet?

There are a couple of reasons that your Dosa can stick to the skillet.

  1. Your skillet is not hot enough, or it is extremely hot. 
  2. Your skillet is not well seasoned.

So make sure your pan is well seasoned and well heated. 

Pesarattu or Green moong dal dosa
Pesarattu or Green moong dal dosa

I uploaded this recipe video on Youtube a few years back, then I cooked them in a non-stick skillet. You can check this video here for a recipe tutorial. I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Pesarattu or Green moong dal dosa

Here is the detailed recipe.

Pesarattu or Green Moong Dal Dosa

Pesarattu – Green Moong Dal Dosa

Author: Shyamali Sinha
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: Indian
Diet: Vegetarian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Soaking Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 30 minutes
Servings : 6 pieces
Print Pin Jump to Video Rate this Recipe
Pesarattu, Green Moong Dal Dosa recipe or Green gram Dosa is a savoury, crispy protein-rich vegetarian low-prep Breakfast.

Ingredients

For Batter

  • 1 cup Whole Green Moong Dal - or 200gm
  • 2 Green Chillies
  • 15 gm Ginger
  • 1 tsp Cumin seeds
  • tsp Hing or Asafoetida
  • 1 tbsp Ghee - ~ for frying the Dosa (use Coconut Oil for vegan diet.)
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 cup Water - ~ do not add water at a time, add gradually

For topping

  • 10 gm Coriander leaves
  • 1 medium-size Red Onion - we need approx ¼ cup chopped onion
  • 2-3 Green Chillies - Chopped

Instructions

Prep work

  • Wash and soak the Green Lentils or Moong Dal for 4 hours, then drain the Lentils.
  • Add soaked lentils, ginger, green chillies, cumin seeds in a grinding jar, add ¾ cup of water and grind everything together to make a smooth batter.
  • Transfer the batter into a mixing bowl, add salt, Hing. If required, add another ¼ cup of water and give a good mix. The consistency of the Batter should be pourable and spreadable.
  • Cut a thick round slice from the onion where you can pierce a fork to spread Ghee.
  • Chop rest of Onion, Coriander leaves and green chillies.

Cook

  • Heat a heavy-duty frying pan or a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.
  • When your pan is smoking hot, reduce the temperature to low.
  • Sprinkle water. If the water dries up immediately, your pan is ready to work.
  • Next, pour ¼ tsp of melted Ghee on the hot skillet, spread the ghee with the help of pierced onion.
  • Then, pour ½ cup batter in the centre of the skillet, spread the batter to make a thin crepe with the back of a round spoon.
  • Drizzle ½ tsp of Ghee all around Dosa.
  • Over medium heat, cook for 2-3 minutes or until the moisture is removed from the top side. But, make sure the bottom part should not get burnt.
  • Sprinkle chopped onion, coriander leaves, green chillies, and give a gentle press with the back of your spoon.
  • Cook for a few seconds more and remove from the pan.
  • Serve right away with your favourite chutney!

Recipe Video

Keyword: breakfast, dosa, green moong dal dosa, indian breakfast recipe, indian vegetarian breakfast recipe, moong dal dosa, moong dal dosa recipe, moong dosa, pesarattu, pesarattu dosa, pesarattu recipe
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