Recipe - Pesarratu (green moong dal Chelle/Dosa)

Whole Moong dal crepes

Summary:

The regional tastes of Indians vary from state to state and even in a particular state region to region. The 'Pesarattu – Upma" is one typical combination particularly patronized and popular in Coastal Andhra (the region along the rivers Godavari and Krishna). The "Pesarattu – Upma" is a double "DHAMAKA" (treat) for important guests, health conscious persons and aristocratic populace of Coastal Andhra.

Since the Dish is prepared & consumed fresh obviously meet any health standards apart from rich taste and nutrient values. Even kids will enjoy when served with limited spices.

The "Pesarattu – Upma" is a combination of Dosa made of mong dal and Upma made of semolina. Both the dishes are prepared separately using pure ghee, which obviously mean high calorie content! This specialty item is normally served at breakfast and at times for dinner as a full course!

To give some different in taste and health capsule is served hot, with a combination of plenty of cut onion & green chilies pieces fried separately using ghee and spread or sprinkled profusely on the top of the Pesarattu/Dosa.

Besides this form of Dosa can prepared at a short notice i.e. say 60-90 minutes, unlike other South Indian Dosa, which requires almost 24-30 hours planning ahead. The main ingredient, whole moong dal preferred as compared to skinned split mong dal for rich and natural taste, flavor and to preserve the digestive, nutrient values and useful healthy ingredients.

The Pesarattu is served stuffed either with Upma or separately depending upon taste of the individual along with a chutney made of chick peas and also with Sambar. Pesarattu should be served and consumed immediately on preparation.

Brown rice is nutritional compared to white rice. White rice has mostly carbohydrates, without nutrients. Moong dal is considered one of the easy to digest dals in ayurveda. Moong dal consumed with skin has more nutrients in its skin compared to without skin. Moong dal has good dietary fiber and protein. Adding brown rice and whole moong dal makes a healthy meal. I use brown rice in lot of my recipes keeping the nutritional vallue in mind. One can use white rice instead of brown rice.

Ingredients :

• Whole moon - 1 cup
• Brown rice/White rice - 1/4 cup
• Salt - 1 and 1/2 teaspoon
• Ginger - 2 inches
• Green chillies - 6
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Ghee/Oil - 2 tablespoons (to spray on the dosa)
• Water - 2 cups (grind with 1/2 cup of water, add the remaining during preparation of pesarattu)

Batter preparation:

Presoak the moong dal and brown rice and fenugreek seeds together for 1 - 2 hours (can be soaked over night too but minimum one hour).

Grind all the above ingredients with water. Add 1/2 cup of water during grinding and add the remaining during preparation of dosa. Note: I prefer to grind moong dal, rice, onion, ginger, green chillies and cumin seeds with salt. This way, my kids don't fuss much about spice or onions etc. Some would like to grind moong dal and rice with salt and water, and add fried onion, ginger, green chillies separately using ghee and spread or sprinkled profusely on the top of the Pesarattu/Dosa.

Preparation of Pesarratu/dosa:

Preheat a non-stick pan/cast iron skillet. Make sure the consistency of the batter should be medium. Not too thick not too thin. The batter should stick to the ladle when mixing. Pour a ladle full of the batter in the center of the preheated pan or greased skillet; Slowly spread the batter into a thin circle.

Spray oil on top of the pesarratu/dosa. As the edges of the pesarattu/dosa start turning into golden brown color, remove from the pan, if desired, you can cook on the other side.

Make sure pesarratu/dosa is cooked well.

Fold pesarattu/dosa in desired shape and serve hot with upma or any kind of spread/chutney or chutney powders and sambar.


Preparation time: 5 minutes (apart from soaking and grinding time)

Tips:

• For pesarratu/dosa to come out in one piece, use onion to clean the iron skillet. Wipe the skillet with onion and 2 drops of oil on the skillet, if pesarattu/dosa is sticking to the skillet.
• For Upma recipe , check the blog achieve April 25.