Moong Dal Dosa

Pesarattu Upma.

Pesarattu is a quintessential breakfast of people in Andhra Pradesh. Pesarattu is generally served with sooji upma and the combination is called Pesarattu Upma. Pesarattu is generally accompanied by ginger pickle / allam pachadi or gulla senagapappu pachadi / dalia chutney.
Makes: around 6 Pesarattu / Green Gram Dosa.

Ingredients:

Split Moong / Green Gram 1 Cup
Onion 1
Ginger 1 inch Piece
Cumin Seeds 1 – 2 tsps
Green Chiles 2
Cilantro few sprigs
Salt to taste

Upma 2 Scoops

Method of preparation:

Peel and mince the ginger.
Peel and finely chop the onion.
Remove stems, wash and chop the green chiles.
Clean, wash and finely chop cilantro.

Soak split moong in water for 1 1/2 – 2 hours.
Strain the soaked moong dal and grind it into smooth paste with sufficient water.
Thin out the batter if required with water to make a pourable batter and stir in required amount of salt.

Heat a flat pan on medium high heat, apply a tsp of oil with back of a spoon.
When pan gets hot, pour a ladle full of moong dal batter and spread it with back of the ladle into thin dosa.
Immediately, sprinkle a big pinch of cumin seeds, a pinch of minced ginger, few chopped green chiles, a handful of chopped onion and chopped cilantro.
Lightly press all the toppings.
When bottom and edges of the moong dosa start to turn brown, carefully turn the dosa on other side.
Reduce the heat a bit and cook on this side for a minute before removing from heat.
Repeat the same with remaining moong dosa batter.

Serve hot pesarattu with cashew rava upma and ginger pickle / allam pachadi or gulla senagapappu pachadi / dalia chutney.
Notes: Make upma not so thick by using 2 1/2 cups of water for 1 cup sooji.

Suggestions: If the pesarattu doesn’t come out crisp, make sure to pan is hot all the time. Try to spread the batter on the pan as fast and as thin as possible. If the dosa doesn’t come out, make sure dosa batter is not too thin. If dosa comes thick, make sure batter is not too thick.
Variations: Some pesarattu recipes use whole moong which is soaked and then ground into paste. This yields soft dosa rather than crisp dosa. Some grind the green chiles and ginger along with soaked moong dal.
Other Names: Ulli Pesarattu (Moong dosa with lots of onion), Allam Pesarattu (Green gram dosa with lots of minced ginger), Pesarattu Upma, Saada Pesarattu / Plain Pesarattu( Pesarattu topped with just cumin seeds), MLA Pesarattu (Pesarattu with huge diameter.)