Pesarattu

This happened a few years ago when I was pregnant with my li 'l one! One fine evening, when boredom was at its finest, I decided to give a knock on my neighbor's door. My ex-neighbors were a family from Andhra Pradesh (neighbor state in India) and incidentally, she was making "Pesarattu" for dinner. Given that I was pregnant, out of basic courtesy she offered me to taste one. I don't remember what was the side, but the pesarattu was hot, crispy, spicy & super-tasty. And so, I couldn't stop with just one! I don't know if she blamed herself later, but when I came back home, I was so stuffed and full!

Pesarattu is a Andhra speciality, traditionally served for breakfast with rava upma & ginger chutney. Though I don't fancy the idea of upma being served as a side for pesarattu, I totally adore pesarattu for its taste and health benefits. Pesarattu is loaded with proteins and makes a good breakfast (or) dinner.

Basic Info
Complexity - Medium
Prep time - 4-5 hrs
Cook time - 30 mins
Serves - 8 - 10 dosas

Ingredients
Split Moong beans - 1.5 cups (with skin)
Boiled rice - 1/4 cup (optional)
Ginger - 2 tbsp (grated)
Green chillies - 2 nos
Red chillies - 2 nos
Hing - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method

Wash and soak moong dal & rice separately in water for atleast 4 hrs until the lentils double in volume.

Use a mixer and grind lentils & rice with ginger, green chillies, dry red chillies, hing and salt without adding any water.

Heat a griddle. When hot, pour a ladle full of batter and spread it thin from the center to outwards. Add a tsp of sesame oil around the pesarattu and cook both the sides on medium heat.

Hot and crispy pesarattu is ready!

Tips

- Boiled rice is completely optional.

- Skip ginger, green chillies, red chillies & hing incase you have ginger chutney as the side.

- I have always used split moong beans to make pesarattu. But, if you are using whole moong, you might have to soak it overnight.

- Extra batter can be stored in the refrigerator and can be used within next 2 days.