Moong Dosa| Pancakes| Chilla

The quest for different-from-the-usual breakfasts continues at our place. As a part of this drive, I made moong dosa aka moong pancakes or chilla for breakfast a couple of days ago, a recipe based on one an aunt of mine told me about, a long time ago. She, in turn, read about these pancakes in a magazine, made them, loved them, and then passed on the recipe to me. I did make the pancakes then, loved them too, but then went on to forget all about them. I am so, so, so glad I remembered about them now – they were so very much needed now!

These dosas use whole green moong that has been soaked for a good 8-10 hours and, thus, pack in a whole lot of protein. They are very, very simple to make, and taste super awesome.

Here’s how I made these dosas:

Ingredients (yields about 10 dosas):

3/4 glass whole green moong (soaked for 8-10 hours or overnight)

1/4 cup rice flour

1 medium-sized tomato, chopped into small pieces

1 medium-sized onion, chopped into small pieces

A small bunch of coriander leaves, chopped

A 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped into small pieces

3 green chillies

5-6 cloves of garlic, peeled

A pinch of asafoetida

Salt, to taste

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 tablespoon oil + oil for making the dosas

Method:

1. When the moong is done soaking for 8-10 hours, or first thing in the morning if you have soaked it overnight, drain out all the excess water from it. (Do not let the moong soak for longer than this, otherwise you will end up with a sad batter that will be very, very difficult to spread.)
2. In a large mixer jar, add the soaked moong, green chillies, ginger, garlic, tomato, onion, coriander, salt to taste, turmeric powder and asafoetida. Grind this to a batter, using very little or no water.
3. Take the batter out in a large mixing bowl. Add the rice flour to the batter. Mix well.
4. Now, heat the oil in a small pan and add the mustard seeds. Allow them to splutter. Add this to the batter. Mix well.
5. Heat a dosa pan on high flame till water droplets dance on it. Turn the flame to medium at this point, and spread a ladleful of the batter over the pan. Spread about a teaspoon of oil around the dosa. Cook the dosa well on both sides.
6. Prepare all the dosas similarly. Serve hot with your choice of chutney, though this doesn’t really need an accompaniment.

Notes:

1. I have tried using sprouted moong for making this dosa, but the result was disastrous. The dosas turn out well only when you use whole green moong that has been soaked for not more than 8-10 hours. So, whenever you make this dish, please do try to stick to these timings.
2. Increase or decrease the number of chillies that you use, as per your taste preferences.
3. You could even add finely chopped onions over the top of the pancakes, after they are cooked on one side. That would take the taste of these pancakes to a whole new level, I am sure!

You like? I hope you will try this out, and will love it as much as we did!