Pesarattu Recipe, Andhra Pesarattu with Green Moong Dal

Pesarattu recipe, Andhra pesarattu recipe or pesara dosa recipe: The first time I even heard the word Pesarattu was during my 2.5 year life in Hyderabad. We used to go to Chutneys, a popular south Indian vegetarian restaurant that had all kinds of (arguably overpriced) dosas and idli, pesarattu with upma being one of their chefs recommendations. I don’t care much for upma so if you give it to me wrapped in a pesarattu, a combination I was not even familiar with, it doesn’t really make it more appealing.

However, a friend of mine was crazy about this. He would order upma pesarattu every time and then another dish that would rank last in my wish list – idli! I would just order my oothappam or masala dosa and enjoy it with their delicious chutneys.

But one day I took a bite out of his pesarattu and liked it. I am sorry this story doesn’t have a happier ending like “I was blown away with the first bite of my pesarattu”. It was nice, I liked it. I like different kinds of dosas, adai being my favourite move away from the conventional. I forgot all about the pesarattu recipe I wanted to try until I was left with a large batch of whole green moong by a friend moving out of the country and I decided to soak some and make my first batch of pesarattu at home.

Paired with the tiffin sambar, coriander chutney and ginger chutney or Andhra allam pachadi (store-bought), it was quite a treat! Different from the usual dosa and quite nutritious, this pesarattu recipe will find its way into my dinner menu quite often now.

Andhra Pesarattu Recipe

 

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Prep time

8 hours

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

8 hours 20 mins

 

Pesarattu or moong dal dosa is a classic Andhra breakfast recipe with protein-packed moong dal and raw rice ground together to make the pesarattu batter.

Author: nags

Recipe type: Breakfast

Cuisine: Indian

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole green moong
• ¼ cup of raw rice
• A small piece of ginger
• A small bunch of coriander leaves (cilantro)
• 2 cloves of garlic (optional)
• 2 green chillies
• 2 tbsp of oil, for drizzling on dosa while cooking
• ¼ cup of minced onions for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Soak the moong dal and rice together for at least 4 hours or overnight if possible.
2. Grind together with rest of the ingredients and some salt + water
3. The batter will be coarse and you can adjust the thickness to your preference, not making it too watery. I prefer spongier pesarattu so keep my batter a bit on the thicker side - more thicker than regular dosa batter.
4. Heat a tawa and spread one ladle-full of batter into a circle.
5. Spread it thinner for a crisper version, it's entirely up to you. Drizzle with some oil and spread the minced onions on top (if using).
6. Flip over when the first side is cooked. You can also cover and cook the dosa without flipping over, especially if you are serving the pesarattu with an upma filling (check notes).
7. When both sides are cooked, remove from tawa and serve hot

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1. Soak the moong dal and rice together for at least 4 hours or overnight if possible. Grind together with rest of the ingredients and some salt + water

2. The batter will be coarse and you can adjust the thickness to your preference, not making it too watery. I prefer spongier pesarattu so keep my batter a bit on the thicker side – more thicker than regular dosa batter.

3. Heat a tawa and spread one ladle-full of batter into a dosa.

Spread it thinner for a crisper version, it’s entirely up to you. Drizzle with some oil and spread the minced onions on top (if using).

Sidenote: since I always use my left hand now for making dosas and such (the right hand being occupied by the camera), I think I can safely say I am becoming ambidextrous! Ah, the joys of food blogging.

4. Flip over when the first side is cooked. You can also cover and cook the dosa without cooking, especially if you are serving the pesarattu with an upma filling (check notes).

When both sides are cooked, remove from tawa and serve hot with spicy andhra ginger chutney or allam pachadi. I love pesarattu with coconut-based chutneys like this coconut coriander chutney.

Notes:

1. Pesarattu is mostly served with a filling of rava upma. You can add a mound to the centre of the dosa after shaping the dosa and cooking it covered for a few minutes
2. The batter keeps in the refrigerator for up to 2 days
3. For a more nutritious pesarattu, use moong dal sprouts instead of the whole beans
4. You can add rice flour instead of raw rice but grinding the rice along with the dal gives a coarse texture to the pesarattu which I personally love