Pesarattu, also called Moong Dal Dosa, is made from soaked and ground whole green moong beans. The batter is mixed with spices and herbs, then spread thin like a dosa and cooked until crisp. This Andhra specialty is naturally gluten-free and protein rich. Serve hot with chutney or upma.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 240 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 270 minutes
  • Yield: 10 · 10 Pesarattu
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Cuisine: Andhra, South Indian

Ingredients

  • ½ cup whole moong beans
  • 2 tablespoons rice (- optional)
  • enough water (- for soaking)
  • ⅓ to ½ cup water (- for blending or add as required)
  • 1 teaspoon or 1 inch ginger (- chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon or 1 green chilli (- chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (- chopped, (cilantro))
  • 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing), optional)
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • salt (as required)
  • 1 green chilli (- finely chopped, optional)
  • ¼ to ⅓ cup onions (- finely chopped)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (- finely chopped, optional)
  • oil (or ghee, as required)
  • Upma (- as required, optional)
  • Coconut Chutney (- as required)
  • Coriander Chutney (- as required)
  • Ginger Chutney (- as required)

Method

Making Pesarratu Batter

  1. Firstly, pick and rinse the moong beans and rice.
  2. Then soak the moong beans and rice for 4 to 6 hours or overnight in enough water.
  3. Drain and add the moong beans and rice together with ginger, green chilies, asafoetida, cumin seeds, coriander leaves and salt in a grinder or blender.
  4. Add water and grind into a fine and smooth batter.
  5. Remove the batter in a bowl or pan.
  6. The consistency should be similar to a regular dosa batter.

Making Moong Dal Dosa

  1. On a skillet or flat pan, spread a little oil or ghee with paper towels.
  2. With a ladle, pour the pesarattu batter on the skillet and use the same spoon for spreading the batter into a round shape.
  3. Drizzle some oil on the sides and in the center of the pesarattu dosa.
  4. Sprinkle the finely chopped onions, green chilies and coriander leaves.
  5. Press these with the spatula so that they get stuck to the batter which is getting cooked.
  6. Flip and cook both sides a couple of times till crisp and browned.
  7. Serve the moong dal dosa or pesarattu hot with upma and coconut chutney.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.