Pesarattu
A green moong crepe from Andhra, ground from soaked beans rather than fermented, with raw onion pressed into the wet side.
- Prep
- 15m
- Cook
- 25m
- Waiting
- 4h
- Total
- 4h 40m
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Moderate
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 1 1/2 cups | Soak the moong and rice together for 4 hours 4h Four hours is enough. Overnight and it starts to ferment, which changes the flavour. | Grind to a batter no thicker than double cream 10m Use the soaking water sparingly. You can always thin it, you cannot thicken it back. | Spread thin on a hot tawa, scatter over the onion, press it in and cook until the crepe lifts by itself 20m Do not turn it early. It releases when the underside is done, and not one second before. | |
| 1/4 cup | ||||
| to cover generously | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 3cm piece | ||||
| 1 tsp | ||||
| 1 1/2 tsp | ||||
| about 3/4 cup | ||||
| 1 | Chop the topping fine and keep it raw 5m | |||
| 1 | ||||
| 1 tsp | ||||
| a handful | ||||
| 3 tbsp | ||||
-
Soak the moong and rice together for 4 hours
4h- whole green mung beans 1 1/2 cups
- raw rice 1/4 cup
- water to cover generously
Four hours is enough. Overnight and it starts to ferment, which changes the flavour.
-
Grind to a batter no thicker than double cream
10m- from 1 Soak the moong and rice together for 4 hours
- green chillies 3
- ginger 3cm piece
- cumin seeds 1 tsp
- salt 1 1/2 tsp
- water about 3/4 cup
Use the soaking water sparingly. You can always thin it, you cannot thicken it back.
-
Chop the topping fine and keep it raw
5m- onion 1
- green chilli 1
- ginger 1 tsp
- coriander leaves a handful
-
Spread thin on a hot tawa, scatter over the onion, press it in and cook until the crepe lifts by itself
20m- from 2 Grind to a batter no thicker than double cream
- from 3 Chop the topping fine and keep it raw
- sesame oil 3 tbsp
Do not turn it early. It releases when the underside is done, and not one second before.
No fermentation, and why it still works
A dosa needs days because rice and urad dal have to be leavened by wild bacteria before the batter has any lift or sourness. Pesarattu skips all of that. Whole mung is around a quarter protein, and that protein sets in the pan the way an egg does, giving the crepe structure without gas. The soak is only to soften the beans enough to grind smooth. The trade is that pesarattu is savoury and grassy rather than tangy, so the ginger and green chilli in the batter are doing the work sourness would otherwise do.
Notes
- Grind smooth or the crepe tears when you spread it. Gritty batter drags.
- Spread from the centre outwards in one continuous spiral, working fast while the pan is off the heat.
- Traditionally eaten with ginger chutney, but coconut chutney is fine and upma spooned inside makes it a meal.