Pesarattu
Thin, savoury Andhra pancakes of soaked whole green moong ground with ginger, green chilli and cumin, cooked on a hot griddle.
Photograph credit: Pesarattu and Ginger chutney (lead image of the es.wikipedia article on pesarattu) by ukanda · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Where This Goes Wrong
Use the back of the ladle and light pressure to spread.
Add a splash of water if the batter is too thick.
Wipe the pan with an oiled cloth between pesarattu.
Cooking Pesarattu
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Drain the soaked moong. Grind with the chillies, ginger, cumin, salt and water to a smooth batter, thicker than pancake batter.
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Heat a flat griddle or non-stick pan over a medium-high heat and oil lightly.
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Pour a ladleful of batter into the centre and spread in a circular motion into a thin round. Scatter with a little onion.
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Drizzle a teaspoon of oil around the edge and cook for 2 minutes until the base is crisp. Fold and serve.
Why It Works
Salt the batter after grinding, not before, and soak the beans for six hours. Everything else follows from those two. Pesarattu is an Andhra breakfast dosa made from whole green moong beans, not from rice, so there is no fermentation and no waiting beyond the soak.
The beans should be soaked in plenty of water until they have swollen and the skins are loose. Drain and grind them with a small piece of ginger, green chillies, cumin and a little water to a smooth batter. It should be thicker than a pancake batter, but pourable. A thin batter will tear when spread. A thick one will not spread at all.
The pan has to be hot and lightly oiled. Pour a ladleful into the centre and spread it with the back of the ladle in a circular motion, thin and even. Drizzle a little oil at the edges.
Cook for 2 minutes on one side until the underside is green-gold and crisp. Fold and serve straight away with ginger chutney, or with upma inside, which is the traditional pairing.
Storage and Reheating
Best eaten at once. The batter keeps in the fridge for 1 day.
Ingredient Swaps
- Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the green chillies. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
- If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
What to Serve Alongside
- Ginger chutney
- Coconut chutney
- Upma
- Tomato chutney
Questions and Answers
How long does Pesarattu take to make?
10 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking, plus 6 hours of Soaking the beans, so allow 6 hours 30 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 4.
The Numbers per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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