The searing Chennai heat was unbearable and so were my sighs and ranting. My family looked at me quizzically, and I could read their mind voice- -you have been a resident of Chennai for the past 38 years. It’s recently that you moved to Bangalore and why this fuss about the weather? -True, but the ordeal of cooking in the kitchen on a hot summer’s night was indeed a torture. I quickly decided to make the famed Andhra pesarratu or the pesaru dosa. The batter does not require any fermentation and these delicious green gram crepes can be paired with any pickle or dosa podi though the right combination is a ginger chutney.
Commonly known as the mung or paccha payaru this pulse variety has its origins in India. Known as mudga in Sanskrit, this common pulse has been the queen among summer foods in India for over 5,000 years. From hot and humid eastern India to the dry and arid west and north-west to the Deccan, the mung rules our regional cuisines in different forms- dal/kichidi/pongal/kosambari/dosa……
Pesarattu or pesaru dosa is a “Tiffen” native to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. This dosa variety is made with whole green gram and is a no fermentation dish.This can be made into soft spongy pesarattu or crisp ones depending upon one’s preference . The melange of fresh ginger and green chilly gives it a unique flavour. The topping of finely chopped onions gives it a crunch. A simple quick-to-prepare dish, this can be converted into an exotic pesarattu with rava uppma stuffing. This stuffed variety is commonly known as MLA pesaratu as it was an innovation by the cooks of the MLA hostel in Hyderabad. Teamed with ginger chutney this delicious dosa variety is absolutely nutritious and can be served to all age groups.
INGREDIENTS
- WHOLE GREEN GRAM – 1 CUP
- RAW RICE – 1/4 CUP
- GINGER – 1-INCH PIECE
- GREEN CHILLY – 3-4
- SALT – AS REQUIRED.
- OIL – FOR DRIZZLING OVER THE DOSA
- FINELY CHOPPED ONIONS – FOR TOPPING
METHOD
- Soak the gram and rice for 4 – 6 hours.
- Grind to a smooth paste with all the other ingredients.
- Make into dosas and sprinkle the onions on top before serving.
- Serve hot with ginger chutney.
NOTE
- You can add up to 1/2 cup of rice for every 1 cup of green gram.
- Increase or decrease the rice quantity depending upon the crispy texture that you would prefer.
