The Travelling Tikki

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Recipe: Moong dal chilla

Moong dal chilla recipe

When I was little,  I hated moong dal with a passion. But there was no respite, since it's one of those very healthy things that mums love. And so we'd often find ourselves eating moong dal chillas for dinner. But life always comes full circle, and now that I'm on this health kick, I found myself in my kitchen the other night, thinking hmm, I wonder how mum makes her moong dal chillas! Here's her recipe. And guess what - apparently I really enjoy these now. *The same shall not happen with bananas*

A chilla is a savoury Indian pancake made with ground lentils and spices, by the way. And here's another dal chilla recipe for you to try out.

Serves 3

Prep Time - 3 hr 30 min

Cook Time - 30 min

Total Time - 4 hr

Ingredients

  1. Split green moong dal - 1 cup

  2. Coriander leaves - 1 small bunch

  3. Ginger - 1 inch

  4. Garlic - 4 cloves

  5. Onion - 1 medium

  6. Green chillies - 1/2

  7. Coriander powder - 1 tsp

  8. Cumin powder - half tsp

  9. Salt

  10. Vegetable oil

Instructions

  1. Wash and soak the moong dal overnight or for at least 3 hours in 1.5 cups of water

  2. Peel and roughly chop the ginger and garlic

  3. Wash and chop the green chillies in half

  4. Peel and finely chop the onion

  5. Wash and finely chop coriander

  6. Grind the soaked dal, along with the ginger, garlic and green chillies

  7. Pour out into a bowl, and mix the chopped onions and coriander through it

  8. Add the coriander, cumin powder and salt, and mix through

  9. Heat a frying pan on medium

  10. Sprinkle a tsp of oil on the pan and allow to heat for a few seconds

  11. Use a ladle to pour on some chilla batter onto the centre of the pan

  12. Using the back of the ladle, spread the batter slowly, moving outward from the centre in continuous circles. Spread to about 2-3 mm thickness

  13. Sprinkle a few drops of oil on the chilla and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes

  14. Then flip over the cook the other side for another 2-3 minutes, until both sides are beginning to brown

  15. Eat hot with yogurt and pickle

Notes

  1. These chillas taste delicious with a spiced paneer filling too!