Pesarattu
A savory crepe from Andhra Pradesh's coastal districts, genuinely different from a standard dosa in more than just color: pesarattu batter is made from whole green mung beans with only a small amount of rice, spiced directly with ginger, chile, cumin, and asafoetida, and used without any fermentation at all, while a standard dosa batter relies on fermented urad dal and rice with no mung bean. A well-documented modern pairing, MLA Pesarattu, named for the MLA Quarters restaurant in Hyderabad where it was popularized, serves the crepe stuffed with or alongside rava upma, a real variant rather than folklore.
Vegan
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups whole green mung beans, soaked 3-4 hours
- 1/4 cup rice, soaked with the mung beans
- 1 tbsp ginger, chopped
- 2 green chiles
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- Pinch of asafoetida
- Salt
- Oil, for cooking
- Chopped onion, to garnish
Steps
- Grind the soaked mung beans and rice with ginger, chile, cumin, asafoetida, and salt into a smooth, pourable batter.
- Heat a griddle and pour a ladle of batter, spreading thin in a circular motion like a crepe.
- Sprinkle chopped onion over the top and drizzle with oil.
- Cook until the edges crisp and lift easily, then flip briefly.
- Serve hot, with or without upma alongside.