Pesarattu

Pesarattu is another kind of adai. While Adai has its roots in Tamil Nadu, Pesarattu has its origins from the state of Andra Pradesh. It is a crepe/pancake made from whole, non-husked, green gram dhal. It is quite rich in protein, and is an easy, healthy dish. I seem to be using this statement in every other recipe ;). My father’s family loves Pesarattu and my aunts are quite good at preparing the authentic Telugu version. I can’t match their prowess obviously, but this is my humble recipe.

Ingredients

1. 2 cups of whole green gram dhal
2. A handful of raw rice (about a tablespoon worth)
3. 4 dry red chillies
4. 1 teaspoon of crushed cumin seeds
5. ½ teaspoon of hing
6. 1-2 teaspoons of salt
7. 1 inch piece of ginger
8. A few spoons of sesame oil to cook/fry the pesarattu

Preparation

1. Soak the green-gram dhal and rice in water for 8-10 hours
2. Drain the water after the soaking period and grind to a reasonably smooth batter with the red chillies, cumin seeds, ginger, salt, and hing. Add about 1 cup of water (or a little more) to grind the batter. The batter should be of medium consistency - not too thick, not too runny. It should be of the consistency of regular pancake batter (or maybe slightly thicker).
3. Heat a cast iron skillet (on medium heat). Pour a ladle of the batter and spread it into a circle. Make a small slit at the center of the pesarattu, so that it cooks evenly. How thick or thin you would like your pesarattu is up to you, but making very thin crepes out of this batter tends to make the pesarattu dry.
4. Spoon a bit of sesame oil around the edges of the pesarattu. Let the first side crisp and cook for about 3 minutes. Flip and let the other side cook for a minute or two. Gently pressing on the pesarattu helps in evenly cooking the second side.

Serve pesarattu with sambar, chutney, rasam, thokku, or pickle.