Moong Dal Chilla

My mother turned 60 a couple of months ago and to celebrate the occasion we went for a family lunch to this small but amazing restaurant called Swati Snacks in Mumbai. Every item on the menu was so delicious that we ordered quite a few of them multiple times. One of those dishes was this thin, crispy, buttery moong dal chilla. When I asked them about it, the restaurant guys insisted it had nothing but moong dal and it alone could result in a crispy crepe. I had two reasons to be suspicious – one, I am a typical South Indian and for me, lentil based crepes are thick and massive like ‘adai’ and secondly, I did try having besan chills and it did not work for me. Maybe I didn’t do it right but even after multiple attempts the husband refused to eat it and for once, I couldn’t fault him.

Then I figured I would try the moong dal chills. I mean, what was the worst that could happen? So I soaked some split moong dal and blended it with some salt and ginger. Voila, the results were fabulous. Then the next time I tried, I had some sour curd which I thought I could use up in this batter and the dosas were soft and delicious. So thanks to the people at Swathi Snacks for that amazing chilla and though mine isn’t as good, I still get a tasty and easy breakfasts dish on the menu.

Makes around 8-10 chillas

WHAT WE NEED

Split moong dal 1 cup

Ginger, grated 1/4 tsp

Sour curds 1-2 tbsp

Water

Salt

Oil

WHAT TO DO

• Soak the moong dal in water for around 3 hours. If you are in a hurry, then you can soak it in hot water for 1/2 hour.
• Drain the water and set aside
• Add the moong dal in the blender / mixer
• Add the ginger and salt and enough water to make a smooth batter
• Transfer the batter to a vessel.
• The batter should be smooth and not very thick. It needs to be slightly thinner than the regular dosa batter but not too runny
• Heat a tava and once it is hot, pour a ladle full of batter on it
• Spread the batter with the back of the ladle to form a thin circular shape
• Pour a little oil around the edges and let it cook for almost a minute on high flame
• Once it is nearly cooked on the top side, lower the flame and use a spatula to gently separate the chilla from the tava
• Once it comes off fully from the tava, turn it over to cook on the other side
• Leave it on the tava for about 30 seconds on low flame
• Repeat the process till you have made as many chillas as you need
• Serve warm with some paneer bhurji and green coriander chutney
• Enjoy!

NOTES

1. You can also add some finely chopped onions and fresh coriander to the batter or to the chilla once it has been poured on to the tava
2. Leave out the curds if you want a crisp chilla and add a little more curd for a softer chilla.

This is my post for the Blogging Marathon under the theme, ‘Crepes’.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM

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