Pesarattu

It is whole green gram with no black gram in it, and it is not fermented overnight.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 300 g whole green gram, moong
• 3 green chillies
• a 3 cm piece of ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 onion, finely chopped, to scatter
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• oil, for the griddle

Method

1. IT IS WHOLE GREEN GRAM WITH NO BLACK GRAM IN IT, AND IT IS NOT FERMENTED OVERNIGHT. Its article states both plainly: it is made with green gram batter but, unlike a typical dosa, it does NOT contain Vigna mungo -- black gram -- and the ground mixture is allowed to sit for a FEW MINUTES rather than a night. That makes it the odd one in this family. Every other batter here depends on an overnight ferment for its rise and its sourness; this one is ground and cooked the same morning, so it tastes green and fresh and faintly beany rather than sour.
2. SO IT CAN BE MADE THE DAY YOU WANT IT. Four hours' soaking, which its article gives as the minimum, with seven as the maximum. Grind, rest ten minutes, cook.
3. THE CHILLI AND GINGER ARE GROUND IN WITH THE GRAM. Its article is specific: the soaked gram is ground to a smooth paste WITH a couple of green chillies, a small piece of ginger and some salt. They are not a tempering added after -- they are in the batter, which is why the whole crepe is hot rather than having hot bits in it.
4. IT IS GROUND SMOOTH, NOT COARSE. Unlike an idli batter. Water added as required, to the consistency of a thin dosa batter.
5. THE SKINS STAY ON. Whole green gram, not split and hulled moong dal. The skins are what make the batter green and give it the flavour; hulled dal makes a pale, blander crepe.
6. THE ONION AND CUMIN GO ON TOP OF THE POURED BATTER. Scattered onto the wet surface and pressed lightly, which is the usual service, rather than being mixed in.
7. IT IS COOKED THICKER AND SLOWER THAN A RICE DOSA. Green gram has no starch to crisp the way rice does, so a thin pesarattu tears. A little thicker, medium heat, three minutes.
8. A CUP OF GRAM MAKES ABOUT FOUR, WHICH ITS ARTICLE SAYS. A 150 ml cup of gram gives roughly four medium pesarattus -- a useful figure because the batter does not keep and there is no point making more than you will eat.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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