Power Pesarattu

Pesarattu is a much loved dish of Andhra or Telugu region of India. I have adapted the ingredients to suit my family’s taste. The use of sprouts and herbs in the batter create a unique power packed combination, easy and amazingly tasty.The herbs helped in masking a slight bitter flavour that sprouts develop. This dish works just right for breakfast in our home. I hope you find it great too! The measures used here serve 5-6 people.

You need   

1. Mung bean sprouts – 4 cups, heaped
2. Raw rice – 1/2 cup, rinsed and soaked for 1/2 hour
3. Ginger – 1 tbsp, chopped fine
4. Green chillies – 2
5. Coriander leaves – 1 cup, chopped
6. Mint leaves – 1 cup, loosely packed
7. Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
8. Garlic – 1 pod (optional)
9. Salt – 1 tbsp ( or more)
10. Fresh water – 1 cup
11. Vegetable oil / sesame oil  - 4-5 tbsp, for drizzling over dosas

To assemble

1. Grind all ingredients mentioned under ‘You need’ except oil, to a real smooth batter. I used a mixer grinder. Using garlic gives a ‘kick’ to the final taste, but omitting it does not take away the pleasure either.
2. Use water sparingly for grinding. The batter should be thinner than usual dosa batter but not too runny.
3. Hereon, writing the recipe is fairly simple, but creating a good dosa / pesarattu does need some practice!
4. Heat up a dosa griddle real hot. You can see the griddle all smoked up in this picture. Season the griddle with a tsp of oil.
5. 
6. Dribble a ladleful of batter around the griddle, fill up the centre with more batter, and spread very gently to form a circle. Drizzle 1/2 tsp of oil around the dosa, let it sizzle.
7. Allow to cook through and brown around the sides, ease out the dosa carefully with a sharp spatula and flip over.
8. Cook this side over medium heat, ease out and remove to a plate when done.
9. Check the dosa for salt and flavours before proceeding with the rest of the batter. To  salvage a runny batter or too much salt, you could add up to a couple of tbsp of rice flour to the batter. Rice flour will also help the Pesarattu become more ‘flippable’ and less clingy to the dosa griddle.

I did ruin a couple of dosas before I got it right. It helped to have the griddle smoking hot, waiting for the first side to really brown before attempting to loosen it and thereon, cooking over medium heat.
Pesarattu is traditionally served with ginger chutney. I usually serve with a peanut chutney which is a great favourite with my kids.

Notes

• Soak, drain, rinse whole mung bean and tie up in a muslin cloth, leave in a moist dark place for 10-12 hours, by which time the seeds would have sprouted and you have super healthy sprouts ready.
• Mung bean sprouts have been used in Ayurvedic approach and Chinese cuisine for several centuries.
• Consuming raw sprouts is not advised for toddlers, pregnant women, and in any gastrointestinal disturbance. The ideal way to consume for these people would be to use home  grown sprouts, rinse well, steam or lightly stir fry them.

Nutri notes

• The sprouting process increases the beans’ enzyme content which means, complex carbs are converted to simpler starches, proteins to amino acids and fats to simpler lipids. As a result sprouts are more easily digested.
• Sprouting increases sodium and Vitamin C content, both of which add to protein digestibility in the body.
• Sprouts are 'live' food. They contain active RNA, DNA, in addition to being a veritable enzymes and antioxidants storehouse. They help cell regeneration and can rightly be called ‘fountain of youth’.
• Dry beans do not have any vitamins or minerals, but we get almost magical amounts of Vitamins A, B, C, Calcium, Sodium, Potassium, Iron, Phosphorous, Manganese, from sprouts. Thus they are very handy in winters when fresh fruits or vegetables are in short supply. Sprouts can be eaten the whole year through too, for the whole host of amazing benefits.
• Sprouts decrease the oligosacharides in the beans – this means, beans lose their gas producing quality.
• Sprouting also increases fibre and water content of the beans, thus helping in avoiding or easing constipation.
• For benefits of pudina and coriander, please do read up my earlier posts.