Pesarattu Upma is an easy, protein packed South Indian style breakfast that is made with mung beans. It is filling, nutritious and absolutely delicious.
This is a quintessential breakfast dish from Andhra Pradesh (now the states of Andhra & Telangana). Pesarattu upma invokes many fond memories and is one of my all time favorites.
In Telugu, pesara means moong dal and attu means dosa (aka savory crepes). So, these are Andhra style moong dal dosa or cheelas that are made with an unfermented batter.
They are perfect to make for breakfast or lunch because they are:
- protein packed
- flavor packed
- quick to make and need no fermenting
- absolutely delicious
My MIL makes boat load of these for breakfast to feed the entire family. You lose count once you start eating these piping hot – pure bliss. They are very filling, so you can forget about lunch and laze around until dinner.
Traditionally pesarattu is served with upma – that’s ‘the’ Andhra special combo. If you are pressed for time, you can just make dosa and serve it with a chutney. That is completely acceptable.
Ingredients
The main ingredient to make pesarattu is moong dal (mung beans). You can use them either as whole, split with skin or split without skin forms
My uses whole moong but I prefer to use split with skin variety because they don’t need to be soaked for too long.
Recipe also needs rice to make them slightly crispy. I use sona masoori rice but any medium or long grain rice would work.
Ginger, green chilies, cumin seeds add a nice spicy kick to these dosa.
Main ingredient to make upma is sooji. I use fine sooji but you can use coarse variety as well.
As far as the add-ins go for upma, you can keep it simple with no veggies or add as many as you want. I used frozen mixed vegetables (with carrot, green beans, peas & corn).
Other veggies like potato, cauliflower, peppers, cabbage can also be added. Leafy veggies like spinach, methi are also great here.
Instructions
Start by soaking moong dal and rice. Soaking time will vary depending on the type of mung beans you choose.
- whole moong dal = 4~6 hours
- split moong dal with skin = 2~4 hours
- split moong without skin = 1~2 hours
- rice = 1~2 hours
Once the dal and rice are soaked and tender, grind them along with ginger, green chilies, cumin seeds and salt. The batter needs to be slightly coarse and not completely smooth.
Next prep the onions. I am not a big fan of raw onions. So, I sprinkle chopped onions with some salt and set them aside to make them. This helps in taming the spicy bite in them.
Make the filling
Next make the Upma. It takes about 15 minutes for this. Heat oil in a wok/ saute pan; add the tempering ingredients.
Once cooked add onions, grated ginger and green chilies, saute until onions turn translucent, about 3~4 minutes. Stir in the mixed vegetables and cook covered until they turn tender.
Add 2~2½ cups of water and bring to a boil. Add salt and mix well.
Lower the heat and slowly add the sooji, stirring the water constantly to avoid forming lumps. Cook covered for 3~4 minutes or until sooji is cooked through and all the water is absorbed.
Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice (if using), mix well and serve. Adding 1~2tsp ghee at the very end gives the upma a very nice flavor.
Keep it warm while you start making the pesarattu.
Make Pesarattu Upma
Heat a tawa/ griddle on medium-high heat. Pour 2 ladles of batter and using the back of the ladle, spread it around on the tawa into a round dosa/ crepe.
Drizzle with 1 teaspoon of oil on the dosa and let it cook for 1~2 minutes or until the dosa is cooked and crisp. Carefully flip and cook on the other side for 1 minute.
Flip again and sprinkle the prepared onions in an even layer and press them down lightly with a spatula. Add the upma in the center, fold over and remove from the pan.
Repeat with the remaining batter.
Serve hot with upma and any chutney of your choice. I served with carrot-onion chutney.
More recipes using mung beans
More delicious recipes from Andhra
Tips
- Substitute rice with other whole grains or millets to make the recipe even healthier.
- Other veggies like potato, cauliflower, peppers, cabbage can also be added to upma.
- Leftover batter can be refrigerated for up to 3 days in the fridge.
Pesarattu Upma
Ingredients
To make Pesarattu:
- 2 cups Moong dal*
- ¼ cup Rice
- 3~4 Green chilies
- 2" Ginger piece, chopped
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- To taste Salt
- As needed Oil, for cooking
For Serving/ Garnish:
- 1 Medium Onion, finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
For Upma:
- 2 teaspoons Oil
- 1 teaspoon Urad dal
- 1 teaspoon Chana dal
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1 Dry red chili
- 8 Curry leaves
- 1" Ginger piece, grated
- 1 Medium Onion, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons Cashews, chopped
- 2 Green Chilies – slit
- 1 cup Mixed Vegetables (optional)
- 1 cup Sooji/ fine semolina
- 2 tablespoons Lemon juice
- To taste Salt
- 1~2 teaspoons Ghee (optional)
Instructions
To make Pesarattu Batter:
- Soak moong dal. See noted for the soaking times depending on which form of beans you choose. Soak rice for 1~2 hours.
- Grind the soaked moong and rice along with green chilies, ginger, cumin seeds and salt into an almost smooth batter adding just enough water. Batter does not have to be very smooth.
Prep the Onions:
- Prepare the onions by adding salt and mixing well. Set aside.
To make Upma:
- Heat oil in a wok/ saute pan; add urad, chana, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chili. Once the seeds start to sputter and the dals turn golden, add grated ginger and green chilies. Cook for 1 minute.
- Next add onions and cashews, saute until onions turn translucent, about 3~4 minutes.
- Next add the mixed vegetables and cook covered until they turn tender, about 6~8 minutes.
- Add 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add salt and mix well.
- Lower the heat and slowly add the sooji, stirring the water constantly to avoid forming lumps. Cook covered for 3~4 minutes or until sooji is cooked through and all the water is absorbed.
- Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice (if using), mix well and serve. Adding 1~2tsp ghee at the very end gives the upma a very nice flavor.
Make the Pesarattu:
- Heat a tawa/ griddle on medium-high heat. Pour 2 ladles of batter and using the back of the ladle, spread it around on the tawa into a round dosa/ crepe.
- Drizzle with 1 teaspoon of oil on the dosa and let it cook for 1~2 minutes or until the dosa is cooked and crisp. Carefully flip and cook on the other side for 1 minute.
- Flip again and sprinkle the prepared onions in an even layer and press them down lightly with a spatula. Add the upma in the center, fold over and remove from the pan.
- Repeat with the remaining batter.
- Serve hot with upma and any chutney of your choice.
Notes
- You could use whole moong dal, split moong dal with skin or split moong without skin.
- Soaking times:
- whole moong dal = 4~6 hours
- split moong dal with skin = 2~4 hours
- split moong without skin = 1~2 hours
- Substitute rice with other whole grains or millets to make the recipe even healthier.
- Other veggies like potato, cauliflower, peppers, cabbage can also be added to upma.
- Leftover batter can be refrigerated for up to 3 days in the fridge.
Lata Lala
What could be the better start of the day with hearty breakfast of Pesarattu Upma that is an easy, protein packed made with mung beans.
I have never tasted this before but would love to as it’s so filling & nutritious.
ARCHANA
you took me down the memory lane.At BM 25 Padma had made them for us. They were so delicious.
You are tempting me to mak them yet again for I am sure my people will love them.
Uma Srinivas
Pesarattu Upma is an easy, protein packed breakfast. I know this is filling, nutritious and delicious. Loved it Pavani!
Vandana
Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. This upma looks so delicious bookmarking this recipe of yours.
Sandhya Nadkarni
What a hearty and yummy breakfast this is! One of my absolute favorites, Pavani! Loved your step by step pics!
Mayuri Patel
Pavani an interesting combination of pesarattu and upma. Neve tried it but would love to try. Both together would make a filling and healthy meal.
Amrita Roy
Pesarattu and upma sounds interesting combination…I have never tried them together … healthy and filling breakfast
Padma Veeranki
How can I say no to Pesarattu Upma…Simple yet delicious protein packed breakfast. One of my favourites…We call it MLA Pesarattu!
Lathiya
I had pesarattu and upma separately but not in a combo. But this sounds great and delicious.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
I am literally drooling looking at your pictures. This is one of my favorite for breakfast. So filling and delicious. I am not a big fan of rava upma by itself but this combination works great.
Seema Sriram
We love upma pessarattu at home. We make it more often than masala dosa infact and love it with peanut chuney.
Rafeeda - The Big Sweet Tooth
I learned of this combination only from blogging. Have been wanting to try pesarattu since long, since my girls are fond of dosas. Now that I am on leave for a couple of weeks, maybe this should be one that I should try. I am sure that this combination of upma and pesarattu would be delicious, with some hot sambar-chutney and ghee on top…
Jagruti's Cooking Odyssey
Never had this dish, sounds so delicious. Thanks for sharing this nutritious recipe with us.