Pesarattu, it’s been a personal favourite since my childhood. Pesarattu is a dosa made from moong dal where pesara means moong and attu means dosa. Yes, that is what a dosa is called in the local regions of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. In fact the regular dosa which is made from urad dal is called minappattu, where minapa is urad. Actually a festival involving the attus is also celebrated. It is called Atlataddi where young girls and women do Puja and offer attu to the deity.

Coming back to the attu of the day, pesarattu  is accompanied by the upma, hence giving us the popular dish Pesarattu Upma. The upma that is used here is the regular upma that is made with semolina also called as sooji. It can be used as filling to the pesarattu à la masala dosa or accompanied on the side. Relished along with one’s favourite chutneys, pesarattu upma makes a wholesome meal.

Amongst the dosas and idlis that were regularly made at home, pesarattu, which was made occasionally, used to be a delightful change. Later when I learnt that it was popularly paired with upma, I began to enjoy this combination more. And why not? This delicious treat is not only mouth watering, but also, so easy to make.

The pesarattu can be made with the whole green moong dal or the yellow split moong dal. My favourite is the one made with the yellow moong dal.

Here’s how I prepare simple but yummy pesarattu upma.

Ingredients needed for pesarattu:

1 cup moong dal
Small piece of ginger
4 to 6 chillies, depending on how spicy one wants it to be
Salt to taste

Wash and soak the moong dal for about 2 hours. Then grind it with some water along with salt, ginger and chillies. The pesarattu batter is ready. The consistency of the batter will be a little thicker than that of a dosa.
Ingredients needed for upma:

1 cup semolina or sooji
3 cups water
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp split urad dal
1 tsp chana dal
2 chillies, cut into small pieces
Few curry leaves
Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a cooking pan. Add urad dal, chana dal and mustard seeds. Once the seeds start splattering, add chillies and curry leaves. Then add the water and salt. Once water starts boiling, add the semolina slowly while constantly stirring. Mix well, cover with lid and switch off the stove. Let it rest for a few minutes. Remove the lid and mix the upma well. Upma is ready.

To prepare pesarattu upma:

The rest of the procedure is similar to that of the dosa. Heat a flat pan. Once it gets hot, spread a few drops of oil onto it and then spread the batter on it in circular form. After a little while carefully flip it. And then flip it again, add little upma in the centre, fold the pesarattu in half and serve it on the plate.

I am not much of an onion eating person, so I tend to avoid it in my recipes. But the more popular pesarattu upma is loaded with onions. A regular onion lover would be zapped to find it missing in such a relished dish. So if one loves onions, finely cut onions can be sprinkled on the pesarattu as soon as the batter is spread on the pan. Also in the preparation of upma, before the water is added, finely cut onion can be fried. Once it turns golden brown, add water and follow rest of the procedure.

Pesarattu upma tastes best with ginger chutney or tomato chutney. Try it and let me know.

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DurgaS’s Index