I make these sometimes when I have a friend over for breakfast – a great way to start the day once the kids are in school ! – and this is how I explain the dosa – as an Indian crepe. And I do in fact use a crepe pan to make the dosas, so this is just one of those recipes that very easily straddles both worlds !
In southern India, I believe these dosas are called pesarattu.
Mung Crepes aka Moong Dosas
1 cup of whole or split moong daal/ mung beans (whole or split green gram lentils), plus 7-8 fenugreek seeds, soaked overnight in lots of water
1/2 a cup of basmati rice (this is optional but makes the dosas crisper, IMO)
1 and 1/2 tsp of grated ginger
salt to taste
1/2 a tbsp or so of sunflower oil per crepe/dosa, to fry
Drain the beans, then grind them in a food processor adding a few tablespoons of water at a time. Grind the rice too, separately, and mix with the beans batter.
The batter should be neither too thick and pasty, nor too runny.
Add the salt and the ginger and mix in well.
Heat the crepe pan till it is quite hot. Now turn the heat down to a medium hot setting, then pour 2-3 tablespoons worth of batter on to the pan with a large serving spoon and spread quickly and evenly with the back of the spoon.
Turn the heat up a little bit (though not to a full setting), and cover the pan with the lid of any cooking pot till the top portion of the crepe begins to look dry rather than wet (this will take less than a minute).
Spread 1/2 a tbsp of oil evenly over the surface of the crepe, cover again and cook for another 1/2 a minute or so. Then, using a spatula with a very thin edge which can be slid under the crepe, turn it over (if the crepe is well made, it will have a lovely crispy, brown look by now) and cook it for say 1/2 a minute. Turn it over again, fold it in half, and remove it on to the serving plate.
Turn the heat down again before pouring and spreading the batter for the next crepe, then turn it up again to cook.
In between every two or three crepes that one makes, it helps to clean the surface of the pan with the exposed portion of an onion cut in half (I enjoy staying with this traditional method though one could use kitchen towels instead)
With a potato filling that is spiced with mustard seeds and curry leaves, and coconut chutney, this makes for a great breakfast.
The girls absolutely love these dosas – or pesarattu, and I plan to make them for breakfast or lunch one day during the school holidays that will begin this weekend, so I will take the pictures for this post then.
An Indian Kitchen in France 