Dosa, though originating from South India, has become a kind of a national dish now. In South India, there are myriad versions of the basic rice and split black gram dosa. I have already posted a few in my blog. Several more will follow. Last year, I did some research into the breakfast dishes from the various states of India. And was amazed to find that a dosa-like preparation exists in almost every state. Most of them are not widely known, but taste delicious.
Pesarattu is one of the more popular ones, originating from Andhra Pradesh (and Telengana, perhaps). It requires no fermentation, but does require prior preparation. It is a really tasty dish that is normally had at breakfast – and healthy too! The trick of a thin, crisp pesarattu lies in soaking for the right amount of time and preparing it with the fresh batter.

Ingredients
1 cup whole green gram (sabut moong, pachai payaru)
3/4″ piece ginger
2 green chillies
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera, jeeragam)
Salt to taste
For The Topping (Optional)
2 medium onions, chopped fine
2 green chillies, chopped fine
Method
Clean the green gram and wash thoroughly
Soak for 4-6 hours (preferably 4 hours in hot climes, 6 in colder regions. Definitely not more than 6 hours)
Drain the gram and add to a blender
Add cumin, ginger, chillies, salt and a little water
Grind to a thick batter (the batter has to be thick, but of pouring consistency)
Heat a tawa (girdle)
Let the tawa become hot
Pour a ladle of the batter into the centre of the tawa and spread outwards to make a thin layer
Once one side is cooked, flip over and cook the other side (you don’t need to cook the other side if the pesarattu is really thin)
If using toppings, sprinkle a little on top of the pesarattu
Fold the pesarattu in the centre and transfer to a casserole
Cut an onion or potato in the centre
Rub the flat side on the tawa
Repeat for the remaining batter
Serve with a chutney of your choice (I love this with a ginger chutney)
Enjoy!