Pesarattu (Green gram dosai)

Pesarattu is a special breakfast cum dinner served in Andhra restaurants.
Being born and brought up in a southern most part of India , I have never heard of Pesarattu till I moved to Madras.
One fine morning I tasted the Pesarattu made by my Sakuntala Athai (Aunt) and became a fan of Pesarattu.
Most of her recipes were new to me .Then only I understood that the Madras families surely will have a touch of the Andhra cuisines and that's really delectable.


Ingredients:
Green gram - 1 1/2 cup
Rice - 1 tbsp
onion - chopped 1 cup
green chilly - 3
ginger - 1 inch
cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
curry leaf - 1 brig
sesame oil - 1 tsp per pesarattu.

Method:
Soak green gram with 1 tbsp rice overnight (or 8 hours).
Grind green chilly, ginger, with the soaked dhal and rice to a paste like dosa batter.
Add salt, chopped onion , curry leaf and cumin seeds .
Heat a dosa girdle . Pour a ladle of batter and flatten it to a thin crepe dosa.
Sprinkle little sesame oil over the pesarattu.
Flip over and let it cook both sides.
Pesarattu is ready.

Serving suggestions:
In some Andhra restaurants , they place a spoon of rava uppuma inside the Pesarattu and fold it like masala dosai.
The suitable side dishes can be red capsicum chutney or green chilly chutney or tomato chutney or vada curry .
Makes 20 Pesarattu.

If minimal oil is used then this is good for a less calorie diet .

Green chilly chutney (less spicy)

When I planned to make the Andhra 's Pesarattu , the side dish sparked in my mind was their special green chilly chutney. Green chilly chutney is loved by the people of North Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. I remember a version of green chilly chutney but it calls for a lot of Indian green chilly without Jaggery.
At the same time while browsing through Jaishree's Ruchi , I got a green chilly pickle recipe.
Then I got an idea to add Jaggery to the chutney. My friend Prathiba from Bangalore told me to substitute Jalapeno peppers for half of the green chilly. I didn't have any Jalapeno pepper so I used a big green bell pepper to reduce the spice of chilly.
The result is the following "Less spicy green chilly chutney". The flavor reminds me of Andhra restaurant chutney , but with less spice.
If you want more spice , then go for 5 Jalapeno peppers instead of a bell pepper. No need to temper the chutney.


Green chilli chutney / Less spicy chilly chutney/ Pachai milagai chutney

Ingredients:
Green Bell pepper - 1
Indian green chilly - 10
sesame seed - 1 tbsp
garlic - 2
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
tamarind - a big strawberry size
crushed Jaggery - 1 tbsp
salt - to taste

Method:
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a wok.
Chop the bell pepper. Do not chop the small green chilly.
Fry both with 1 tbsp sesame seeds . Cook them covered till the chilly turns pale brown.
Deseed and soak the tamarind.
Grind fried chilly, sesame seed, cumin seed, tamarind , salt, jaggery and garlic to a fine paste.
No need to garnish.
Green chilly chutney is ready!

Serving suggestions:
The above said quantity will be comfortably enough for 4 people.
Serve hot as side dish with idly, dosa, pesarattu , chapathi etc.