Spinach Pesarattu without rice

My entry for Sugs Healthy Eats WBB

Healthy eating is always a challenge. A long list of No's- no fats, no oils, no carbohydrates and a shorter one of yes's- High in protein and fibre. Proteins are also kind of tricky, they almost never occur in pure form in nature, they are bound with carbohydrates. Fibre is easy as an idea - it basically bulks up your food and promotes a feeling of satiety or fullness. But it comes in two forms - soluble and insoluble. If look at the nutrition label on oats, youll see that it has both forms in a fairly high percentage. In practical terms, it means that the less cooked your vegetables are,the higher fibre content you get from them.

Pesarattu is, as far as I know, a traditional dosa or crepe like Andhra breakfast. I once had a MLA Pesarattu in a hyderabadi restaurant- a pesarattu stuffed with rava upma. Yumm!

Traditionally the recipe has an equal amount of rice and mung dal, spiced with green chillies, ginger and curry leaves. Rice makes the pesarattu crisp. In general i think indian food tends to be very carbohydrate heavy. So, I have done away with the rice altogether and made sprouts from the mung.



The Ingredients in my Pesarattu are

moon sprouts
green chillies medium sized
fresh ginger
Fresh spinach chiffonade , i.e long strips







Indian mung sprouts are not exactly the same as Chinese Mung sprouts. Chinese mung sprouts are much much longer, perhaps a lot healthier too. They look like this. Chinese Mung sprouts are a mere 30 calories per cup, whereas Indian mung sprouts are in the range of 180 calories per cup.

An easy way to make sprouts: Soak moong beans in water overnight. Drain the water completely and keep the sprouts in a casserole / insulated hot dish. This ensures good sprouts even in cold climes.

Without rice, making a crisp dosa is easy if attention is paid to some details in the recipe. Once the moong is sprouted, grind the sprouts with green chilli, ginger. Very important donot add salt until right before making the dosa. Salt causes water to separate from the batter. Salted batter separates making it difficult / impossible to make the dosa. Also make sure , to not add more than a tablespoon or two of water while grinding the batter.

This is the time to bring out your teflon coated pan. Make sure the pan is hot enough before making the pesarattu. A drop of water put on the pan should sizzle instantly.


Once you put the pesarattu batter on the pan, immediately sprinkle some shredded palak / spinach on the back. I like a lot of spinach actually - it give a nice buttery taste. This is one of those times where frozen spinach just wont do. Fresh spinach shines through in taste.

You can use pam oil spray instead of using oil straight away. I find i use less oil that way. The dosa crisps up nicely. Flip the dosa for just a second and remove to serving plate. Serve immediately.

Any type of chutney, tomato , onion etc goes well with this pesarattu. I like a combination of low fat yoghurt and raw onions.Because the spinach is just wilted, i think it should retain its nutrients and fibre better.

In terms of measurements, this recipe goes like this:

1 cup moon sprouts
2 green chillies medium sized
1/2 inch fresh ginger
Fresh spinach chiffonade , i.e long strips

Grind the first three ingredients. Add salt just before making the pesarattu crepe. Sprinkle with the spinach chiffonade. Flip. Serve with chutney.

Makes three four to five medium sized pesarattus.