Crispy Moong Dal Cheela ( Green Gram Pancakes)

Nutritious, crispy, pancake is made with Green Gram Flour, grated boiled potato and spices.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Moong flour (Green Gram Flour)
• 1 medium potato, boiled and grated
• 2-3 green chilies chopped fine
• One bunch of green coriander leaves chopped fine
• 1”ginger piece grated
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• Pinch of asafetida ( hing)
• 1 tsp chaat masala (available in Indian Grocery Stores)
• Salt to taste
• Cooking oil for shallow frying

Method:

• Take Moong flour in a bowl.
• Add enough water to make a batter of pouring consistency.
• Beat the mixture with hand beater to make it a smooth paste. Leave to rest for half an hour.
• Add grated boiled potato, chopped onion, green chilies, coriander leaves, ginger, cumin seeds, asafetida, salt, chaat masala and 1 tbsp of hot oil.
• Heat a flat pan/griddle and grease it. When moderately hot, wipe it clean with a cloth.
• Pour one ladleful of batter on the griddle and spread it with the back of the ladle or a flat bottomed Katori, in circular way, to make round cheela on a medium flame.
• Sprinkle some oil around the edges of cheela (pancake) and some oil on the upper side of the cheela. When one side is light brown, flip it over. Drizzle oil around and cook on other side also till golden brown.
• Serve hot with chutney of your choice.

Do You Know?

Archaeological evidence suggests that varieties of pancakes are probably the earliest and most widespread types of cereal food eaten in prehistoric societies whereby dry carbohydrate-rich seed flours mixed with the available protein-rich liquids, usually milk and eggs, were baked on hot stones or in shallow earthenware pots over an open fire to form a nutritious and highly palatable foodstuff.