Friday, August 20, 2010

MLA Pesarattu ..aka.... Upma Pesarattu....Andhra's Signature Recipe


I am sure all of us are aware of this famous Andhra breakfast which is called 'MLA pesarattu'
and when combined with upma it is called 'Upma Pesarattu'.I got to know only today the reason behind the name MLA pesarattu,what I understood by googling today is that pesarattu is famous among the canteen's and restaurants in the MLA Quarters of Hyderabad and that is the reason why it is called MLA Pesarattu.

Coming to the recipe unlike the regular dosa's these are prepared with whole green gram traditionally or sometimes with the yellow moong dal(not the authentic pesarattu) and is sprinkled over with onion-ginger-green chilli-Jeera mixture and stuffed with upma, and is served with tangy and fiery Allam pacchadi(Ginger Chutney).These are always preferably better than regular dosa's as it uses minimum quantity of rice and more whole green gram which is good in proteins.
I have already posted a few variations of this regular pesarattu like Whole green gram Adai and Sprouted gram's Adai.

As a kid I never liked the taste of Pesarattu as it is dominated with the flavor from the whole moong.So when I came across the recipe for
Whole green gram Adai from a neighbor I liked the taste of it as it has less moong and more rice and the batter is fermented to give a tangy taste to the adai.Now I have overcome the problem of not eating regular pesarattu as soaking the moong for longer time and changing the water twice and adding ginger while grinding the batter really helps in removing the smell to an extent.This is my version of Pesarattu which is less or same as prepared in any other house holds just that I make my pesarattu crisp which I always prefer my dosa's to be crisp as you all know about my dosa funda which I mentioned here and here.If you are new to my blog and you are a dosa lover do definitely read my most famous Mysore Masala Dosa and Paper Rava Dosa posts for some useful tips to get crispier dosa.

Ingredients:
2 heaped cups whole green gram
a handful of raw rice
2 green chillies

1" ginger

oil and ghee as required

salt to taste

For the filling:
1 big onion,very finely chopped
2 green chillies,very finely cut
1" ginger,finely chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds


For Upma stuffing:
1/2 cup sooji/rava
1 medium onion,chopped

2-3 green chillies,chopped

1/2" ginger,chopped

2 tsp chana dal

1 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp mustard seeds

6-8 curry leaves chopped
1 tbsp chopped coriander
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp oil

salt to taste


Method:
To make Upma:
  • Dry roast the rava until the nice aroma comes out of it.Keep it aside and let it cool.
  • In a kadai heat oil and crackle mustard seeds and add urad and chana dal and fry until they are slight golden in color.
  • Add green chillies,curry leaves,ginger and fry for a minute.
  • Add chopped onions and fry until they are translucent.
  • Add 1 and 1/2 cups of water to it and let it come to a boil,add salt and add the rava slowly by stirring it continuously.Keep covered and let it cook on low flame for 3-4 mins.
  • Add lemon juice and coriander and mix well and cover it with lid.Keep it warm until you stuff it in pesarattu.Do not let it become cold.
To make Pesarattu:
  • Soak the whole green gram and rice overnight or for a minimum 2-3hrs and change the water twice.
  • Grind green gram and rice with green chillies,ginger in a wet grinder(you can even use regular mixie) until you get a slighltly coarse batter similar to that of dosa consistency.
  • Empty the batter into a bowl and add enough salt and mix well.
  • Mix batter well.Pour a big ladle of batter onto a medium hot pan into a dosa,it should be slightly thicker than the regular dosa.
  • Pour 1 tbsp oil approx over it and cover it with a lid.(No need to add more oil if using Non stick pan,you can completely replace oil with ghee for better taste if you are not calorie conscious).
  • Let it initially cook on low flame for 1-2 mins and remove the lid and increase the flame later and cook for a couple of mins until you see brown/red patches.(No need to turn the pesarattu).But do not try to remove the pesarattu between while it is roasting.We should remove it only when you are sure that it is perfectly roasted.
  • Mean while mix well finely chopped onions,ginger,cumin seeds and green chillies.
  • Remove the lid and pour some ghee in the center and sprinkle the onion mixture over evenly and place upma on one side and fold the pesarattu.You can even close it from two sides or three sides like we get in hotels.
  • Brush the pesarattu with ghee and place it in the center of the pan to make it more crispier.
  • Serve it directly and do not drop them in hot boxes.It should be served on to the plate immediately to enjoy the flavor and crispiness of the pesarattu.
  • Reduce the flame for one minute and sprinkle water and wait until it heats up and then start preparing the next one.Do not pour the batter on high flame the batter will stick to the pan and will not let us to spread it evenly.
Serve it hot right off from the flame with Ginger chutney or Coconut chutney.It tastes best with ginger chutney and the pesarattu is traditionally served with it.

Note:
  • Instant Version : When you did not plan to make this and did not soak the gram,you can still even grind whole green gram instantly without soaking in water and add a handful of rice flour,green chillies,ginger while grinding it.Even the pesarattu's made by this process also yield good crispy one's but I personally like it when it is soaked and done.
  • Make Upma as simple as possible without adding any vegetables or tomato.It tastes best when the flavor of pesarattu is dominated instead of upma taste.
  • For a Vegan version avoid ghee and use as much oil as required for frying pesarattu.

Ginger Chutney / Allam Pacchadi :


Ingredients:
2 " ginger,sliced
2-3 garlic cloves(optional)

1 tbsp urad dal

4-5 red chillies
2 tbsp thick tamarind pulp

1 tbsp grated jaggery

1 tsp oil

salt to taste


for Tadka:
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
5-6 curry leaves,chopped
a pinch of hing
1 tsp ghee/oil


Method:
  • Heat 1/2 tsp of oil and roast red chillies slightly and keep it aside.
  • In the same oil add urad dal and fry until red in color and keep it aside.
  • Add 1/2 tsp oil or ghee to the kadai and add ginger pieces and fry slightly and add garlic pods and just stir it and switch off the flame.
  • Grind roasted red chillies,fried urad dal,jaggery and salt to a coarse powder.Add fried ginger,garlic,tamarind pulp and enough water and blend into a smooth chutney.
  • Heat ghee/oil in the same kadai and crackle mustard seeds and add curry leaves and hing and fry for few seconds and add the tadka to the chutney and mix well.
Serve it with Pesarattu / Idli / Dosa / Wada.

Note:
You can even replace urad dal with fried gram and follow the same process.No need to fry the fried gram in oil.

37 comments:

  1. Thats awesome prathy..Wish I could get one in this midnight.. My fav one forever..

    ReplyDelete
  2. this one looks awesome. In Karnataka, we mix chitranna & dose. I tasted this one in of my Telugu friend's home. Pictures are awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Authentic dish of Andhra..looks fabulous..

    ReplyDelete
  4. i made this once.Very healthy dosa.Looks so crisy and yummy.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yumm pesarattu! Nice name! Awesome pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The story behind MLA is interesting. Pesarattu looks crispy and perfect color. Should try pairing it with upma to know how the combo tastes.

    ReplyDelete
  7. oh my that dosa looks just gorgeous...

    ReplyDelete
  8. this Andhra style platter looks very yummy....Dosa looks very crispy...
    Deepa
    Hamaree Rasoi

    ReplyDelete
  9. Looks awesome. Wht a wonderful click. Just love ur dish.

    ReplyDelete
  10. We all love it.but at home hardly make dosa with upma.Loved ur snaps

    ReplyDelete
  11. Bookmarked dear I have never had this combination.Looks fantastic and love the click.
    FOODELICIOUS

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow sounds interesting!!! bookmarked:)

    ReplyDelete
  13. wow i love the golden colur of the yummy pesarattu. tasted it without the upma stuffing inside.looks very tempting

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have made peserettu a million times and haven't made it with a yummy stuffing like urs. Bookmarked!

    ReplyDelete
  15. looks delicious...thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  16. hey, that is simply mouth watering :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow.Awesome Pesarattu.Name is new to me.I too donot like the moong flavour the dosa gives and the addition of raw rice is nice.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Have heard a lot about it ,but never ate or prepared..looks great n interesting.Book marking it :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Seems to be a healthy and yummy dish dear..have never had this...u made me hungry now...

    ReplyDelete
  20. so crispy and yummy dosa, i should try this one...

    ReplyDelete
  21. So perfect and yummy!!! nice clicks too..

    ReplyDelete
  22. luks tempting!tnx 4 sharing such a wonderful recipe

    ReplyDelete
  23. i had heard about this, but did not know the details about it.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Dosa looks crispy, yummy and tempting. Wonderful presentation.

    ReplyDelete
  25. The famous Andhra Breakfast combo!! I had made it once long back and graced the couch all day:-) sure makes a healthy and super-filling breakfast!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. i have the same plate!! and i used to love this dish from Chutneys in Hyd :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. wounderfull dear! luks very tempting,makes me hungry...

    ReplyDelete
  28. thank you prathy for visiting and following my blog,your comments are highly appreciated,luved your space and im happy to follow u too :) btw this looks fabulous ,lovely crisp and unique filling.

    ReplyDelete
  29. The dosas look crisp..nice photos. I loved the variety of healthy recipes on your blog and have added your blog to my bloglist. Now I would know as soon as you a new recipe :)

    http://myculinaryexplorations.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  30. yumm yumm...fabulous looking pesrattu!! an all time fav in our home :)

    Prathima Rao
    Prats Corner

    ReplyDelete
  31. Su at Su's RecipesJuly 25, 2013 at 10:37 PM

    nice recipe and good clicks.....

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hi, I made the pesrattu and upma following your recipe and it turned out quite nice. Thanks a ton for the same. I wish I could post the pictures of the outcome :)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting The Chef and Her Kitchen.
Do leave your comments and feedback,they are always welcome.Please do not leave any links.

Hugs,
Prathy