Friday, February 6, 2009

Pesarattu Vadai

Considering how adai is so well received at home, I expected pesarattu to get a similar reception and though the family ate it with no complaints the first day, my suggestion to have an encore for the following day's breakfast or dinner (since I had leftover batter) met with some grumblings. Not wanting to eat pesarattu as my breakfast for the next 4 to 5 days, I decided to make the batter more appealing to everyone and since all things fried go with my husband (refer to Sabudhana vadas), pesarattu vadas came into existence. They were delicious & disappeared in no time and very soon I was left with an empty container :)

I would recommend adding the veggies just before frying the batter or it can get watery. I made the mistake of letting it rest for a while since I had to attend to something else and so couldn't really shape the vadas properly. Dropping spoonfuls of the batter instead of doughnut shaped vadais didn't take away from the taste though.

PESARATTU / MUNG DHAL VADAIS


Ingredients for Pesarattu batter:
Whole Green Mung Dhal - 1 cup
Brown Rice - 1/4 cup
Green Chillies - 7 or 8
Ginger - half to 1 inch piece
Salt - to taste

1) Soak the Mung dhal and rice overnight. Grind along with green chillies, ginger & salt with water as required to make a slightly thick paste. Thin this down a bit to easily spread into dosas for the original pesarattu or keep it thick to make vadais.

Additions for the vadai:
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Cabbage - 1 cup, chopped finely
Green Chillies - 4 to 5, chopped finely (since it's deep-fried, i wanted it to be spicy) OR Chilli powder - to taste
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp, chopped finely
Salt - to taste, if required
Oil - to deep fry

Method:
1) Heat oil to deep fry. Add the onions, cabbage, chillies, coriander leaves and salt to the batter.
2) Drop small spoonfuls of the batter (so they are more crispy) into the medium-hot oil and cook till golden brown and crispy and cooked through on the inside.
3) Drain on paper towels and serve as is or with chutney.

37 comments:

Gita's Kitchen said...

Wow pesarattu vadais sounds so tempting...they look so delicious and crispy :)

Happy cook said...

Wish i had some realy hot hot ones.
Delicious.

Shama Nagarajan said...

yummy healthy vadai

Cham said...

What a lovely way to finnish the batter, looks so good, will work well for even tiffin too

DEESHA said...

i never thought of making vadais with moond dal. its looks real yum. I wish I could have some now.

Indhu said...

very yummy... and they look sooo crisp :)

Asha said...

Oho!! Look at you, clever girl. Moong dal and brown rice vada looks wonderful. I will try these this weekend for snacks, thanks Laavi! :))

indosungod said...

Necessity is the mother of invention :) Lovely vadais by the way.

Poornima Nair said...

The vadais look so tempting...would love to have a bite...

AnuSriram said...

Looks so crispy... Delicious!

mitr_bayarea said...

I've heard about pesarattu dosa, but pesaratu vada looks so much more enticing.

Sujatha said...

great idea, Laavanya! Its not my way either to have the same breakfast for the next few days.. and my husband is worser than me.. I usually finish off the dosa batter by making kuzhi paniyaaram after 2 or 3 days.. but couldn't think of anything with pesarattu batter.. this is such a good one!

TBC said...

I have the same problem too, Laavanya! I first made pesarattu a few months back and then again more recently, last month. We don't care much for it (unlike adai which we never get tired of eating). I remember the leftover pesarattu batter being finished of with great difficulty the next day. I don't know if my proportions were off, but the resultant pesarattus were super dry and the raw taste of the green moong did not make for a very tasty meal.

The vadas are a good idea. I cannot remember the last time I fried anything!

RAKS KITCHEN said...

Cool idea,first time I too had a hard time in finishing off the batter,but now a days,one cup is okay for our family:) Will try this next time:)

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

vadas look too good Laavs. nice idea too :)

jeyashrisuresh said...

wow very creative.I too make this will left over adai maavu.adding veggies is good idea.

sahiti said...

Vadas looking yummy.These are called pesara punukulu in Andhra.Cabbage is not added usually though.

sra said...

I love pesarat, esp as I don't get it where I live. It's adai that's disappointed me every time I've eaten it - it always tastes raw. I've eaten a gravy made with fat pesarat pieces.

sowmya said...

i made vadais with the pesarattu batter long ago ..it was delicious..had forgoten this..thanks for reminding me..will try it..

viji said...

Thanks for the receipe. Looks great too.

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notyet100 said...

u can send them for healthy birtes event,..;-)thy look so crips nd yum,..

Ramya Bala said...

So innovative...YEah here also it happens the very same..first day goes on well with these pesarattus,the l.o batter is always thrown :-(...very good idea :)

veggie belly said...

Great idea! Only deep fried pesarattu can be better than regular pesarattu! When we visited thirupathi, we'd always stop at this one place and have their amazing pesarattu, I wish I remembered the restaurant name :(

sagari said...

vadai looks very yummy and crispy lavanys

Superchef said...

they look soo yummy..what a wonderful way to use up leftovers!

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

hi laav,

the onion chutney is not bitter. we are adding equal quantity of coconut to offset the raw smell and bitterness... also tamarind is added for sourness. it's better to use red onions for this chutney.. tastes good.. not very obviously raw and smelly :)

n33ma said...

I knew abt pesarattu dosa but this is taking it one step further.....looks so good especially during these chilly days.

Vij said...

looks yummy n crispy

Mallugirl said...

wonderful idea!! do u use any kind of brown rice?

aquadaze said...

nice idea to finish leftover batter. and you make your pesarattu with brown rice? that's such a great one laavanya!

Usha said...

Pesarattu vadai sounds like a yum idea, looks delicious :-)

Rajitha said...

deep fried pesarattu maav...ha ha..that was good thinking laav :)

Sukanya Ramkumar said...

This is so cool. U r so creative girl. Looks so good. YUM!. Will try it soon.

Laavanya said...

Thank you all. Looks like quite a few of us have trouble finishing the batter. Sahiti thanks for the info and the Andhra name.. I just added some cabbage for some added crunch - didn't disappoint me :)

Aquadaze & Mallugirl, yes.. using brown rice for adai or pesarattu is a great way to sneak it in with no change to taste or texture.. DO try it. Mallugirl, I usually buy Uncle Ben's Brown Rice.

Namratha said...

This is a brilliant idea Laavi, and a sure 'batter saver' :) Mom always told me to make pesarattu batter enough to last only for that day, coz it doesn't do good the next day. Now I know what I really can do with the leftovers, good one! :)

Priya said...

Anything fried is always good :) Great idea Laavanya.

Raaga said...

this is actually something that is made on Diwali in Sachin's side of the family :)

Like vadai-payasam in my family, where the vadai is ulundu vadai, in his family, it is a pesarattu vadai of sorts... mung vadai :)