Moong Dal Chilla Recipe
An easy recipe for moong dal chilla, made with 8 simple ingredients. A truly quick, healthy, protein-packed and tasty Indian vegetarian breakfast that gets ready in just 20 minutes (if you have soaked the dal night before).
Servings 4
Calories 280kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup Chilkewali moong dal
- 1 inch Ginger
- 1 clove Garlic
- 1 Green chili
- Salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon Cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon Hing (Asafoetida)
- ¼ cup Cilantro or coriander leaves
- ¾ cup Water for grinding
- 3-4 tablespoons Oil to cook cheela
Instructions
- Take chilka moong dal in a colander and rinse under running cold water until water runs clear. Alternately, you can rinse the lentils in a bowl by changing the water 2-3 times or until the water is not cloudy anymore.
- Soak in enough water for at least 8 hours or overnight. Lentils will get more than double in size. Discard the soaking water.
- Take soaked moong dal in a blender and add remaining ingredients (ginger, garlic, green chili, salt, hing, turmeric, cumin seeds, cilantro and water. Grind into a smooth batter.
- Batter consistency: It should not be too thick or too thin. The batter has to be medium thick and runny consistency just like dosa batter.
- Heat the cast iron tawa/skillet on medium heat. If your tawa is seasoned well then no need to use any oil to begin with. Take a ladleful of batter (around ¼ cup).
- Pour in the center of the pan.
- Spread the batter using the back of the ladle in a circular motion (just like dosa). Keep the chilla of medium thickness (not too thin like paper dosa and not too thick like uttapam).
- Drizzle some oil around the edges and also on the chilla. Let it cook.
- Once it is cooked from the bottom, the edges start to loosen from the tawa and so you can easily flip it. So flip and cook another side for a few seconds. Serve moong dal chilla hot/warm.
Notes
- Batter consistency has to be right (medium thick and runny consistency).
If you’re in a rush then you can soak the lentils for 3-4 hours only. It should be perfectly fine. - To make soft moong dal chilla, do not spread in a circular motion. Instead, just pour and spread lightly by keeping it slightly thick like uttapam. Cover it while cooking so it gets cooked from inside.
- To make crisp chilla, spread it just as shown above but make it thin. Here you’ll need to add little extra oil to make it super crisp without drying it out.
- Add some finely chopped or grated veggies like onion, tomato, bell pepper, carrot, beet, etc into the batter. If so the chilla will come out slightly on the thicker side like this oats chilla.
- You can add green veggies like spinach or boiled green peas while grinding the batter to make it greener.
- Make-ahead: You can make the batter in advance and keep it in the fridge.
Nutrition
Calories: 280kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Sodium: 638mg | Potassium: 24mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 171IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 2mg
