Savory Gluten-free Vegan Mung Bean Pancakes

As if you needed one more recipe to show the versatility of beans!

Classic American pancakes served with maple syrup were unknown to us in India. However my mother’s kitchen abounded with savory dosas - the equally talented overseas cousin of a pancake. We ate dosas made from grain flours, semolina, soaked lentils, with grated vegetables and spices in dazzling combinations. But the most common of all was a whole mung bean dosa, called pesarattu in the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where she hails from.

States of India with five southern states highlighted

Do you know what is a dosa? A specialty of South Indian states, dosa is a thin, often crunchy, crepe-like pancake crafted from a fermented batter of soaked rice and urad dal. Growing up, it was the stuff of dreams. The soaking and fermentation require advanced planning though and according to my family members a South Indian hand and here I digress … but for reasons of cultural context.

The concept of “culinary hand” acts like a sword of Damocles over Indian cooks. You either have it or you don’t and if you don’t, your cooking is open to, let’s say, viewpoints! I have to concede that there is some merit to this concept as the heroic cooks in my family just CANNOT cook anything that is not finger-licking tasty.

Successfully preparing dosas in the US depends on the climate.

In the winters, fermentation is agony as the batter will not deign to rise even after 24 hours. You may see bubbles on the surface if you keep your house toasty. So when I am in need of my dosa fix without the ifs and buts, I turn to mung dal dosas.

The batter for the mung dal dosa is a result of blending soaked mung beans, green chile pepper, cumin powder, salt and spinach – not a traditional ingredient of pesarattu. I believe it is a sneakily inventive addition to stuff some greens in the guise of a fun dish like dosa.

RECIPE - MUNG DAL DOSA/PANCAKE

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole mung beans

• 1 handful fresh spinach or ½ cup frozen and thawed spinach

• 1 Thai chile pepper (optional)

• 2 teaspoons lime juice

• ½ teaspoon cumin powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2-3 teaspoons vegetable oil

Yield - Makes 10 dosas about 6-7” in diameter

Method

• Rinse 1 cup whole mung beans under running water. Soak them in 3 cups water overnight for at least 8 hours.

Soaked for 8 hours

• If you have time, soak the beans for 12 hours, they plump up uniformly as opposed to the ones soaked for 8 hours.

Soaked for 12 hours

• Drain and wash the soaked beans under running water. One cup of dry beans typically results in 3 cups of soaked beans (see Technique below). Even after the long soak, you may find combative beans that have not absorbed any water, a result of old age. Blending takes care of them.

• Pour soaked beans into the blender along with handful of spinach, 1 thai chile pepper, 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder (replacing cumin powder with 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds is totally fine), 1 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons lime juice. If you are using frozen spinach, drain out the excess water by wringing it in a clean kitchen cloth. Add 1 1/4 cups water and blend fine. Adjust the quantity of water to ensure the consistency of the batter is thick and pasty but pourable like pancake batter.

• Heat a non-stick or cast iron skillet on medium high heat. Perform the following test to assess how hot the pan is. Sprinkle few drops of water. As soon as the water touches the pan, if it evaporates right away with a sizzle, the pan is ready. If not, wait and perform the test again.

• Pour about one fourth cup of batter onto the pan. Start in the center and with the back of the ladle swirl around lightly starting from inside and moving outside in a circular motion to make a round disc about 6-7” in diameter. The thickness should be between that of a crepe and a regular pancake. Pour ½ teaspoon of oil around the edges of the dosa. Feel free to use butter or ghee in place of oil.

• In about a minute the dosa will start browning. You will see brown color peeking through the lacy parts. Flip the dosa and let it brown on the other side too for about a minute. Flip it once more on both the sides and let cook for half a minute or so on each side.

• Serve hot with fataafat chutney (recipe below). Add a side of green salad for a rounded meal.

• Double the batter without any hesitation. It stays well in the refrigerator for a week. Serve the dosa once with fataafat chutney, serve the next time with salsa and cream cheese.

RECIPE - FATAAFAT CHUTNEY

Every language has certain words, whose nuanced meaning just cannot be captured in the translation. Fataafat, a word in colloquial Hindi language of Mumbai, means rapidly or fast – two words that are wholly inadequate to express its vibe. Even the sound created by uttering this word conveys speed and urgency. This chutney is so named because it is ready in minutes.

The idea for this chutney came to me during a harried lunchtime. The batter for mung dal dosa was ready but I had no plan for a chutney, which, believe me, is a monumental problem. You cannot eat dosa without a chutney, it’s just not right. Inspiration struck at the right time, I put a few things together and the meal was met with favorable viewpoints.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons almond or peanut butter

• 1 teaspoon sambal oloek or ½ teaspoon Sriracha sauce

• 1 teaspoon lime juice

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1/4 cup peeled and finely diced red onions (optional)

  Yield - Less than a cup

Method

• Blend 4 tablespoons peanut or almond butter, 1/2 teaspoon sriracha or your favorite chile sauce, 1 teaspoon lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt along with ¼ cup water. The finer you blend this chutney, the creamier it will be. Mix in 1/4 cup onions if raw onions suit you and serve with hot mung dal dosa.

  

  Savory Gluten-free Vegan Mung Bean Pancakes with Fataafat chutney

IDEAL CHRONOLOGY OF STEPS

1) Soak mung beans at least 8 hours before making dosa. If I am planning to make them for dinner, I soak them after I get up in the morning as I am prepping my coffee or I soak them before going to bed if I want to serve them for brunch or lunch.

2) Blend the beans to make the batter

3) Dice the onions if using them.

4) Put together the fataafat chutney

5) Prepare green salad, if serving.

6) Now make dosas

7) Serve them hot-off the skillet. Tear a piece of the dosa, dip it in the chutney and devour.

TECHNIQUE

The technique this recipe spotlights is soaking beans. You will find a rare Indian family, who cooks beans without soaking.

Soaking beans reduces the gassiness so that they are not hard on the stomach.

Let me tell you a little bit about bean usage in India. Beans are eaten in India in all the forms – whole, split with skin, hulled split. What else is commonly done in India is to sprout the beans. Sprouting reduces the cooking time and makes them easier to digest. Since almost 30-40 % of the Indian population is vegetarian, beans take care of the protein part of the nutrition.

When I am soaking beans for the dosa, I soak extra to throw a handful in my everyday salad. Or I make a snack by mixing the soaked beans with diced tomatoes and onions and seasoning with salt, black pepper and lime juice.

If you want to add plant-forward ingredients to your menu, try soaking brown lentils, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, pinto beans, navy beans or any beans you like. Add them to salads, cook them in the slow cooker or Instant Pot with alliums and your favorite spices, turn them into chunky, rich, thick soups or transform them into dips and hummus.

OTHER USES OF MUNG BEANS

Now that you have purchased the whole mung beans, here’s another way you can use them up -

Cook about a cup of mung beans in triple the water till they become soft and mushy, which will take about 30 minutes. No soaking needed here. Now make the omnipotent tadka (the next post spotlights this technique) . Heat two tablespoons ghee or any preferred oil in a small pan and add cumin seeds after two minutes. Once the seeds stop sizzling, add 1 tomato chopped and 2 garlic cloves peeled and roughly mashed. Tomatoes will break down in 2-3 minutes. Add this tadka to the cooked mung beans, stir well and boil for all the flavors to meld. Serve hot over cooked white or brown rice, quinoa. or couscous. This is a perfect winter dinner for two with a side of carrot slaw seasoned with salt, lime juice, Aleppo peppers and ground cumin.

Await the next meal of ChutneyLovers in two weeks - Oven-roasted Aloo Gobi and Cucumber Raita served with store-bought Naan.

I welcome your feedback, comments, and questions.