Moong Dal Chilla or Moong Dal Cheela also called Pudla or Puda is a healthy and delicious lentil recipe that can be made for breakfast or snacks. Here is how to make it.
Here you can try some more Breakfast recipes, that you can make for your everyday meals – Besan Chilla, Poha, Bread Upma, Rava Upma, and Egg Idli.
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About This Recipe
Moong Dal Chilla is an Indian Pancake which is just like Dosa but made with soaked moong dal and a few more ingredients that adds flavor to the same.
The moong dal batter is prepared and made like Dosa, and stuffed with delicious and mildly spiced crumbled paneer/cottage cheese filling.
It is not only high in protein, but Moong Dal also has many health benefits, such as it has a low glycemic index, rich in fiber and these properties help to regulate blood sugar for diabetics.
This mildly spicy filling adds a twist to the moong dal ka chilla and enhances its taste even more.
Just make sure that the batter should not be too thick or too thin in consistency, so that you get the perfect chilla and also keep the flame on low so that the chilla cooks perfectly from inside.
Make this chilla a little bigger in size, so that it is easy to stuff the Paneer stuffing.
Other than Paneer filling, you can also stuff Moong Dal Ka Chilla with Cheese, Palak, and other vegetables of your choice.
This Chilla is very similar to Pudla or Puda which is a popular Gujarati breakfast dish that is made with Besan or Gram flour and is mixed with onions, tomatoes, green chillies, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and a little water.
They are comparatively small in size and a little crispier.
Here, we have made the moong dal ka chilla with Dhuli Moong Dal which is Yellow Moong Dal, but you can also use Green Moong Dal to make these delicious Chillas.
This Moong Dal Chilla is,
- Healthy
- High in Protein
- Easy to make
- Gluten-Free
- Apt for weekday breakfast
Ingredients
For the Chilla – For the Chilla, you just need yellow moong dal, ginger, green chilies, salt, onion, and coriander leaves.
Moong Dal is soaked overnight or a minimum of 5 hours and then ground along with ginger, green chilies, and salt to make a batter.
Finley chopped onions and coriander are then mixed to give it a nice crunch and texture.
For the Filling – To make the Paneer filling, Paneer is crumbled and then cooked along with cumin seeds, onions, green chilies, salt, turmeric powder, and fresh coriander leaves.
You can serve the Chilla without filling, but this filling does make it filling, nutritious, and wholesome.
Step by Step Recipe
To make the filling, heat oil in a pan.
When the oil is hot, add cumin seeds.
When the seeds start to crackle, add onion and green chillies. Fry till onion turns translucent.
Add salt and turmeric powder and fry for a few seconds.
Add paneer and coriander and mix well. Remove the pan from heat.
Wash and soak the dal for 2-3 hours.
Drain the water. Grind the dal with ginger, green chilli and little water to make a smooth paste.
Add salt, onion, coriander and more water to make a dosa like batter. ( medium-thick consistency ).
Heat a non-stick pan and pour a ladle full of batter in the centre.
Spread the batter to make a thin round using the back of ladle. Pour a tsp of oil on the sides and cook till golden brown. Flip and cook the chilla from other side.
Flip again. Keep 2 tbsp of filling on one half of the chilla.
Fold over. Serve hot with green coriander chutney.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can soak it overnight or for a minimum of 3 to 4 hours, before grinding it to make the batter.
Here, the Moong Dal Chilla is vegan, but the stuffing used in the Chilla has paneer. So either you can avoid adding stuffing to the Chilla or you can make a stuffing with spinach, tofu, or mushrooms instead of Paneer.
The fibre and protein present in the Moong Dal, keeps you filled for longer, making it apt for your weight loss diet.
Variations
Vegetable – To make them more nutritious and filling, you could also add some grated carrot, shredded cabbage, chopped capsicum, or even some grated beetroot in the batter. In such versions, you can avoid making a filling for the Chilla.
Cheese – You can add in a little grated cheese inside the Cheela as the stuffing. Kids will love this version of Chilla.
Spinach – Chop the spinach finely and add it into the batter with some green chilies. You can also make a stuffing of sautéed Spinach and add in between the Chilla.
Mushroom – Either add in the stir fried mushrooms or pair them with spinach.
Tofu – Just like Paneer, make a Tofu mixture to stuff inside the Chilla.
Storage Suggestions
I would recommend you make the batter fresh, but if you still have leftovers, you can store it for a day in the fridge in an airtight container.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this Moong Dal Cheela on its own along with some green Mint Coriander Chutney or even Tomato Ketchup. You can even sandwich it between slices of bread to make a delicious sandwich.
Serve it along with spicy Lahsun Ki Chutney, if you want to add a hint of spiciness to your meal.
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Recipe Card
Moong Dal Chilla Recipe
Ingredients
For the filling
- 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- ¼ cup Onion (Chopped)
- 1 tsp Green Chilli (Chopped)
- Salt to taste
- ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 cup Paneer (Grated)
- 1 tbsp Fresh Coriander (Chopped)
For the chilla
- 1 cup Yellow Moong Dal
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 inch Ginger (Chopped)
- 1 Green Chilli
- ¼ cup Onion (Chopped)
- 1 tbsp Coriander (Chopped)
- Oil for frying
Instructions
For the filling
- Heat oil in a pan.
- When the oil is hot, add cumin seeds.
- When the seeds starts to crackle, add onion and green chillies.
- Fry till onion turns translucent.
- Add salt and turmeric powder and fry for a few seconds.
- Add paneer and coriander and mix well.
- Remove the pan from heat.
For the Chilla
- Wash and soak the dal for 2-3 hours.
- Drain the water.
- Grind the dal with ginger, green chilli and little water to make a smooth paste.
- Add salt, onion, coriander and more water to make a dosa like batter. ( medium thick consistency
- Heat a non stick pan and pour a ladle full of batter in the centre.
- Spread the batter to make a thin round using the back of ladle.
- Pour a tsp of oil on the sides and cook till golden brown.
- Flip and cook the chilla from other side.
- Flip again.
- Keep 2 tbsp of filling on one half of the chilla.
- Fold over.
- Serve hot with green coriander chutney.
