Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Mung bean Pancakes ( Hirvya mugachi dhirdi)

A healthy spicy adventure- Mung pancakes.

Yes, I said pancakes and that too spicy. So let the adventure begin.

Mung beans are rich in protein. Usually all different kinds of beans are used to prepare dal in Indian cooking, but this is the kind of variety which is sometimes ignored from our diet.
When I was a kid [that includes all the years until my wedding...:)...] my mom used to soak these great little kids overnight in the water and then in the morning, we used to eat them along with little salt and lemon squeezed on them. I used to love that morning snack. I wasn't aware of the enormous health benefits that these guys offer though. But now that I know, my cravings for eating healthy gets fulfilled whenever I indulge myself in these pancakes.

Those who are strictly vegetarian usually experience lack of protein in their diet since they exclude meat completely, this recipe is a good substitute for them.


Recipe goes something like this-:
1 cup of green whole mung beans( hirave mug)
Soak them overnight in water.

Next morning, strain them through the colander, and blend them with little amount of water. Blend the mixture until a smooth paste is made. Keep it aside.

2-3 Green chillies ( Now watch for the spiciness of chillies, for the Indian readers this should be fine, but for my American friends, cut the quantity to 1-2 counts.)


1/2 an inch of ginger

1-2 cloves of garlic
A handful of Cilantro (Coriander)

Put everything in to a separate blender and grind it, along with a pinch of salt. Salt will help the mixture to blend nicely.

Add this paste to the mung beans mixture. Mix well. According to your taste add more salt to it.
Add about half a cup of rice flour to the mixture for the crispiness.

And don't forget to add water to make it in to a batter in such a way that you can pour it on to a griddle, or a fry pan. Just to give you an idea, it should be little thicker than dosa batter and thinner than uttappa batter.

Spray your hot griddle or tava with cooking oil spray. Spread the mixture on tava to make round pancakes, cover each for 2-3 minutes and just flip them on the other side until they get nice golden color. Keep in mind that they will still look green, retaining their original color.

This is a perfect recipe to enjoy as a breakfast or include in the lunch.

Enjoy them while they are hot along with yogurt or a mint chutney.



Ohh...and the bowl with the yogurt in the picture is a gift to me from my friend, Sunny from Peru...:)

Thanks for the gift Sunny.


Coming Up
: An Indo-Chinese treat!!
Vegetable Manchurian and Jeera rice.




4 comments:

Ivy said...

I have these beans at home! I don't think I realized they were mung beans.I bought them a long time ago to make kidchari.
That mint chutney sounds good, I want the recipe. :)

Manali said...

There are different kinds of mung beans. The one I use for Khichadi are yellow mung beans, but I guess you can use any kind of beans you like, it will still taste yummy!!

And the mint chutney recipe is right there, just click on it....:)

gayatri said...

hey Manali, nice to see your blog..will be a regular reader now..

Tanmay said...

mungachya daaliche dhirade... dang! been a long time since I even heard those words :)...
Looks very yumm from the pictures...

Keep up the good work...
Tanmay