Savoury Mung Dal Pancakes

The thin, soft savoury bean pancakes known as cheela are a Gujarati delight, served with breakfast, lunch or dinner as breads for rolling and dipping in tasty chutneys or sauces. Although they can be made with besan, or chickpea flour, the genuine articles are made with soaked split mung beans, or moong dal, which give the cheela a hearty consistency as well as a beautiful gold-green-red colour when fried.

The basic ingredients and process are very much the same wherever you look, but these masala cheela adapted from Yamuna Devi's marvelous Lord Krishna's Cuisine are especially fragrant and savoury with the addition of coriander and fennel seeds. I also took Yamuna Devi's suggestion to serve them with cashew chutney for dipping — it was such a perfect combination that people couldn't stop helping themselves to it, even though they're quite filling.

Although the preparation is very simple and takes very little time, the pancakes are fried one at a time in a fairly time-consuming process. Be prepared to dish them up to your family or guests as they come out of the pan and wait until you're done to eat yourself!

Savoury mung dal pancakes

1 cup split mung beans without skins
1/2 cup yogurt
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon asafoetida
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/3 cup water
4 dried red chillies, or to taste, crushed
1/2 cup melted ghee or olive oil

Rinse the dal thoroughly under cold running water, then place in a bowl and cover with water so that there are several inches of water above the dal. Soak for at least 3 hours or overnight, then drain and discard the soaking water.

Put the soaked dal in a food processor or blender and blend for a couple of minutes, stopping now and then to push the dal down with a spatula. Add the yogurt, coriander and fennel seeds, salt, asafoetida and turmeric and blend for another minute. If necessary, add enough water to make the batter thickish, like a lightly whipped cream. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the crushed chillies.

Preheat a 10-inch frying pan or cast-iron pan over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle a few drops of water on the pan to test the temperature — if it is just right, the drops will dance and sputter before vanishing. If the drops vanish right away, turn down the temperature slightly, or if the drops just sit on the surface before boiling, turn up the temperature slightly. Brush the surface with a light film of ghee or olive oil.

Scoop ¼ cup of the batter and place on the middle of the pan. Wait a few seconds, then place the bottom of a ladle or large spoon in the centre of the batter and spread it outwards in a continuous spiral, pressing lightly, until you have a thin round or oval pancake about 8 inches in diameter. Cook for 1 minute, then drizzle a teaspoon of the ghee or olive oil over the surface and around the edges of the pancake.

Cover the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until small holes appear on the top of the batter and the bottom is golden to reddish-brown. Loosen the edges with a spatula and turn the pancake over. Fry, uncovered, for another minute or so, then flip over once again, fold the pancake in half and slip it out of the pan on to a warming plate or into an oven preheated to 150° while you repeat the process. Repeat the water sprinkling to test the temperature and brush the pan with more ghee or oil before adding each ¼ cup of batter. Makes 9 or 10 pancakes.

Serve hot, or store wrapped in aluminum foil and reheated in a 350° oven.