A yummy, crispy-around-the-edges moong chilla packed with veggies! Make this savory Indian style lentil pancake with sprouted mung beans for an extra nutrition bump. This is a great recipe to serve for a delicious Indian breakfast or for a light lunch or dinner.
You might also enjoy these recipes for besan chilla and moonglet.
This sprouted moong chilla is a healthy vegan Indian pancake made with sprouted green mung beans, also called whole moong.
It takes barely minutes to put this moong chilla together, other than a day and a half required to sprout the beans, which I am not counting because it is hands-off time. The result is a rewarding, healthy breakfast or light lunch/dinner you are certain to enjoy and make over and over.
You can make this chilla recipe with plain moong dal, which are small yellow lentils, and I will include instructions for it. But sprouting the beans is so easy and you don't need any special equipment--I do it with a colander and a bowl. And moong beans sprout so easily, requiring less than two days in a temperate winter kitchen. In case you've never sprouted beans before, I will show you how to do that as well.
Sprouting breaks down the amino acids in beans, making their protein content more available to the body. It also reduces the carbohydrate content of beans because the bean uses up a good amount of energy to sprout. Sprouting increases the Vitamin B and Vitamin C content of beans, and what's more, sprouted beans are far more easily digested by the body than the unsprouted legume. Sprouted beans are a healthy food for diabetics as well. And they are a cook's friend because they cook faster.
Sprouting is so easy, even a kid could do it. In fact, if you have kids, this is a fun project to do with them.
Table of Contents
Why you'll love this recipe
- Delicious. The chilla is savory and slightly spicy and hot off the griddle it tastes absolutely amazing, especially when dunked into a coconut chutney.
- Healthy. Sprouts are among the healthiest foods you can eat. I added to this recipe grated carrots and radishes. You can add veggies of your choice (use quick-cooking veggies like cabbage, bell peppers, zucchini and leafy greens). Kids will barely notice they are there as they wolf the chillas down. If you follow an ayurvedic diet, you already know that sprouted moong beans are tridoshic, meaning they are helpful for balancing all three doshas, vata, pitta, and kapha. These are also fantastically low-carb, so if you eat a low-carb diet you can enjoy these chillas as well.
- Allergy friendly. The chilla is vegan, gluten-free, soy-free and nut-free. And, like I said, it is also low-carb and immensely kid friendly.
- Easy recipe. You don't need much skill to make a chilla other than an ability to blend, grate a few veggies and pour the batter into a hot skillet or griddle. If you know how to make a pancake you can make a chilla.
How to sprout mung beans
- You will need the whole mung bean--the one with a green skin -- for sprouting. Don't use the split lentils. Pick over the beans for any impurities like little pebbles or visibly spoilt beans. Place the beans in a colander and wash them thoroughly in a few changes of water.
- Place the washed beans in a bowl large enough to hold them and twice their volume in water. Immerse the beans completely in room-temperature water, top off by three or four inches more, and then let them sit overnight or for eight hours. By this time they will have soaked in a lot of water and will have almost doubled in volume.
- Pour the soaked beans in the colander and let the water drain out. Now cover the colander with a kitchen towel (I keep the colander over the bowl to catch any drips) and place on your kitchen counter or anywhere in the house where it's comfortably warm but not in direct sunlight.
- After 12 hours or shake them around in the colander, hands-free if possible or delicately so as to not break any tender sprouts, rinse them off, and cover again with the towel and set aside. You might need to do this one more time after 12 more hours have passed. The mung bean sprouts should be ready in a day or, at best, two days. You don't need the sprouts to be super long --you just want tiny white sprouts that are a couple of millimeters.
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Ingredients
- 1 cup whole moong beans. Sprout the beans per directions above or, if you are an experienced sprouter, use any method you desire. To make moong dal chillas with mung lentils use 1 cup moong dal and soak for 8 hours.
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste. If you don't have ginger garlic paste chop four cloves of garlic and a one-inch piece of ginger and add to the blender.
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1-2 green chilli peppers, like serrano or jalapeno. Deseed or use only one or half pepper if sensitive to heat or making this for kids. You can even skip the chili peppers entirely and use a dash of black pepper instead.
- 2 tablespoons rice flour. This is not absolutely necessary but it helps make the chillas extra crispy so use it if you can.
- 2 tablespoons cilantro (coriander leaves). You can use more or less. I love cilantro here and use nearly ¼ cup.
- Vegetables: 1 large carrot and 6 small radishes. If using a daikon radish just ½ grated cup. See tips below on other veggies you can use here. Always chop the veggies fine or grate them for best results and to keep the batter spreadable.
- Salt to taste
- Vegetable oil or cooking spray
Other vegetables you can add to chilla
- Bell peppers (capsicum, any color)
- Spring onions
- Spinach or any leafy greens
- Zucchini
- Mushrooms
- Corn kernels
- Beetroot (and/or finely chopped beet greens)
How to make moong chilla
- Sprout the beans or, if using moong dal or lentils soak the lentils overnight or for 8 hours.
- Place the beans or lentils, all water drained out, in a blender with the ginger garlic paste, green chili peppers, turmeric and salt. Add ¾th cup of water and blend or grind into a very smooth batter. You can add ¼th cup more water if needed--the batter should be fairly runny, thicker than a crepe batter but thinner than a pancake batter. The veggies will also express some water into the batter, so keep that in mind.
- Place the batter in a bowl and stir in the rice flour.
- Next stir in the grated carrot and radishes or whatever veggies you are using, and finally add the cilantro. Taste and add more salt if you want at this time.
- Set the batter aside for 30 minutes. This will allow some time for the veggies to express any liquid into the batter.
- Heat a cast iron or non stick griddle and brush on some oil or cooking spray.
- Use a heat-proof ladle to pour approximately ½ cup batter on the ladle. I pour about ¼ cup first, spread it around with the rounded bottom of the ladle, then add the remaining ¼ cup to shape the chilla into a circle as best as I can. You want the chilla to be fairly thin but it doesn't have to be perfectly round. If it is really hard to spread the batter on the hot griddle you might need to add more water to the batter to get the right consistency. A tip I want to share here is to make these smaller when you first make this recipe--this will make the process far easier and you will get better with practice.
- Let the chilla cook on the griddle about two to three minutes over medium heat or until the bottom is golden and the edges are crispy. Flip over and cook for another minute or two.
Moong Chilla FAQs
Moong dal chillas are often touted as a weight loss food and they really can be a helpful aid in both a healthy or a weight-loss journey. The sprouted chilla is even better for you with just 99 calories in each pancake. There are also four grams of protein, three grams of fiber and just 10 grams of net carbs in one chilla. Use cooking spray instead of vegetable oil to coat the griddle and keep calories even lower.
The chilla is absolutely delicious served hot with coconut chutney.
You can also serve the chilla with an Indian lime pickle or a vegan raita.
Some kids love this with tomato ketchup. Or just eat the cheela by itself.
Make as many chillas as you need and store the batter in the fridge for up to three days, then make the chillas fresh whenever you want to eat them.
I don't recommend storing the chillas after making them, but you can do it. Just refrigerate them in a dish covered with cling wrap or a container for up to three days. Warm on a griddle before serving.
More Indian breakfast ideas
Recipe card
Sprouted Moong Chilla
Equipment
- 1 Colander (for sprouting beans)
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried mung beans (sprouted per directions above. For a moong dal cheela, made with mung lentils, you can soak the lentils for eight hours and use, no sprouting required)
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste (If you don't have ginger garlic paste chop four cloves of garlic and a one-inch piece of ginger and add to the blender instead of the paste)
- 1-2 green chillies
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 2 tablespoon rice flour (If low carb you can use tapioca flour or skip altogether)
- 2 tablespoon cilantro (finely chopped)
- 1 large carrot (grated using the side with the largest-size slots on your grater-- you don't want this to be too fine)
- 6 radishes (grated. If using a daikon radish use ½ cup of the grated radish)
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoon avocado oil or any neutral oil (or cooking spray, for coating the griddle or skillet)
Instructions
- Place the beans or lentils, all water drained out, in a blender with the ginger garlic paste, green chili peppers, turmeric and salt. Add ¾th cup of water and blend into a very smooth batter. You can add ¼th cup more water if needed--the batter should be fairly runny, thicker than a crepe batter but thinner than a pancake batter. The veggies will also express some water into the batter, so keep that in mind.
- Place the batter in a bowl and stir in the rice flour.
- Next stir in the veggies and finally add the cilantro. Taste and add more salt if you want at this time.
- Set the batter aside for 30 minutes. This will allow some time for the veggies to express any liquid into the batter.
- Heat a cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until water sprinkled on the surface skitters off and dries up immediately. Brush on some vegetable oil or spray with cooking spray.
- Use a heat-proof ladle to pour approximately ½ cup batter on the ladle. I pour about ¼ cup first, spread it around with the rounded bottom of the ladle, then add the remaining ¼ cup to shape the chilla into a circle as best as I can. You want the chilla to be fairly thin but it doesn't have to be perfectly round. If it is really hard to spread the batter on the hot griddle you might need to add more water to the batter.
- Let the chilla cook on the griddle about two to three minutes over medium heat or until the bottom is golden and the edges are crispy. Flip over and cook for another minute or two.
Nutrition Information
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Gayatri
I am so glad you suggested that the sprouts not be too long because past 48 hours the amount of vitamin B12 that vegetarian food needs so badly starts to reduce in the sprouts. I never sprouted for more than 48 hours. Another version of this recipe that I had seen before uses chickpea flower instead of rice flour. This makes the chilla hold together really well but the crispiness is compromised. This recipe works with almost any kind of whole bean including Pinto and Black Eyed Peas.
Ann
This recipe didn't work for me, although it's entirely my fault. I sprouted my mung beans for way too long I think. I used some I had sprouted for about a week. I wasn't sure what to do with them and tried this recipe but it didn't work at all. Just a heads up in case anyone else is thinking of using mung bean sprouts instead of sprouted mung beans.
Vaishali
Hi Ann, beans sprouted for too long will have too much liquid in them and that won't work for this recipe.
Stevie
Thank you for the recipe!
Dido
Vaishali: Thank you for posting the recipe on the sprouts. A question ... quantity-wise, how much does 1 cup of mung beans increase to when sprouted? Thanks, Dido.
Vaishali
Hi Dido, I'd say about three cups, approximately.
Chandrashekhar
Are you sure 1 chilla has 61kcal??
Vaishali
I use an online calculator so there's no way for me to be 100 percent sure, you can do the same by plugging in the ingredients if you'd like to verify.
Pramilla Karnad
I've been making sprouted moong chillas for a long time. A real nutritious breakfast . Thank ufor the tip about adding chopped veggies. I normally add only onions & coriander leaves. Am making them today. !
Taranjeet Kaur
Hi....can I avoid rice flour??
Ananda
Yes. Sub with more chickpea flour. It will be less crispy
Trisha
How long do the sprouted mung last in the fridge?
Chitra
I have for upto 4 days without losing any of its goodness
Alpa Jani
Lovely recipe. I tried sprouted moong Chilla and it tastes so yummy! Many blessings to you for sharing a very healthy recipe. Love.
Vaishali
So happy you liked it, Alpa!
Veronica
Hi Vaishali
Thanks for the recipe. It's a big hit in my family. Love the write up before the recipe too!
Cheers.
Priyanka
Hi.
Can I make the batter the night before ?
And then leave it in the fridge and use the next morning?
Thx.
Vaishali
Yes!
madhu
Hi Vaishali
Do we have to pressure cook the sprouted moong before using it for making the chilla dough?
Cheers
Madhu
Vaishali
Hi Madhu, no need to pressure-cook. Use the sprouts raw.
Ginni
Delicious..I m fond of making chillas..Thanku. Please clarify one thing I have heard cooking sprouts robs them off of most of the nutrition.
Fareeda
We made this chilla over the week-end, and it was absolutely delicious. We didn't have rice flour on hand, so used cornmeal instead. We ate it with coriander chutney on the side. We will definitely make this again.
Thanks.