I like food items prepared with gram flour. Golden yellow colored flour not only tastes mildly sweet, it’s also gluten free and famously known for its anti-diabetic properties.
Other Bharatiya names for gram flour are – Besan (in Hindi), Sanaga Pindi (in Telugu) and Kadalai Maavu (in Tamil).
After bajjis and pakoras, my next favorite item with besan is dosas. Besan Dosa is a traditional Indian breakfast and evening snack item, prepared by mixing gram flour with a variety of finely chopped vegetables. The dosas are usually served with chutney and raita. They are quite easy to prepare and we can experiment with ingredient quantities quite liberally without any dire consequences.
Recipe:
For about 8 to 10 small size dosas
2 cups of gram flour (besan)
1 big onion, 6 green chillies, few sprigs of cilantro – finely chopped
1 big carrot – finely grated
1 tsp of each – cumin and ajwan (vaamu/carom seeds)
½ tsp of salt or to taste
Sift gram flour to aerate and to remove lumps. Take in a big vessel. First add cumin, ajwan, and salt. Mix to combine. Next, add the finely chopped vegetables. By gradually adding water, about 1 to 2 cups, mix and prepare besan batter to a medium-thick pouring consistency, like idly batter.
Heat an iron dosa pan and grease it with half-cut whole onion. When the pan is hot, pour ladleful of batter and spread into thin round. Sprinkle half teaspoon of oil or ghee on the top. Wait for bubbles to appear. When the underside starts to brown, gently lift and turn to other side. Cook the dosa until the second side is lightly browned. Remove and serve hot with chutney. (They are not that good when they get cold, so prepare them just before mealtime.)
Besan Dosas, Red Bell Pepper Chutney with Coriander Flower Garnish ~ Our Simple Lunch Today
More About Besan Dosa:
Video blogging of Puda by Jay Dave and Sisters (entertaining)
Kay’s Besan Cheela
Italian Version-Socca from Tasty Bytes
Yay! I am first to comment. 🙂
Indira, those are lovely looking chilas. And I love the coriander flowers on top. Cutie cute! Btw, thank you so much for the link to Jay Dave’s site. I saw one of the videos and it really was entertaining. Thanks for sharing this with us. And yes, dosas with besan have addictive properties. 🙂
Comment by Vaishali — June 19, 2006 @ 4:12 pm
Vaishali::). Is it Cheela or chila? What is the correct spelling?
Don’t you love that Jay Dave’ site.:) I have also bookmarked to try some other recipes from that site. Homely and the video direction by sisters is entertaining. Sort of like watching home videos.
Comment by Indira — June 19, 2006 @ 4:23 pm
Hi Indira: Great recipe..great link to Jaydev’s video..Red Bell Pepper chutney recipe please:)
Comment by Janani — June 19, 2006 @ 4:31 pm
Isn’t that link entertaining? My next recipe to try from Jay Dave is “Mung and Chori Powerhouse curry”.
Tomorrow, I promise.:)
Comment by Indira — June 19, 2006 @ 4:42 pm
Nice website,Indira.I liked the mung and chori power house curry and gujrathi sambar too.
Thanks for sharing.
Vineela
Comment by vineela krishna — June 19, 2006 @ 5:19 pm
Thanks for the link. Red bellpepper chutney looks really nice.
Comment by krithika — June 19, 2006 @ 6:11 pm
When I make these besan chilas they taste bitter. How to remove this bitterness ?
Comment by Babita — June 19, 2006 @ 6:21 pm
Can’t wait to try this out for the kids’ breakfast soon! Bookmarked that JD site to read through as well– great video. Next will have to be a demonstration from your kitchen! 😉
Comment by Linda — June 19, 2006 @ 7:18 pm
Hi Indira,
I never made dosa just with the besan. But will definetly try making it for my toddler. I would like to ask premission to add your blog name to my new blog http://ruchii.wordpress.com/.
Thanks
Indira replies:
Thanks for asking Madhu, and welcome to food blogworld. Looking forward to your recipes.
Comment by Madhu — June 19, 2006 @ 7:46 pm
When I saw it on Kay’s blog, I wanted to try it. Couldn’t do it until now. I have never tasted this. Now your pictures, and the video……I am gonna try it tomorrow for sure!
Comment by RP — June 19, 2006 @ 7:54 pm
Hi Indira
Try it with finely chopped onions, cilanto, chopped green chillies with these dosas – Thats our substitute for pagoda taste ( On our low fat diet )
Alternatively topped with corn its just amazing and sweet.
Nice fotos as usual. Great !!!
Comment by Revathi — June 19, 2006 @ 9:16 pm
Hi Indira,
You have a nice blog. Interesting recipe. The chutney looks lipsmacking.
Tried ur mango-coconut-rice. Simply yummy!!!
One of my telgu friend mentioned a curry(or rather a relish) made with lotsof garlic flakes, shallots, tamarind pulp and pepper? Do u know it? Could u pls post the recipe ( and do I have to mention pic ;-))
-Tisha.
Comment by Anonymous — June 19, 2006 @ 10:03 pm
Hello from France,
I found gram flour at my “exotic” grocery shop some time ago..I bought it (mainly because the packing was cute , I am affraid ) and now I found your blog so I will try it as soon as today’s lunch , your photos are so tempting!
Comment by mamapasta — June 20, 2006 @ 1:03 am
I too love besan dosas Indira!i have eaten it once and it tastes almost like pakoda.I have to try this soon Indira!
Comment by Sumitha — June 20, 2006 @ 4:15 am
Hi Indira
the pics asusual are awesome…I r’ber an old cookery book that belongs to my grandmother(it was her handwritten recipes from a cookery class 35 yrs ago..so says my mother)the first page contains the recipe titled Vegetable Omlette, aka gram flour dosa.
Today i could picture a long forgotten cookery class 35 yrs ago (in sepia mode)…thanks to your fantastic photo of the besan dosa.
Wonderful…as always.
rgds
swarna
PS: can u post the recipe for red bell pepper chutney
Comment by Swarna — June 20, 2006 @ 6:54 am
It seems that you are following a good-carb diet. Correct me if I am wrong. I am glad I came across this blog. I love it!
Comment by Rajalekshmy — June 20, 2006 @ 11:31 pm
Hi Indira
Made besan dosa for tea time and aloo pulusu for dinner, turned out yummy!!!
Thanks a bunch!
Menaka
Comment by Menaka — June 21, 2006 @ 12:59 am
Oh, I love Besan Dosas! Your look magnificently yummy!…
Comment by Rosa — June 21, 2006 @ 4:58 am
yes this dosa is very tasty. if u mix 1part besan and 1part rice flour, the dosas turn out paper thin and crispy like urad dosa.
Comment by rekha — June 22, 2006 @ 11:17 am
Thanks for posting this! I really wanted to make dosa but I did not have time and you just happened to post this in time. 🙂 My husband had never seen these before, but we both liked them a lot! These are nice and quick to prepare also. Thanks!
Comment by Amy — June 22, 2006 @ 4:09 pm
Hi Indira,
Today I prepared besan dosa.It came out very well.My husbend liked it.Soon I am gonna try your bell pepper pickle..Thanks for sharing the recipe.And your Jfi event is superb,i am regular visitor to your site.Looking forward to your beautiful and breath taking recipes.
Thank you.
Laxmi.
Comment by laxmi — June 28, 2006 @ 8:15 pm
[…] Indira’s Gram Flour Dosa, Ashiwni’s Moong Dal chilla, Kay’s Besan Cheela […]
Pingback by Sugar and Spices » Archives » Besan Ka Cheela — October 19, 2006 @ 1:09 pm
Thank you so much for posting this recipe! My toddler is allergic to wheat and eggs, and it has been challenging to find new foods for her to eat. She like to try new things and I have been trying to prepare some simple Indian dishes for her. I bought some dosa mix at an Indian market recently, and she enjoyed those but these are so much better! She ate one for dinner and when I asked if she liked it she leaned across her highchair and gave me a big kiss. Thanks again!
Indira replies:
Hi Ariel: Looks like your daugher is an adorable little darling. How sweet!
Glad to hear that you tried and liked this recipe and thanks for letting me know. I really appreciate it! Besan cheela is also one of my favorite dosa recipes.
Comment by Ariel — January 8, 2007 @ 4:31 pm
really admire your photography skills and patience …plus your wonderful recipes… if you are married your hubby is lucky ..
Comment by asha — June 28, 2007 @ 6:39 pm
Since i have not yet tried this besan dosa the pics inspiring me to make it as soon as possible
Comment by vijayalakshmi — July 23, 2007 @ 4:21 pm
We had these for dinner on Saturday night — delicious! Thank you for such clear and easy to follow instructions.
Comment by Erin — January 2, 2008 @ 3:43 pm
Being in Japan and being a bachelor I wanted to have something different and simple to prepare. I tried it today. It came out pretty gud. Thanks.
Comment by Vijay — January 19, 2008 @ 5:00 am
Thank you for informing me of this website. I absolutely love Indian Food,my mouth waters even more so than when I smell the aromas of my own food(spain).The photography is absolutely lovely and i will finally be able to try your recipe for roasted red pepper chutney to accompany my dosai Masala. thank you.
Comment by Isabella — June 26, 2008 @ 4:06 pm
Hi,
Besan Dosa is my favourite breakfast. This is named as Veg-amlet in my home. My family members loves it more. After it we love pesarattu (Moong dal dosa).
Comment by P.Raghu Kumar — June 22, 2009 @ 7:12 am