Moong Dal Chilla Stuffed with Paneer is a pancake or dosa made with ground moong dal batter stuffed with Paneer. This Cheela is a quick and healthy breakfast dish you can make that pairs well with any spicy chutney.
Moong Dal Cheela is similar to Andhra Pesarattu. The only difference between Pesarattu and Moong Dal Cheela is that we use Whole green Gram for Pesarattu and split yellow dal for Moong Dal Chilla. I added two spoons of besan and rice flour to make it very crispy.
Pesarattu is healthy as we don't normally add rice, however, we do soak the rice along with whole green gram sometimes.
When you talk about Cheelas, these are Indian Crepes made in different North Indian states, very much like the Lentil Dosas that get made in the South Indian States. They have different Cheelas like the Besan Cheela, Sooji Cheela, etc. In some states, Cheelas is also known as Puda or Pudla.
So while reading about these different dishes, I again felt how similar all the Indian State cuisines are in many of the dishes. However, I choose to make Moong Dal Cheela as the North Indian style all stuffed with paneer for the alphabet M, as I am doing A to Z Indian Breakfast Dishes this week.
These Cheelas can be served with green chutney, meetha chutney, or a spicy chutney as well. In south Pesarattu is served with Ginger Chutney though in my house we mostly make coconut chutney.
One difference though with both these batters is that Pesarattu is very filling and heavy, while Moong dal Cheela feels light. I have another version of Yellow Moong Dal Dosas made with different combinations.
So you can check out Oats Pesarattu, Traditional Pesarattu, Yellow Moong dal Pesarattu. While doing A to Z Dosas, I did a simpler version of Yellow Moong Dal Dosa.
On searching the net for various Moong dal cheela, I came across many versions that had paneer stuffed in it. I went ahead with a version I knew Konda will like. These cheelas are protein-rich and very nutritious. You can serve these for breakfast or dinner or even as a snack.
These roll-ups make a delicious snack for kids as they don't require fermentation. Pesarattu needs at least 3 to 4 hours of soaking. You only need to soak this dal for an hour or under before making the batter.
Traditionally Pesarattu is served with Rava Upma spread on it with a side dish of Ginger Chutney.
When I was checking out the different breakfast dishes that start with M, I came about Mushti Polo, Matar Ka Cheela, Madakasan. We don't prefer a sweet breakfast and didn't make Madakasan, though I was keen on making it.
Step By Step Pictures for making these Cheelas
Ingredients Used for making Moong Dal Chilla Stuffed with Paneer
Split Yellow Moong Dal is the main ingredient to make these Cheelas.
Moong Dal Cheelas is an easy no ferment dosa stuffed with fresh spicy paneer. This makes a wonderful snack dish as well.
Instead of the Besan, you can soak chana dal and grind it along with it. If you want, you can skip the rice flour as well.
Moong Dal Chilla Stuffed with Paneer
Ingredients
To be ground together
- 1 1/4 cups Split Yellow Moong Dal / Pesara Pappu
- 2 nos Green Chilies chopped
- 1 inch Ginger chopped
To be mixed with the batter
- 2 tbsp Besan / Gram Flour
- 2 tbsp Rice Flour
- A Pinch Asafoetida / Hing
- Salt to taste
- Cooking Oil for frying the cheelas
For the filling
- 1 cup Paneer fresh Indian Cottage Cheese crumbled
- 2 tbsp Coriander Leaves
- 2 nos Green Chilies
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash and soak moong dal for an hour. If you feel this time is not enough, you can soak in hot water. When ready to grind, drain the water and take the dal along with ginger, green chilies, salt. Add water and grind to a smooth batter.
- Transfer to a bowl add besan, rice flour, and mix well. Add water as required so that the consistency is on the thinner side.
- In a bowl, crumble the freshly made paneer along with finely chopped green chilies, coriander leaves. Mix well.
- Heat a tawa greased with oil, pour a ladleful of batter and spread to a thin dosa, sprinkle oil on it and simmer till done.
- Flip to the other side and cook for a few seconds.
- Flip again and spread a teaspoon of the paneer filling in the center and roll the dosa to completely cover it.
- Serve it hot with chutney of your choice.
This was part of the A to Z Indian Breakfast series I did, do check for the entire roundup of A to Z Indian Breakfast dishes.
If you are looking for different options for Indian Breakfast like pooris and feel adventurous about making it in alphabets, check out the entire collection of A to Z Indian Pooris.
sushma says
Chilla with stuffed paneer sounds delicious. Such a healthy and filling dish.
Rajani says
Paneer stuffing sounds so delicious, adds so much more to an already yummy dosa/cheela
Suma Gandlur says
My daughter is not a breakfast person even though I cook fresh breakfast everyday. I am thinking to tempt my paneer loving daughter to try these.