Indian breakfast’s tend be an elaborate affair that include a staggering variety of preparations. Quite honestly there really isn’t one standard fare, given the fact that there are several regional fares with each contributing to an array of hearty and scrumptious breakfast ideas. Each of these portray an incredible cultural diversity seen via food habits followed by different regions.
For instance Northern Indian breakfast would have a variety of Parathas,Aloo puri, Poha,Chole bhature,Paneer toast etc where as Dosa’s, Idli, Wadas and Upma’s form an integral part of mainstay breakfast options in the southern parts of India.
Having lived a large part of my childhood in Mumbai and raised by parents of Hindu- Catholic decent, our food habits seem to have nuances that have a bit of both sides incorporated into our lifestyles. Having now lived away from India for over two and a half decades, my palette often craves for flavours that I grew up with and my Canadian kitchen here in Toronto recreates several recipes that are deeply rooted in our culture.
So often enough, when I’m craving some comfort food that brings back memories of my childhood breakfast which my mom diligently cooked for us, I’m reminded of this recipe for a “Chilla”.This is essentially a savoury pancake most often made with either Gram flour (Besan), Green Moong Flour or even the Yellow Moong flour as I have have recreated in this recipe. All these varieties of flours are easily available at most Indian groceries here in Toronto and some select stores of Loblaws, Freshco and No Frills too seem to stock them in the International food isle sections.
Most mornings breakfast is a hurried ritual with coffee, fresh fruits and toast sufficing. However on weekends,I enjoy making up something more elaborate that the family can enjoy! Last weekend I decided to make up some Chilla’s and used some of the Scotch Bonnet peppers too! Mind you they are quite fiery and not for the faint hearted. We quite enjoyed the heat of the peppers and the family relished these wonderful savoury pancakes.I served these with some yogurt and a coriander chutney, however a nice Tangy Onion Chutney would work really well too.
Recently a dear friend sent across some wonderful fresh produce from her kitchen garden that included a variety of Jalapeno peppers, Scotch Bonnet Peppers, Chilies and Beefsteak Tomatoes. She had cultivated these during the summer and had large varieties of each of these to giveaway. Lucky me to receive homegrown fresh produce!
This is an absolutely healthy and nutritious breakfast made with minimal ingredients and a great way to incorporate some vegetables too.The tomatoes and a very small portion of the fiery scotch bonnet peppers were added to the batter for the Chilla (savoury pancake). You may omit the chili entirely if you like and perhaps even substitute this with finely chopped bell peppers, zucchini or grated carrots.
Recipe as follows: (Makes 4-5 Small Chilla’s)
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Yellow Mung Flour
- 3/4 th Cup water (enough to make a batter)
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground turmeric or powder
- 1 small carrot (grated)
- 1 small tomato (finely chopped)
- 2 tablespoons Coriander (chopped finely)
- 1 small scotch bonnet pepper (optional)
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying
Directions:
- Add the flour to a small mixing bowl and mix with water to form a batter similar to pancake batter.
- Next add in the grated carrots, chopped coriander, and finely chopped scotch bonnet pepper.
- Season with salt.
- Heat a small pan and drizzle some oil onto the pan.
- Now spread some of the batter into the pan.
- Cover with a lid till some bubbles appear.
- Turn over and cook till both sides are browned.
- Serve hot with yogurt and coriander chutney.
Cookingwithshy 
mmm . . . I never would have thought of making savory pancakes. They look wonderful.
Thanks Sheryl…yes these turn out really well:))
I haven’t tried lentils in pancakes! They sound so tasty! Thank you so much for bringing to this week’s Fiesta Friday party!
Very welcome Jhuls…happy to have discovered Fiesta Friday! I hope you try these savory pancakes sometime!
These sound delicious with the hot peppers!
Thanks Irene..yes indeed the peppers added some extra heat to these savory pancakes;))
These look fantastic! I will have to scout around to see where I could find yellow mung flour in Calgary!
Thanks very much Wanda..You could even use chickpea flour instead of the yellow mung flour if you like. Thanks for stopping by and great to connect via our blogs:))
So delicious
Thanks Tina…yes delicious and so easy right?
Absolutely, I love easy recipes
Absolutely!!! we too!
😍
This sounds abdolutely delicious, especially with the peppers! I haven’t tried chillas made with mung dal, gonna give it a try!
Hey sure please do give it a try. It’s yellow mung flour available at the indian groceries alternatively you could substitute with chickpea flour as well. Thanks for stopping by:))
Yum! I love new ways to use lentils. 🙂 And my mom used to cook us breakfast in the mornings before school too. Such wonderful memories!
Thanks Sharon…Yes and whats better than to discover lrntil flour’s that are so versatile! Mom’s are the best right!
We’ve been eating a LOT more lentils and pulses in our house over the last year, and I’m always happy to make a batch of dal, but I have to say my breakfast-carb-loving self is particularly excited about these. They seem like they’d be wonderfully versatile too, and easy to adapt to different tastes and additions. Cheers!
That’s wonderful Sean..Lentils and pulses add variety to a meal! These are infact available as Lentil flour (yellow mung flour) in some of the indian stores in Toronto…I do hope you will make these sometime…
I absolutely love chillas and you have made this look easy. So good and nutritious. I have tried fermenting the dough overnight and it really added to the flavor.
yes Zeba its our fav too! Great idea to ferment the dough, will try this out next time i make these chilla’s.
These pancakes look perfect. Crispy yet fluffy. Amazing!
Thanks Michelle! Yes the mung flour batter works great in these savory pancakes!
I need to find this flour! Saving this recipe!
Hey sure do ry and look for this in the India store’s of your neighbourhood or in the international isles of supermarkets or alternatively you may use gram flour (called besan)
This looks absolutely delicious. I am literally drooling on this. Beautiful post Shy 😍
Hey Yes..its my fav recipe too for meatless mondays!!