Besan Chillaબેસનનો ચીલ્લા
A ten-minute pancake of gram flour, onion and tomato. Nothing to soak, nothing to grind, which is why it is the emergency breakfast in most homes.
Ingredients
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- 1 cup gram flour (besan)
- 1 onion and 1 tomato, finely chopped
- 2 green chillies and coriander
- ½ tsp turmeric, a pinch of carom seeds, salt
- ¾ cup water
- Oil for the pan
Method
- Whisk the gram flour, spices and water into a smooth, thin batter and rest it 5 minutes.
- Stir in the onion, tomato, chillies and coriander.
- Spread a round of batter on a hot tawa.
- Drizzle oil at the edges and cook both sides until golden.
- Serve hot with chutney or yoghurt.
Tips
- Resting the batter for five minutes makes a softer chilla.
- A little grated cheese on top wins over children.
Storing and reheating
Chilla are a straight-from-the-tawa food. Within ten minutes the trapped steam softens the edges. If you cannot serve them at once, spread them out on a plate rather than stacking them. They keep one day in an airtight box in the fridge and reheat on a tawa with a little oil on both sides. Do not save leftover batter: the onion and tomato leach water into it and it turns thin and sour.
What you can swap
- Two tablespoons of fine semolina in the flour gives crisp edges. If you add it, rest the batter ten minutes, because semolina keeps drinking water.
- No onion, or avoiding it? Use grated cabbage, bottle gourd or finely chopped methi leaves instead. Cabbage and bottle gourd release water, so start with a quarter cup less water in the batter.
- No carom seeds? A pinch of roasted cumin powder works. The aroma is different, but both take the heaviness off the gram flour.
- To cut the heat, swap a chilli for a quarter teaspoon of red chilli powder, but mix it into the batter. Sprinkled on the hot tawa it scorches and turns bitter.
What to serve with it
A breakfast dish, or something to make with evening tea. At home it comes with green chutney or a bowl of thick curd; in a child's tiffin it goes with tomato ketchup. Two chilla and a bowl of curd also make a perfectly good light dinner.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not get the tawa smoking hot. The batter sets the instant it lands and you cannot spread it. Medium heat is what you want.
- Thick batter gives a thick chilla that stays raw in the middle. It should run off the spoon, roughly the consistency of dosa batter.
- Do not flip until the first side is properly golden. Turned early, the chilla sticks to the pan and tears.
- Do not let the batter sit for half an hour after the onion and tomato go in. They release water, the batter slackens and the chilla break on the tawa. Stir them in shortly before cooking.
Questions people ask
My chilla stick to the pan. What is wrong?
Either the tawa is not hot enough or it has no film of oil. On an iron tawa, rub a slice of onion dipped in oil over the surface first, then pour the batter. On non-stick, spread the batter first and only then drizzle oil at the edges.
Why are my chilla not crisp?
Spread them thinner and keep the heat at medium-high. Too much water in the batter and they stay soft no matter how long you cook them. Two tablespoons of semolina or rice flour will crisp the edges. Add the oil around the rim, not in the middle.
Can I make the batter the night before?
You can refrigerate the plain flour, spice and water batter overnight. Add the onion, tomato and coriander in the morning. It will have thickened, so whisk in two or three tablespoons of water before using it.
