Cheela or Besan ka cheela is a popular brekfast in North India made from gramflour known as Besan . There are many variants in making cheela ,can be plain with just basic spices used for flavoring or we can add in some finely chopped veggies and make it a healthier version .
Cheela makes for a very filling breakfast and also a perfect lunch box option. Gramflour is certainly a magic ingredient which makes the recipe absolutely delicious and tasty . This morning it was raining and chilly making us want to indulge in something that would pep us up for the day and we dint want to have anything deep fried ,so that's how this healthy breakfast was made .
I generally make Tomato Omlettes which are a very popular Street food in Bombay, today this cheela was kind off fusion recipe where I used finely chopped Brussel Sprouts and spinach in the recipe. I used my mini uttapam pan to make bite sized cheelas just for fun and fancy sake but you can always use the regular dosa pan to make them . If you don't have Brussel sprouts you can also used finely chopped cabbage mixed to the batter.
Brussel sprouts belong to the cabbage family and very popular in western countries. Brussel sprouts are a good source of vit C and vit K . Exercise medical caution if you are on any kind of medication or blood thinners before using Brussel sprouts . Also,they have a slightly strong odor and turn rubbery when over cooked ,hence donot overcook and keep and eye while cooking
Preparation Time - 15 mins
Cooking Time - 20 mins
Complexity - simple
Serves - 3 to 4
Ingredients
2 cups gramflour/besan
2.5 cups water
2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp crushed ajwain /carom seeds
1 finely chopped green chilli
1/2 cup Brussel sprouts finely chopped
1/4 cup spinach finely chopped
Handful of corriander and mint finely chopped
Salt as needed
Finely grated ginger
Pinch of asafoetida
Oil to roast the cheelas
Method
- In a wide mixing bowl prepare a lump free batter using the gramflour.
- Add the red chilli powder, salt, asafoetida,ginger, crushed carom seeds, chopped Brussel Sprouts, spinach and the mint + corriander and mix well.
- Adjust salt and spices if needed and let the batter rest for 15 mins . The batter should be of pouring consistency like that of dosa batter.
- Heat the pan and pour the batter from center and slightly spread it outside. Keep it slightly thick and don't spread it too thin.
- Drizzle oil around the cheela and let it cook on medium flame . Gramflour takes a while to cook,so don't rush into flipping it over .
- Once the top side appears dry,carefully flip it over and cook the underside .
- Take it off the pan and serve it with tomato ketchup or green chutney. You can also grate some cheese or slather some butter when serving it to kids.
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