Oats Chilla is a healthy, vegan, gluten-free Indian breakfast recipe. It has moong dal, oats, vegetables, and all kinds of good nutrients required to start your day. Be sure to watch the video!
Planning everyday breakfast for a family of fussy eaters is not an easy task. It requires quite a thought process to think of innovative breakfast ideas continuously.
The indulgent Indian breakfast recipes are the things of the weekend. For busy weekdays, meal-prep-friendly breakfast recipes like oats moong dal chilla are on my list.
For those new to the dish, ‘chilla’ or ‘cheela’ is the Indian term for savory, egg-free pancakes or crepes. There are a variety of chilla recipes. Like besan chilla, dal cheela, and so on.
Oats Chilla not only adds variety to the breakfast table, but it is also easy on the digestive system, cooked with almost no – oil, and packed with wholesomeness.
Reasons To Love Oats Chilla
– healthy, wholesome, fulfilling
– gluten-free & vegan
– highly customizable
– meal-prep friendly
– easy to prepare
The Chilla Batter
This gluten-free oats chilla batter is made with two key ingredients:
Oats: I use quick breakfast oats for making the chilla batter.
Yellow Moong Dal: The yellow moong dal adds a protein quotient to the chilla and gives it a crisp texture.
This is a meal-prep-friendly batter. You can store it in the refrigerator for 2 – 3 days. Then, please bring it to room temperature before making the chilla.
Chilla Recipe Variations
You can customize dal cheela by adding spices, seasoning like garlic, ginger, fresh herbs, and add-on toppings such as grated cheese or chopped vegetables.
Or you can make dal cheela without oats with a delicious dosa-style potato stuffing.
My Tried & True Tips
Soaking moong dal is essential to make a smooth dal chilla batter.
Grind soaked moong dal to a smooth consistency. It should not be coarse or lumpy.
The chilla batter should be smooth and of spoon-dropping consistency (refer to recipe video). You will not get the perfect chilla if it is too thick or runny.
Always use a cast-iron skillet or a heavy bottom pan for making chilla. I swear by my cast iron skillet for making roti, dosa, or cheela.
It is very important to let chilla turn crisp from one side. Then, flip it to cook from the other side. Oats Chilla is not flipped again and again. Only twice (refer to recipe video). Once crisp from the base, flip and cook from the topping side.
While cooking, allow chilla to turn crisp from the bottom. Once it starts leaving the pan, then only flip it. Keep the stovetop flame from medium to high.
DO NOT try to remove oats chilla forcefully from the pan to flip. The chilla will break apart and would turn mushy.
Watch Chilla Video
Serving Suggestion
There are a variety of side dishes you can serve with oats chilla.
– mint raita or masala curd
– green chutney or pickle
– dipping sauce of your choice
More Healthy Oats Recipes
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Oats Chilla Recipe
- Grinder
- Tawa/Griddle
Ingredients
Ingredients For Batter:
- 1 Cup yellow moong dal
- ½ Cup instant oats or whole oats
- 1 teaspoon fenugreek (methi) seeds
- 1 green chilli
- 1 tablespoon roughly chopped ginger
- Salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin (jeera) powder
- ¼ Cup cooking oil
Ingredients For Topping:
- 1 Cup finely chopped onion
- 1 Cup finely chopped tomato
- ¼ Cup finely chopped coriander
Instructions
Prepare Batter:
- To prepare the Oats Moong Dal Chilla, first make powder of oats in mixer. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Wash and soak yellow moong dal and fenugreek seeds in water for 4 – 5 hours. After soaking, drain the water from the yellow moong dal.
- In the mixer, grind the soaked moong dal to a fine paste along with green chili, ginger using ¼ cup water. Make sure not to use more than ¼ Cup of water.
- In a mixing bowl combine together powdered oats, moong dal paste, spices, and salt. Whisk to make a smooth, lump-free batter. The batter will be similar to the consistency of a dosa batter or pancake batter.
Prepare Chilla (Pancake):
- Once batter is ready, heat a non stick pan over medium heat. Grease the pan with a teaspoon or so of cooking oil.
- Pour a ladle full of batter on the pan and spread it in a circular motion to form a pancake style chilla. Sprinkle chopped onion, tomato, coriander on the chilla.
- Drizzle little oil around the chilla, cook it until you notice the edges are getting brown and leaving the pan easily. Flip and cook on the other side for a few seconds
- Once Oats Moong Dal Chilla is crisp on both sides, transfer it to a plate and proceed to make the chillas with the remaining batter.
- Serve the Oats Moong Dal Chilla with green chutney/pickle for the wholesome breakfast or lunch.
Recipe Notes:
- Soaking moong dal is very essential to make a smooth dal chilla batter. Grind soaked moong dal to a smooth consistency.
- The pancake batter should be smooth and of spoon dropping consistency.
- Always use a cast-iron skillet or a heavy bottom pan for making chilla.
- It is very important to let chilla turn crisp from one side. Then, flip it to cook from the other side. Moong Dal Chilla is not flipped again and again.
- While cooking, allow dal chilla to turn crisp from the bottom. Once it starts leaving the pan, then only flip it. Keep the stovetop flame from medium to high.
- DO NOT try to remove dal chilla forcefully from the pan to flip. The chilla will break apart and would turn mushy.
- You can store the chilla batter in the refrigerator for 2 – 3 days. Bring it to room temperature before using.
Ratheesh Kumar says
What a concept madam. I could never think of oats in pancake. This is creativity at its best.
Hina says
Thanks Ratheesh, this is also a very healthy breakfast also
aishwarya says
I tried it today morning and it tasted really good. Great recipe ….absolutely loved it 🙂
pragati says
I love these..we make these a lot but generally with green moong daal or even mixed daal.. it is a great high fiber low carb alternative for vegetarians..
Pretty photos too, Hina!
Rupa says
For how long do we soak the moong dhal?
Hina Gujral says
You can soak moong dal for about 4 – 5 hours or so.
Hema says
Very healthy breakfast!
Hina Gujral says
Absolutely agree with you.
Nancy says
The recipe said to soak the Moong Dal for 5 hours. Then in the comments you answered to soak it for 15 minutes. Please explain! Thank you!
Hina Gujral says
Please follow the video and recipe instructions of soaking dal for 4 – 5 hours or overnight. Thanks!
Melissa says
These are flavourful and so easy to make! A new favourite recipe. 😊
Hina Gujral says
I am so glad you like it!