Steamed Moong Dal Bhapiyas — soft, fluffy, and packed with protein, this is the ultimate Murshidabadi lunch for when you’re craving a filling and nutritious meal! Similar to idli, these Bhapiyas feature moong dal, peas, and cilantro for a flavorful, melt-in-your mouth meal!
I had this at my cousin’s place in Kolkata a few summers ago and I’ve been thinking about it ever since! I hadn’t gotten around to making it until recently, but truly this is such an undiscovered, yet gem of a recipe.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE STEAMED MOONG DAL BHAPIYAS:
Start by soaking your moong dal and blending it with ginger and green chili. Then, we’ll whip this vigorously to add in some air and make this so light and fluffy!
Next, we’ll fold in our peas, cilantro, salt, turmeric powder, and eno for an even softer texture. Mix this well and now it’s time to steam!
I used these cute banana leaf cutouts for steaming but you could also use an idli pan. Once ready, just look how beautiful they are!
To serve, you can’t miss topping these with a drizzle of desi ghee and a pinch of red chili powder. Traditionally, this is eaten with neebu ka achaar (lemon pickle), hari chutney (green chutney), garlic chutney or even some sugar if you want it sweet.
Trust me, this is such an undiscovered recipe but totally worth a try!
If you like this, please try my other recipes:
Steamed Moong Dal Bhapiyas — soft, fluffy, and packed with protein, this is the ultimate Murshidabadi lunch for when you’re craving a filling and nutritious meal! Similar to idli, these Bhapiyas feature moong dal, peas, and cilantro for a flavorful, melt-in-your mouth meal!
- 1 cup yellow moong dal (petite split yellow lentils)
- 2 green chilies , roughly chopped
- 1 inch ginger , roughly chopped
- ½ cup peas , boiled or frozen
- 3 tbsp cilantro , finely chopped
- ¼ tsp asafoetida powder (hing)
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- salt , to taste
- 1 tsp fruit salt (eno) or ½ tsp baking soda , divided in batches
- ghee , for garnish
- red chili powder , for garnish
- mint cilantro chutney
- garlic chutney
- powdered sugar
- lemon pickle (neebu ka achaar)
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Wash and soak moong dal for 4-6 hrs or overnight. Drain the water, add green chilies and ginger. Then grind it into a paste by adding 1 tbsp water at a time. Don't add too much water, as we want a thick batter.
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Transfer the batter into a bowl and whip the batter vigorously with an electric blender, hands or spatula till it becomes airy and fluffy. The color will become light, and your bhapiyas will turn out to be soft.
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Add in peas, cilantro, hing, turmeric powder and salt.
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Mix everything well and just before you are ready to steam, add fruit salt (eno) or baking soda and mix. If you are steaming in batches then divide the eno and add them to the batch just before steaming.
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Now, pour the batter in to greased Idli moulds or steamer (you can use greased banana leaves as a base), and steam for 15 minutes (5 mins on high flame and 10 mins on medium flame).
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Once done, apply ghee on top, sprinkle red chili powder, and serve it with lemon pickle (neebu ka achaar), powdered sugar, and cilantro chutney, and garlic chutney . Enjoy!
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If you want to make chutneys at home, see my recipes for: Green Chutney Trio (Mango-Guava-Amla) and Rajasthani Garlic Chutney.
Recipe Video
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