Soak the mung beans for at least 4 hours. You can also let it soak overnight. If the mung beans are split, 2 hours of soaking should be enough.

For the aloo masala, slice the potatoes in half and boil them until it’s fork tender. Peel the skin off and slice the potatoes into tiny bites. You could also just mash it up.

Place a pan at medium high heat and pour ½ tablespoon of oil. Sprinkle the mustard seeds, dry red chili and curry leaves. Allow it to splatter for a few seconds. Then, sprinkle the turmeric powder and mix it around. Drop the boiled potato (mashed or diced) along with the salt and mix it all around. Cook for 3 minutes, tossing and turning occasionally. Once done, take it off into a bowl to be used later while making the pesarattu.

After 4 hours, when the mung beans are hydrated and mildly puffed, drain it off and put it into a blender along with salt, ginger, cumin seeds and spinach. Blend it to a smooth puree and add water as needed to get the right consistency, which is similar to that of dosa or pancakes. It should not be too runny like crepe.

Let the batter rest for 15 minutes.

When you are ready to prepare the pesarattu, place a large flat skillet on medium heat. When the pan starts to heat up, rub a little bit of ghee on the pan. If you add too much ghee or oil, it will be very difficult to spread the batter with the back of the ladle. So, just a tiny couple of drops is enough and then, rub the pan with that using a kitchen towel or pastry brush.

Ladle about ½ cup of batter in the center of the pan and immediately start spreading the batter in circular motion to cover as much pan as it can. Drizzle a little bit of oil or ghee on the top. If you using idly podi, sprinkle it on the top as well. It would take about 3 minutes for it to cook on one side. Take a spatula and try to release the edges. If it comes out easy, the bottom is cooked and you can flip the pesarattu to cook 2 more minutes on the other side.

Then, flip it back, spoon a little bit of the aloo masala and fold the pesarattu in half. Take it off the pan and serve immediately as the cold pesarattu loses its crisp texture.

Continue making rest of the pesarattu the same way!