Pancakes,  snacks

Gluten Free Mung Bean Pancakes

On Monday I invented mung bean pancakes. I had ground mung beans to try out in my continuing grain free waffle experiment, but the flour was so soft and beautiful I decided to make pancakes instead. They weren’t quite what I was hoping for. Fantastic texture, but the taste just wasn’t pancakey enough. Too savory. So I turned to Google. Surely someone else has had the idea of making mung bean pancakes and did it better than I did.

I was right. Someone else had beat me to it. A whole country of someone elses. The Koreans. The next day I found out that I’d been outdone by an entire continent. They’re called Chillas in India and a similar recpipe made from black lentils is called Dosa in Sri Lanka. These savory, crispy, amazing pancakes are brought to you by the ingenuity of Asia.

These are very, very simple to make. The base pancake has only 3 ingredients. But they’re plan ahead pancakes. You need to soak the mung beans. If you’re planning on having them for dinner, just put them in a bowl and cover with water. They’ll soak while you go about your day. Then you just throw the ingredients in a blender and fry in oil. I used quite a bit of oil, about 1/4 inch deep in my non-stick pan.

This is the batter pouring out of the blender.

Gluten Free Mung Bean Pancakes

  • 1 cup mung beans soaked for 5 hours or overnight
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tsp salt
    1. Drain and rinse mung beans
    2. Place mung beans, water and salt in a blender, puree until smooth. Mixture will look like cake batter
    3. Heat 1/4 inch vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat until a small amount of batter sizzles
    4. Drop batter into the frying pan by large tablespoons, smooth slightly with back of spoon
    5. Cook until brown on one side, the edges will be set and the top almost full of bubbles
    6. Flip over and cook the other side until golden
    7. Serve hot
Cooked and crispy and delicious!!

Korean Variation

Add to batter

      • 1 cup Kimchi, drained, patted dry and chopped
      • 1 cup chopped green onions

Serve with gluten free soy sauce or Tamari as a dip.

Indian Variation

Add to batter

        • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
        • 1 diced tomato
        • 1 small diced onion
        • 2 tsp ground coriander seed

Serve with tamarind chutney or your favorite jar of chutney.

Hey Friend! I'm so glad you dropped by! I'm Jodi, I'm a wife, mom of four, homeschooler and world traveler. I've been gluten free for almost 20 years and I share tips and recipes especially for gluten free beginners on knowgluten.me