A moonglet is an easy Indian style omelet made with moong lentils instead of eggs. You can whip it up in no time at all. It's healthy, tasty, and you can pack it with all the veggies your heart desires. Just one moonglet (the recipe makes six) has nine grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber!
You might also like these recipes for besan chilla, moong chilla and vegan omelet.
Were you to order a moonglet (a moong bean omelet) from one of India's street food vendors, they'd whip up an extraordinarily healthy slurry of moong beans and spices. Then, they'd add half a stick of butter to a pan, pour the moong bean slurry in, and fry it all up into a food so delicious, with crispy edges and a puff, airy texture, that you'd lick your fingers to stubs.
But one of the great things about cooking street food at home is, you can cut out the stuff you don't want (like that hunk of butter) and, with some ingenuity, still keep the dish extremely tasty.
Today, I want to share with you my moonglet recipe, which is not just tasty, not just healthy, but amazingly kid friendly as well.
Jay loves this moonglet so much, he'll often request it for breakfast. It's also an easy way to get your kids to eat lots of colorful, healthy veggies.
But don't just eat it for breakfast. It makes a great lunch or quick dinner as well.
Making a delicious moonglet at home
This recipe is pretty much a blank canvas. You add ingredients to the basic moong bean mixture to tweak it to your liking. That said, my recipe--the combination of ingredients I add here--is especially delicious and I've got a few tips and tricks to make sure this moonglet turns out as delicious as can be. So be sure to try it this way at least once.
You will need to do a small step of prep work for this recipe, which is soaking the mung lentils for at least half an hour. Longer is fine, you can do the soaking the night before you plan to cook. Soaking the lentils help blend them into a smoother mixture.
I like crispy edges on my moonglets, so I add a dash of brown rice to the lentils as they soak. The rice gives a nice crunch and adds more healthfulness. You don't need the rice, but I'd strongly recommend it.
I add a few ingredients to the blender when I whip up the moonglet batter--ginger, garlic and green chili peppers. You can add turmeric, although I don't much care for it in here.
A dash of baking soda gives the omelets a lovely, puffy and light texture, but if you don't want to use it, leave it out by all means.
You can add all sorts of veggies to the moonglet. I like bell peppers, onions, spring onions, shredded carrots, zucchini, shredded spinach, and herbs like cilantro and mint. Anything that doesn't take a ton of time to cook would work.
Try and use a cast iron skillet for this if possible, although a nonstick skillet works too. A cast iron skillet just gives those great, crispy edges that kids go gaga for.
Serve
You can eat it by itself, no need for anything on the side, although I'll admit I sometimes like eating my mung bean omelet with a green chutney. Jay loves it with hot sauce. Ketchup works perfectly fine too.
More delicious Indian breakfast recipes
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Recipe card
Moonglet Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup moong dal (use the split lentils without skin on. Soak for at least half an hour or as long as overnight.)
- 2 tablespoon brown rice (optional. White rice works too. Soak the rice with the dal)
- 1 teaspoon garlic (crushed or minced)
- 1 teaspoon ginger (minced)
- 2 green chili peppers (like jalapeno or serrano. Adjust up or down based on your tolerance for heat)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (optional)
- 1 cup mixed veggies (like minced onions, bell peppers, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms or shredded spinach. Tomato's great too.)
- 2 tablespoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Drain the lentils and rice, if using, then place them in the blender with the ginger, garlic, chili peppers, baking soda, if using, and salt to taste. Add water to blend into a smooth batter that's slightly runnier than a pancake batter would be but thicker than a crepe batter.
- Place the griddle on medium high heat and brush on or spray on enough oil to coat the bottom. I use a six-inch cast iron griddle which gives me perfectly sized moonglets, but you can make these any size you want.
- Pour in the batter to make a circle. If you use a six-inch pan, you can pick the griddle up carefully by the handle, using a mitt if you're using a cast iron pan, and swirl the batter around to ensure it spreads evenly (like you'd do for a crepe).
- Sprinkle on any veggies you want. I used onions, bell peppers and scallions this time.
- Let the moonglet cook until you can see the sides are dry and golden, about 2-3 minutes. Flip over and cook a couple more minutes. Serve hot.
Nutrition Information
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julie says
I can’t wait to try this recipe with the brown rice. I have made a similar recipe and added a couple tablespoons of quinoa flake. Thank you. Quick question, how well does this freeze for meal prep?
Vaishali says
Hi Julie, You can freeze the moonglet after making it, and it should taste just fine if you thaw and reheat it on a griddle or in the microwave. I would prefer freezing the batter, however, and making the moonglet right before eating, for the best texture.
Sabina says
I had split moong dal with skin so I used those. The batter was a bit think (I used almost 1 1/2 C of water). Anyway, my husband wanted just to try first and he ended up eating three out of 4 so ... That says a lot! 😀
Vaishali says
Happy you loved it. On your other question, urad dal would not have the right flavor for this recipe.
Sabina Carlozzo says
Hi! could the recipe work with urad dal as well?
Vaishali says
Urad dal wouldn’t have the same flavor — it can be bitter on its own.
Brad says
We discovered your recipe while searching for healthy vegetarian, soy free, and gluten free recipes. We've used many of your recipes and as for the Moonglet, we've tried different combinations of seasonings and veggies! We enjoy the creative process and versatility of this recipe very much. Thanks for your efforts to create healthy alternative recipes. This one has been placed in our breakfast, lunch, and / or dinner rotation!!
Vaishali says
Hi Brad, thanks for the message--so lovely to read, and happy you enjoyed the moonglet!
Susan says
I just made this for our breakfast, and WOW! This recipe is a keeper, and I will make it often! So delicious! I used mushroom, yellow Summer squash, spinach and tomato for the veggies.
Vaishali says
Awesome, so happy to hear!
Devon says
Hi, Vaishali - I've been a subscriber because I love Indian food, although I'm not vegan (or even vegetarian!). However, I recently developed an allergy to eggs, which required HUGE changes to my diet! One of the hardest things to figure out was a quick, easy replacement for the egg tacos I ate pretty much every day for breakfast. I found this recipe and it solved my problem. I've made it as written and it was amazing, but I've also left out the Indian seasonings and topped it with cheese and salsa, or mixed in chopped kimchee to make a Korean-style kimchee pancake. It's been a life-saver during a time when I had to make some difficult adjustments. Thank you for sharing it!
Vaishali says
Hi Devon, I am so thrilled to hear this. What a great idea to use other toppings...I love it!