High-Protein Moong Dal Cheela (With Cottage Cheese Batter, Tofu & Veggies)

📋 Recipe at a Glance

• 🎯 Difficulty - Beginner-friendly
• ⏱ Time - 1 hour soak time, 10 minutes prep, 15 minutes cook time
• 🌿 Diet - Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, High-Protein
• 🫙 Equipment - Blender and cast iron or non-stick skillet or griddle
• 👨‍👩‍👧 Servings - 4 cheelas (serves 2-4 people)
• 💪 Protein - 18 g protein per cheela

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Growing up in India, cheela (pronounced "chee-lah") or poodah, as we called it, was a common breakfast. Thin, crispy, golden crepes of sorts made from either chickpea flour or a batter of soaked, ground lentils. Usually with some vegetables mixed in, these were served with cooling yogurt and mint cilantro green chutney. A fast, healthy, and comforting meal on a plate.

But here's what I didn't realize until much later: a traditional cheela is low in protein. The moong dal provides about 10g protein per serving, which is not enough to keep you full until lunch. That's when I started experimenting with cottage cheese and tofu.

This recipe honors the traditional cheela while meeting modern nutritional needs. It's what Indian home cooking is really about: taking what works, tweaking it thoughtfully, and serving it to people you love.

✨Why this recipe works?

A cheela is made with a batter made with soaked moong dal and water and cooking on a griddle until golden. It's naturally gluten-free, protein-rich, and cooked with minimal oil. I've loved it all my life.

But when you're trying to increase protein intake, you will have to eat multiple cheelas. This recipe changes that.

• The Moong Dal Base: Moong dal or yellow lentils contain about 12g protein per ¼ cup dry.
• The Cottage Cheese Addition: Cottage cheese is a protein powerhouse with about 14g protein per ½ cup. When blended into the moong dal batter, it dissolves seamlessly, without changing the characteristic crispy-tender texture; instead, it makes it creamier and more delicious.
• The Tofu and Veggies: Tofu (extra-firm) is nearly flavorless and has a texture that enhances the veggies. More importantly, it adds 5-7g protein per ounce along with the finely chopped veggies that add fiber and flavor.

📋Recipe Ingredients

For the Batter: Plan ahead since we need to soak the dal for at least 1 hour.

• Yellow Moong Dal - Why soak? Soaking makes the dal easier to blend and creates a fluffier, lighter batter.
• Cottage cheese - I used low-fat cottage cheese in this recipe. It makes the batter creamy and further boosts its protein content.
• Ginger and green chili - don't skip these as they add an aromatic, fresh taste to the cheela/crepe. I used Thai chilis, but you can use jalapeños or serranos for a milder spice.

For the topping/filling:

• Tofu: I used extra firm tofu for added protein and because it has great texture, is low in moisture, and grates beautifully. Pro tip: While your yellow moong dal soaks, you can press the tofu to remove any excess moisture. Use a tofu press or just wrap the tofu block in a clean kitchen towel and press it with something heavy that you have in your kitchen, like a mortar and pestle.
• Mixed vegetables: I have used carrot, zucchini, onion, ginger, and green chili. Use a vegetable chopper or a food processor to chop the veggies fine so that they still retain a crunch. A few pulses should do it.
• Fresh Cilantro: For a bright, herbaceous finish.

Don't forget to check out the recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients along with the quantities.

🍽️ Make It Your Own: Flavor Variations

While this moong dal-cottage cheese cheela with tofu and mixed veggies is my go-to, this base is incredibly versatile. You can switch the vegetables based on seasons and what is in the kitchen. Here are some of my favorite variations:

• Keep it plain: the moong dal cottage cheese batter makes a delicious cheela or savory crepe on its own. Sometimes I make a batch of batter, make it all into plain cheelas, and keep it in the refrigerator for a quick breakfast or snack. You can enjoy it with some galgal ka achar (or any other pickle), coconut chutney or even just rolled up with a cup of desi cappuccino or coffee.
• Swap tofu with paneer: if you cannot find tofu or do not like it, use the same amount of low-fat paneer. Use my homemade paneer recipe to make low-fat paneer by using low-fat (2%) milk instead of full-fat.
• Spice it up: Feel free to add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds to the batter before blending or any spice flavors like garam masala (my homemade garam masala is the best), chaat masala etc. after it is blended. You can also sprinkle chaat masala and/or garam masala after adding the veggies to the cheela (Step 6 below).

👩‍🍳Steps to make this recipe

Step 1: Wash & soak the moong dal until the water turns clear, then let it soak for an hour.

Step 2: Once soaked, discard the water & add the dal into a blender jar. Add cottage cheese, ginger, chili, and salt; grind it into a fine batter.

Step 3: Transfer it into a bowl & stir well to check the consistency; the batter should not be too thin.

Step 4: To make the tofu and veggie topping, add all the veggies to a chopper jar & chop them. Transfer the veggies to a bowl, then grate the tofu into it, followed by fresh chopped cilantro. Give it a mix, and the topping is ready.

Step 5: Set a cast-iron tawa (you can use a non-stick skillet as well) over high heat & let it heat up. Sprinkle water once it gets hot to check the temperature; the water should sizzle & evaporate in a few seconds. Spoon a little olive oil into the skillet, pour ¼ cup of batter, and spread it into a circle, as you would for a crepe or a dosa.

Step 6: Add the topping evenly on the surface, and press it gently with a spatula so that it sticks. Sprinkle salt, black pepper & olive oil on the top & cook covered with a lid over medium flame until the cheela becomes light golden brown from the bottom.

Step 7: Once the cheela is golden brown from the bottom, roll it, transfer it onto a chopping board & cut it into pieces. Pro tip: If you are using a non-stick skillet, you can also flip the cheela so that the veggies can soften a bit. This requires a little bit of skill, but can be done if you prefer.

Step 8: Repeat until all the batter is used up. Your delicious & healthy moong dal ka cheela with cottage cheese and tofu is ready; serve it with some mint cilantro chutney & sweet tamarind chutney.

🫙Storage, freezing, and reheating instructions

• Store the batter in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days after blending. When ready to make cheelas, take them out of the refrigerator and give them a good whisk before you start cooking with the batter.
• Cooked plain cheelas (without the tofu veggie topping) can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. Let the cooked cheelas cool, then stack them, wrap them in a piece of foil, and keep them in the refrigerator. When ready to eat, you can reheat them in a microwave or on a skillet.
• Store the leftover cheelas (with topping) wrapped in foil in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. When ready to eat, you can reheat them in a microwave or on a skillet.

💭What else can I make with these ingredients?

• Yellow Moong Dal: It is one of the easiest lentils to cook and you can make simple dal tadka, lentils with beet greens, and moong dal poori from my website. You could also swap red lentils with this yellow moong dal/lentils in any recipe like my instant pot red lentil carrot ginger soup, curried butternut squash red lentil soup, and lentil walnut hummus.
• Cottage Cheese: Is currently one of my favorite ingredients, and I make this avocado cottage cheese dip, cottage cheese egg bites for meal prep, and my savory cottage cheese breakfast bowl almost on repeat every week.
• Tofu: I love tofu for it's protein and the ability take up any flavor. If you have bought extra firm tofu for this moong dal cheela recipe and have some leftover, you can use it in my vegan tofu scramble, ginger miso ramen with crispy tofu, barbecue tofu hash, and chickpea tofu curry.