Showing newest posts with label Fenugreek Leaves. Show older posts
Showing newest posts with label Fenugreek Leaves. Show older posts

Thursday, 9 April 2009

Methi-Lilva-Nariyal Pulao: Bitter is Better!

methi-lilva-pulao1
Methi-Lilva-Nariyal Pulao

I can imagine most of you either rolling your eyes or twisting your nose when I say “Bitter is Better” :). Yes, bitter is definitely better when taken in moderation just like sweets!

According to Ayurveda, India's ancient science of life, health and longevity, there are six Rasas, or types of tastes. These six Rasas are Madhura (Sweet), Amla (Sour), Katu (Hot), Lavana (Salty), Tikta (Bitter) and Kashai (Astringent). This Rasa or taste applies not only to the perception of taste buds located in our tongue, but to the final reaction of food in the acid medium of stomach. The theory says, the taste in the mouth is called Svadu and the taste in the stomach is known as Paka. Although the wheat bread, classified under sweet, doesn’t actually tastes sweet in the mouth but its reaction in the stomach makes it sweet. Thus for good health and nutrition, we have to make sure that we balance our diet by giving equal importance for all six Rasas as needed.

Past few weeks I have almost avoided cooking foods that is bitter or astringent which is the required Rasas to balance K’s Pitta and Kapha dosahas. Its not that he hates bitter taste, in fact, he quite like it when taken in moderation. Bitter or Tikta Rasa decreases water retention and it is believed to help in taking away burning and itching sensations. But we should be careful as not to over do it as when taken in excess it can aggravate Vata and dehydrate our body. Similarly, astringent or Kashi Rasa purifies the blood but if taken in excess, it creates gas and constipation problem. So, it is important that we balance our diet but never over do it and create problems to our body! First, try to understand your Dosha and follow balanced diet in order to keep both your mind and body healthy.

Let’s explore the vegetables/fruits or ingredients that belong to Bitter and Astringent tastes. Bitter gourd, Japanese eggplants, fenugreek, green leafy vegetables, basil, turmeric, lettuce, aloe vera, jicama are the ingredients that come under bitter taste and apple, pomegranate (which may taste sour or sweet but in fact it is both astringent and bitter), pear, quiona, legumes, tofu, sprouts, beans, lentils etc belong to astringent taste. Surprised? :) Most of the ingredients that may taste sweet/sour/salty are in fact belongs to Kashi or Tikta Rasas. Now you know how easy it is to adopt your diet in order to balance your Doshas (Vata, Pitta and Kapha). Just a tsp of Fenugreek seeds in a pot of stew or curry or half a tsp of turmeric powder, which is considered as good antioxidant and blood purifier, is enough to get more of bitter balancing taste. It has be the simple and inexpensive health habit to increase your antioxidant intake. Try to include some of these ingredients in your daily diet as it is the most simple and inexpensive heath habit to increase your daily antioxidant intake and it will certainly be beneficial in long run!

When it comes to incorporating bitter or Tikta Rasa I usually go for green leafy vegetables. And Methi or fresh or dried Fenugreek leaves are my favourite! A tbsp of dried fenugreek leaves, which is also known as Kasuri Methi, is enough to jazz any bland or boring every day Dals. A bunch of fresh, green, mildly bitter fenugreek leaves are enough to awaken your taste buds. Recently I came across this delightful recipe of Methi-Nariyal Pulao at dear Indira’s Mahanandi.

Indira says,
Aromatic basmati rice, sweet homemade coconut milk and potent fresh fenugreek leaves - cooked together is a recipe that I have learnt from my mother and very much illustrates the ingenuity and wisdom of home cook. Nutritious, wholesome and a one-pot meal, give it a try.
I didn’t need another word and I tried it immediately. What a delightful meal it turned out be! I have replaced green peas with frozen pigeon peas and used canned Organic Coconut Milk in place of fresh homemade one. I have also added few more spices to our taste preference. This turned out to be one pleasant meal where mild bitter taste of fresh fenugreek was mellowed with sweet coconut milk, delicious pigeon peas and aromatic herbs. I served this delicious Methi-Lilva-Nariyal Pulao with spicy Aloo Methi (recipe to follow) and fresh vegetable salad. Thank you Indira for posting this fantastic recipe and we will be cooking this for our guests this weekend :)

methi-lilva-pulao2
Methi-Lilva-Nariyal Pulao

Photobucket Print This Recipe
Methi-Lilva-Nariyal Pulao (Fragrant Basmati rice cooked with fresh Fenugreek Leaves, fresh Pigeon Peas, Whole Spices and Coconut Milk)
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20-25 mins
Serves: 4-5
Recipe Inspiration: Mahanandi
Recipe Level: Basic/Beginner
Spice Level: Low
Serving Suggestion: With any curry of your choice

Ingredients:
2½ cups Basmati Rice, washed & soaked in water for 20 mins and drained
2 packed cups Fresh Fenugreek Leaves
1 cup Toor Lilva/Fresh Pigeon Peas (Original recipe uses Green Peas)
1 large Red Onion, roughly chopped or sliced
3-4 Green Chillies, slit (adjust acc to taste)
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
½ cup Coconut Milk, fresh/canned
1 inch Cinnamon Stick
4 Cloves, lightly crushed
4 green Cardamoms, bruised
2 Bay Leaves
5-8 Black Peppercorns, crushed
½ tbsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
2 tbsp Ghee (no Oil please!)
Few Cashews, roasted to golden in little Ghee
Salt to taste
methi-lilva-pulao4
From Left-Right: Coconut Milk, Pigeon Peas, Onions & Fresh Fenugreek Leaves

Method:
Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan (I usually use pressure cooker) and add whole spices (cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms, bay leaves & black peppers). Sauté it for a minute or two on low flames till you get the divine perfume of roasted spices in ghee.
Add cumin seeds and stir well. Once it starts to crackle, add onion, ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and sauté till onions turn translucent, about 2 mins. Mix in fresh fenugreek leaves and stir fry till the leaves starts to wilt, about 2 minutes.
Now you can either proceed to cook in thick bottomed vessel or pressure cooker or microwave oven. I usually cook rice in microwave or pressure cooker.
To cook in thick bottomed vessel, mix in rice and sauté for a minute or two till every grain is coated with ghee. Add lilva along with salt to taste and water (about 4½ cups). Cover the lid and simmer the heat and let it cook undisturbed for 20 minutes.
To cook in pressure cooker, mix in rice and sauté for a minute or two till every grain is coated with ghee. Add lilva along with salt to taste and water (about 4-4½ cups). Cover the lid, place the pressure cooker weight and reduce the heat to medium. Let it cook for 15-17 minutes or 2-3 whistles. Let the pressure cooker cool little and release the pressure completely before you open the lid.
To cook in microwave, transfer the contents from pan to microwave safe dish. To this add basmati rice, coconut milk, lilva and salt to taste. Next add water (about 4 cups should be enough) and mix well. Close the lid and cook it in microwave for 18-20 minutes. Once cooked, let it cool a little before you proceed to mix the rice. This way you will get perfectly cooked rice.
Once the rice is cooked thoroughly, gently mix roasted cashews. Serve this delicious bowl of Methi-Lilva Pulao with any spicy Curry of your choice or plain yogurt/raita and enjoy.

methi-lilva-pulao3
Methi-Lilva-Nariyal Pulao


Note:
Replace pigeon peas with green peas. Next time I am thinking of using my current favourite Black eyed peas soaked in water overnight as I quite like the combination of Methi and Chavli. The choices are many and experiment with them.
Most of the points used in this article are taken from the Maharishi Ayurveda news letter.

Continue Reading...



Saturday, 21 March 2009

Methi Matar Malai: Green & Cream Indulgence

Photobucket
Methi Matar Malai

How many of you agree that curry powder that is sold in supermarkets in colourful plastic/glass container is nothing but much hyped saw dust?
I am really pleased to see most of you nodding your head in agreement :)

Curry powder!!! Not that I want to sue these stores/super markets for selling something that is totally un-Indian but given a chance I am more than willing to blow their heads off! As if it was not enough to pass the vegetables or meat that float in thick red gravy of oil as Indian curries, many a times people are misguided when it comes to ingredients used in Indian cooking. And hear me loud and clear, please be kind to yourself and your taste buds and throw that awful yellow powder into nearest bin and get a packet of fresh Garam Masala (homemade is still better) and few basic spices used in Indian cooking. Once you cook with these spices and spice powders, you will not go near the aisle that displays this saw dust in little containers. Stock up your pantry with little cumin-coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala and you are ready to cook one pot after another pot of delicious Indian curries.

While we are on the topic of cooking curries, how about keeping that bag of maida/all purpose flour away when you are making curry? I have seen many people use them to thicken the gravy. When we have much better options to try out why not use them instead of using bland, white flour? There are many better options to thicken the gravy like onion paste, fresh cream, yogurt, cashew/almond paste than chocking your palettes with maida. Use one of them or combination of two or three and you will be surprised see how creamy and delicious the curry tastes!

Today, I am determined to demonstrate that we needn’t use any curry powder (not even Garam Masala) or maida to get thick, creamy gravy. What we have today is Methi Matar Malai, a delicious blend of fresh fenugreek leaves (=methi) and sweet green peas (=matar) cooked in, what else, fresh cream (=malai). The ground paste of onions, green chilli and ginger along with whole spices forms the base for delicious gravy. The addition of fresh cream, cashews and ground green peas is what thickens the gravy. Yes, no curry powder nor maida. All we have is some fresh herbs and spices and fresh cream that sure to tickle your taste buds. If you are on diet or watching those calories, simply replace fresh cream with yogurt and you will have low fat version of this creamy curry. Looks can be deceptive! Yes, Methi Matar Malai may look like the recipe that needs you to slave in front of stove for hours after another, but in reality it is one of the simple and quick recipes that you can cook to impress your guests. And what more, you get to enjoy goodness of greens without overpowering taste of spice powder.

Photobucket
Green Peas and Fenugreek Leaves for Methi Matar Malai

Photobucket
Ground Paste of Fresh Herbs & Spices for Methi Matar Malai

Photobucket Print This Recipe
Methi-Matar Malai (Fresh Fenugreek leaves and sweet Green Peas cooked in creamy and mildly spiced gravy of Onion, Whole Spices and Fresh Cream)
Prep time: 5-10 mins
Cooking Time: 15-20 mins
Serves: 4-5
Recipe Level: Easy/Beginner to Medium
Spice Level: Medium
Serving Suggestion: With any Indian flat bread or flavoured/steam cooked rice

Ingredients:
1½ packed cups Fresh Fenugreek Leaves (Or use frozen)
1 cup Green Peas, fresh/frozen
1 large Potato, peeled, cut into ½ inch pieces and cooked
¼ - ½ cup Fresh Cream (I used low fat single cream. If using cashews ¼ cup is more than enough)
1 tsp Sugar (Optional but recommended, to mellow the bitter taste of fenugreek leaves)
¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1-2 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

Grind to Smooth Paste:
1 medium Onion
3-4 Green Chillies (Adjust acc to taste)
½ inch Ginger, peeled
½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1 inch Cinnamon Stick
3 Cloves
2 Green Cardamoms
4-6 Cashews
3-4 tbsp Green Peas, fresh/frozen (for creamy gravy)
Photobucket
Methi Matar Malai

Method:
Heat oil and add cumin seeds to it. When it sizzles and turns golden red, add ground paste and keep stirring till the raw smell of onions disappears. It takes usually 5-6 minutes for the paste to turn light golden brown and the paste should become little dry. Be patient, or else the gravy will taste bitter.
Once you have cooked the paste, add fenugreek leaves and cook until the leaves are wilted, about 2 mins. Add cooked potato cubes, green peas, sugar, turmeric powder, and salt to taste and cook for 2 minutes.
Now add fresh cream, ½ cup of water and mix well. Simmer the heat and bring the gravy to gentle boil. Add little water if you think the gravy is too thick for your taste. Cook for another 2 minutes.
Transfer Methi-Matar Malai to serving dish and drizzle little cream on top if desired and serve hot with any Indian bread or flavoured Rice and enjoy.


Notes:
For low fat version of this Methi Matar Malai, replace fresh cream with yogurt. You can also avoid using cashews or replace it with almonds to get thick gravy. Or simply add ¼ cup of ground green peas that will simply thicken the gravy. But please avoid adding maida which will simply ruin the taste.
You can also add ½ tsp of Garam Masala if needed. I prefer it without any overpowering taste of spice powder.
Addition of sugar is optional. I add it to gently mellow the bitter taste of fresh fenugreek leaves.

Continue Reading...



Monday, 6 October 2008

Methi-Lobia: Flavours of Life...

Photobucket
Methi-Lobia
So you are a vegetarian? Then how you manage to stay healthy?
How can you survive eating just vegetables, greens and beans? I bet it must be boring to eat same stuff everyday!
Oh! You belong to ghas-phus family then!
I have lost the count on number of times I have been asked similar questions by many people, both in India and abroad. I can hear genuine concern when asked by someone who is unaware of vast vegetarian food choices available in India but I really get annoyed when asked by someone who was bought up in India, at least first two and half decades of their life, eating more vegetarian meals than non-vegetarian and have been living here in western land for two and half years. WTF!!! Either they are suffering from short term memory loss or selective amnesia.

And again we have another set of people back home who thinks we stuff our mouth with every possible living/non-living animals (includes birds, reptiles, etc etc…) as soon as we step out of India!!! Why? Because of their distant relative who had left India some neons of years ago has told them that they cook and eat non-veg due to lack of availability of fresh vegetables in some corner of the world where they live! So they simply assume, there is no way we too can stick to strict vegetarian diet! There are some people who simply ask us the very same question again and again every time we visit India, and are still hopeful that one day we will say we eat meat. Wow!!! You genius people!!!

I have no qualms or issue with any people who have converted from being a vegetarian to non-vegetarian or vice versa. But I do hate it when people repeatedly ask me the same questions, in spite of knowing how easily we vegetarians can survive in meat loving country without tiny-winy bit of a problem. And even if I decide to eat meat, I don’t see why I need to give any kind of explanations. At first I used to find these questions very amusing and later I found it very irritating. And right now I feel much better after ranting away and can’t help but laugh at myself for being so silly and get easily irritated by bunch of jokers! Blogging is therapeutic!!! Ahh...

Now that I have taken out all my frustrations, I can proceed to writing a recipe of Methi Lobia which was inspired from Raghavan’s 660 Curries cookbook. I have combined the main two ingredients, fenugreek leaves and black eyed peas, from the book but went on to cook using my own method and technique. These pleasantly bitter fresh fenugreek leaves combined with nutty black eyed peas and cooked in a sweet onion-tomato based curry was an instant hit with us. Addition of kasuri methi simply enhances the flavour. And did you notice there is no soaking of beans is required? Because I used pressure cooker for cooking it, it doesn’t require too much of stirring and standing in front of a stove. You can simply substitute fenugreek leaves with other green leafy vegetable for different taste but cook this for sure. This curry has all the flavours of life- bitter, sour, sweet and spicy. I am sending this to dear Sra who is guest hosting this month’s My Legume Love Affair event initiated by lovely Susan.

Photobucket
Methi-Lobia

Photobucket Print This Recipe
Methi Lobia (Fresh Fenugreek Leaves and Black Eyed Peas in sweet Onion and tangy Tomato sauce)
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 20-30 mins
Serves: 3-4
Recipe Inspiration: 660 Curries
Ingredients:
1 cup Black eyed Peas, washed and drained
2 packed Cups fresh/frozen Fenugreek Leaves
1 medium Onion, finely chopped
3 large/4 medium Tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
1 tsp Garam Masala
½ tsp Kitchen King Masala (Optional)
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder (Adjust acc to taste)
1 tbsp Kasuri Methi/Dried Fenugreek Leaves (Optional)
1 tsp Jaggery/Brown Sugar (Optional)
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida
1 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste
Photobucket
Methi-Lobia

Method:
Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add cumin seeds to it. When it sizzles and turns light reddish brown, add hing and finely chopped onions. Sauté it on medium flame till onion turns translucent, about 2 mins.
Now add ginger-garlic paste and sauté on medium flame for another minute. Mix in garam masala, kitchen king masala, chilli powder and kasuri methi and fry for few seconds.
Mix in finely chopped tomatoes and cook till turns pulpy and releases its juice, about 3 minutes. Add fenugreek leaves and sauté on medium flame till they wilt, about 2-3 mins.
Now add washed black eyed peas, salt to taste, jaggery and 3 cups of water and mix well. Cover the pressure cooker lid and cook on medium flame for about 20-25 mins till the beans are cooked well and start to break down.
Let the steam release completely before you open the pressure cooker lid. Serve this delicious, tangy curry with chapatti or any other roties and enjoy.

Continue Reading...



Friday, 15 August 2008

Aloo-Methi Paratha: My Never Ending Love Affair

Photobucket
Aloo-Methi Paratha

Grocery shopping is never simple, at least in our case! Reason? Oh, the usual one!!! I feel like a kid lost in candy shop. I am one of those nut cases who spend more than required time gazing, touching, picking, thinking, re-picking, re-thinking, re-picking all those vegetables and fruits and even canned tomatoes till people waiting behind me start to throw darts from their eyes, fire from their mouth and are about to run their cart over me. Every time it’s a same story, go for just few ingredients and end up buying a cart load. I have no idea how we end up with bagful of things when we all wanted to buy was just a bar of soap or bag of potatoes!!! I say to myself, just last time but in the end we leave the supermarket with few extra bags and few extra pounds (wish it was weight!!!) lighter. Well, this is what being expected from me when you do weekly or fortnightly shopping at supermarkets. Well, Krish says he can’t take the high risk of taking me for grocery shopping on weekends when he can watch his favourite sports on telly. Men!!!

Few weeks back something different happened. I was looking for a bunch of indispensable coriander leaves at herbs sections and found out they were moved to different aisle. Just when I was about to get annoyed I spotted something which made me almost scream with joy. There it was, one whole shelf filled with Indian greens and vegetables. Bottle gourd, Okra, Bitter gourd, Plantains, Palak, Methi, Sugarcane and big bunches of Coriander and Mint leaves unlike the usual few stings. And to top it all they had even stocked Curry leaves. I did a virtual cartwheel with joy and pushed my cart at record speed towards them like a horse with a carrot dangling in front of it. And I did another virtual happy dancing when I saw 2 for a pound offer for all green leafy vegetables. 2 big bunches of palak, another two bunches of fresh methi leaves and big bunch of coriander, curry and mint leaves were picked at lightening speed.

For next few days we had marathon cooking series of Aloo Palak, Dal Palak, Aloo Methi, Methi Matar Malai, Methi Dal and still were left with half bunch of Methi. Not wanting to cook another curry we decided to make stack of hot and delicious Aloo-Methi Paratha. Oh yes! I am still in honeymoon period when it comes to stuffing and rolling parathas since I made first batch of Aloo-Peas Parathas few months ago. And every time I stuff and roll them I feel giddy with joy of getting evenly stuffed and perfectly shaped parathas.

This time I kept the filling very simple and minimal. Few green chillies for heat, amchur powder for tanginess, and cumin for fragrance is all I needed. Hing is added for digesting starchy potato. All these ingredients complimented little bitter fenugreek leaves and creamy potatoes. Served with a bowl of creamy Yogurt and spicy Garlic Pickle, it was one very fulfilling and delicious rainy and gloomy weekend brunch. Off my stack of Aloo-Methi Parathas go to dear Latha who is guest hosting this month’s WBB-Combi Breakfast initiated by lovely Nandita and also to dear Redchilli who is guest hosting Herb Mania-Fenugreek initiated by Dee.

Wishing all my fellow Indian bloggers a very Happy Independence Day... Jai Hind.

Photobucket Print This Recipe
Aloo-Methi Paratha (Indian Flatbread stuffed with mashed Potatoes and aromatic Fenugreek Leaves)
Prep Time: 10-20 mins
Cooking Time: 20-30 mins
Makes: 10 Medium Sized Parathas
Ingredients:
For Dough:
3 cups Chapatti Atta/Whole Wheat Flour (I used Pillsbury Chakki Atta)
2 tbsp Yogurt
Salt to taste
Warm water to knead

For the Stuffing:
2 packed cups of Methi Leaves, picked, washed and chopped
2 large Potatoes, cooked, peeled and mashed well
2-3 Green Chillies, very finely chopped
½ tsp Amchur Powder
1 tsp Cumin Seeds, roasted
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida
Salt to taste

Other Ingredients Needed:
Oil/Ghee to brush while cooking the Paratha
Little Atta/flour for dusting
Photobucket
Aloo-Methi Stuffing

Method:
For the Dough:
Sieve atta and mix in salt, yogurt.
Slowly add warm water as and when required and make stiff dough.
Cover and keep it aside for at least half an hour.

For the Filling:
Mix in chopped green chillies, dry mango powder, roasted cumin seeds, salt to taste with chopped methi/fenugreek leaves and mashed potatoes. Make sure the filling is lump free as it will be easier to stuff and roll the paratha without the filling oozing from the sides.
Make equal lemon sized balls and keep them aside till needed.

For the Paratha:
Knead the dough again for a minute and make equal lemon sized balls.
Roll this dough ball in flour and roll them using a rolling pin into thick poories of 4 inch in diameter.
Place one aloo-methi ball in the centre. Cover and seal the ends and roll again, dusting flour if necessary, into ½ cm thick roties using rolling pin.
Mean while, heat a griddle at high flame and lower it to low-medium flame.
Gently dust off the excess flour and place Stuffed Paratha on hot griddle and cook on both the sides till its cooked well and brown spots start to appear on top. Apply little ghee/oil if desired.
Serve hot Aloo-Methi Parathas immediately with any curry or with plain yogurt and pickle of your choice and enjoy.

Photobucket
Aloo-Methi Paratha


Notes:
Before mashing the potatoes let them cool completely. This way the filling will remain dry and filling will not ooze out from covering.
Make sure that the potatoes are mashed without leaving any lumps. This helps in rolling the parathas with even surface.
The leftover parathas can easily be frozen. To do this, cut few square sheets of butter paper or baking sheet of equal size so that it covers the paratha well. Place a paratha on one sheet and cover it with another square sheet. Place another on top of it and repeat till all the parathas are over. Place this in a large zip lock bag and store it in a freezer. It is better to write the date on which the parathas were cooked. I usually use them by one month.
Other Stuffed Paratha recipes blogged so far

Reminder for JFI-Soya:
I invite you all to celebrate Jihva for Ingredients with this month’s theme JFI-Soya. Choice of Soya products, the recipe, ingredients, method etc is entirely left to you. I would greatly appreciate if you can send me any Vegan or Vegetarian recipes but I leave it to your choice. Soya foods include tofu, tempeh, textured vegetable protein (chunks, mince etc), miso, soya sauces, soya oil and margarine, and soya dairy alternatives.

Deadline: 31st August, 2008

Please go through the guidelines and include all the required information in your post and also in your e-mail while sending your entry. Don't forget to add Your Name, Your Blog Name, Name of the Dish, Type of Dish and Perm Link of the entry along with the gorgeous Photo of final dish.

Click Here or on the logo to find out more information on this event.

Continue Reading...



Friday, 30 May 2008

Cooking Therapy: Methi Thepla

Photobucket
Methi Thepla with Yogurt, Priya Garlic Pickle & Mango Slices

My friend was surprised when I told him I find cooking very relaxing and therapeutic. How can getting out pots and pans, chopping and grinding, sautéing and stirring be considered therapeutic, especially when you have to not only cook, but also wash, wipe and put them away was his question. Well, cooking becomes just a task or chore when you think it that way. For me cooking is more than day to day chore. While I find chopping vegetables and fresh herbs quite relaxing, the heady aroma of roasted spices makes me slow down and enjoy little pleasure of life has to offer. The steam coming out of pots and pans gives me free facials every day and the flexibility of adding or substituting any ingredients of my choice gives me a sense of freedom. The colour of various fresh leafy, green, yellow, red, orange and multi-colored fruits and vegetables fascinates me and makes me happy. The process of transforming raw, solitary ingredients into a savoury amalgamation of flavour, taste, smell, texture and colour is always magical. And the ultimate pleasure is when you are rewarded by ohh’s and ahh’s, mmm… its so good, comments coming from the people you love busily licking the food you cooked. This kind of therapy is inexpensive, fun and also tasty! Well, not every task or chore gives you this kind of pleasure. Do you think I am right? What makes you relax and enjoy?

These days I am having real rough time at office. With project deadlines to meet I feel emotionally drained and exhausted by the time I reach home. I find solace in my kitchen with my HD next to me. By the time we finished cooking our dinner I was calm and relaxed and enjoying the moment. Food cooked was simple; Methi Thepla served with bowl of cool Yogurt, Garlic Pickle and sweet Mango Slices. Simple task as picking the leaves from big bunch of fresh Methi/Fenugreek Leaves can be therapeutic and cheer you up and punching and rolling of dough can take away all the frustration and leave you content. Now that’s something I prefer rather than sitting in one dark corner and sulking!!!

Here is the recipe for simple Guajarati flat bread called Methi Thepla which is one full meal by itself. You can serve it alone or accompanied with just Pickle or Yogurt and hence without any doubt it serves as an excellent travel food. Fresh Methi/fenugreek leaves are mixed with few spices and wheat flour to form stiff dough and rolled out and roasted. Uses or Methi/Fenugreek Leaves are many as they are high in iron and minerals content. Read more about them here and here. This is my entry for Valli’s Roti Mela and Priyanka’s SWC-Gujarati Cuisine. Methi Thepla also goes to Susan's Beautiful Bones, an event focused on bringing awareness about Osteoporosis.


Methi Thepla (Gujarathi flat bread made with fresh Fenugreek Leaves)
Prep Time: 15-20 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Makes: 15 medium sized Theplas

Ingredients:
3 cups Wheat Flour/Atta (I used Pillsbury Chakki Atta)
½ cup Gram Flour
1 packed cup fresh Methi/Fenugreek Leaves (just the leaves, no steams)
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Powder
2-3 Green Chillies, very finely chopped or minced
½ tbsp Garlic, very finely chopped or minced
½ tbsp Ginger, very finely chopped or minced
½ tsp Red Chilli Powder (Optional)
1 tbsp White Sesame Seeds
1 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste
Warm water as needed

Other Ingredients:
Wheat flour for dusting
Rolling Pin
Ghee/Oil for roasting
Photobucket
Methi/Menthe Soppu/Fresh Fenugreek Leaves

Method:
Pick just the leaves from a bunch of methi/fenugreek leaves and wash thoroughly.
Mix in all the ingredients listed above and form stiff dough by adding little water at a time. Keep it aside covered for about 20-30 minutes.
Knead the dough again for about one minute and make large lime sized balls.
Roll the balls on wheat flour covering it well and press it down with hand. With the help of a rolling pin, roll it into circle to form a roti with ½ cm thickness. Dust off the excess flour.
Mean while heat a griddle/tawa and place the thepla on it. Cook on both the sides at medium to low heat till both the sides are cooked well and few brown spots start to appear.
You can apply the ghee/oil if needed and serve these Methi Thepla hot with chilled Yogurt & Pickle or with a curry of your choice and enjoy.

Photobucket
Methi Thepla


Note:
Special thanks to Prema of My Cookbook and Srimathi of Few Minutes Wonders for passing me "The Yummy Blog Award". I really appreciate it girls :)

Other Indian Flat Breads on Monsoon Spice are


Reminder:
MBP-Street Food ends on 24th of June, 2008. Start patrolling the blogs and cook your favourite Street Food that your tummy begs and heart desires and spread link love.

Deadline: 24th June, 2008

Please go through the guidelines and include all the required information in your post and mail when sending me your entry. Don't forget to add Your Name, Your Blog Name, Name of the Dish you cooked, Perm Link of the entry, Perm Link of original recipe along with the gorgeous Photo of final dish.

Click Here or on the logo to find out more information on this event.

Continue Reading...