Keda Methi Na Bhajiya
Authentic Gujarati snack keda methi na bhajiya, Banana Fenugreek Fritters. Made out of chickpea flour, ripe banana, fresh fenugreek leaves and spices. This deep fried goodie is perfectly crispy from outside and nicely soft from inside!
These bhajiya-pakoda are Gujarati wedding special. They are part of Grah Shanti feast along with signature Gujarati eggplant and potato curry, Gujarati dal, plain rice and fada lapsi! Grah Shanti is a pre wedding ritual where hindus do pooja to invite Lord Ganesha into the home to remove all obstacles and bring happiness and prosperity to the couple.
This grah shanti meal used to be served in a Patravali. Patravali is an Indian eating plate or trencher made with broad dried leaves. It is mainly made from Sal leaves or Banyan tree leaves. It is made in circular shape, by stitching 6 to 8 sal leaves with tiny wooden sticks. People would sit on a long cloth laid on the the ground to enjoy this feast with their loved ones! It is very unlikely for the same to happen in out modern world. I do miss this authentic raw touches we used to have back in the days.
However, we at least have our cultural food that we can carry along with new generations and this is definitely one of those. I feel very happy and somewhat emotional when I make these authentic dishes I leaned from my mother, mil and grand mothers! I hope my girls would feel the same one day and cherish their culture through food!
I sometimes like to use the leftover batter to make pudla. Pudla is like thin crapes or pancake which can be cooked with less oil compare to how much you use for deep frying. Its just a healthier option with same flavors! Either way this is one of those dishes that never fails to please! If you end up making it and liking it, tag me on Instagram @myvegetarianroots.
Hope you and your family like this keda methi na bhajiya as much as we do!
Happy and Healthy Eating!
Banana Fenugreek Fritters – Keda Methi Na Bhajiya
Ingredients
- 2 cup Chickpea Flour
- ½ cup Rice Flour
- 2 Mashed Ripe Banana
- 1 cup Fresh Chopped Methi ¼ cup soaked kasuri methi if cannot find fresh
- 4 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Red Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 2 tsp Dhanajiru
- 2 tsp Garam Masala
- ¼ tsp Baking Soda
- ¼ cup Room Temperature Oil
- 1½ tsp Grated Ginger
- 1½ tsp Chopped Thai Green Chilis
- ¼ cup Yogurt
- 1 tbsp Coarsely Ground Dry Coriander
- ¼ cup Hot Oil
Instructions
- Mix everything in a big bowl except hot oil, banana and methi leaves. Mix well.
- Add mashed banana and chopped fenugreek leaves/methi. Mix well.
- Add little water at a time to make just a little thicker batter than pancake batter. Use your hands to make the batter as the heat of the hand helps with softness of the fritters.
- Keep it aside for 30-45 minutes.
Deep fry Bhajia
- Start heating oil up for deep frying the fritters.
- Once the oil is hot but not bubbling hot, add almost ¼ cup of hot oil to the batter and mix the batter with a spoon again.
- Start dropping small dollops of the prepared batter into the hot oil very carefully and fry. Turn the heat down just a little.
- Fry them till they puff up and change color to golden brown, while keep turning and flipping them around.
- Remove fried fritters from oil and place them on a plate covered with paper towel to remove the excess oil. You can drop them into brown shopping bag as well for even more removal of excess oil.
- Serve them hot with spicy and sweet chutney along with some masala chai!
If you prefer making pudla instead
- Heat up your flat cast iron pan.
- The batter for pudla/crapes should have similar consistency as pancake batter. If your batter is thicker than that, add some water to thin it out.
- Spray or spread some oil on the pan and immediately drop some batter in the middle of the pan and start to spread it in circular motion in the pan to cover the almost whole surface of the pan. Make it as thin as possible.
- Drizzle some oil at the edges of the pudla and let it cook on medium heat until the sides of the pudla starts to rise up since it starts to become crispy. The side that is facing down should get golden brown.
- Flip the pudla and cook on the other side until golden brown.
- Take it off the pan and serve it hot with side of spicy green chutney and masala chai!
