Methi Thepla
Methi Thepla – Multigrain flatbread flavored with fresh fenugreek leaves, spices and jaggery!
Methi thepla is a very famous Gujarati dish. It is made out of fresh methi (fenugreek leaves), multigrain flour, bunch of spices, jaggery, yogurt and oil. Methi – fenugreek leaves are bitter in taste. So when it is combined with garlic and some jaggery, it tastes amazing! There is no household in Gujarat that does not make these theplas! Thepla can be made with any leafy vegetables, but the most common and popular one to be used in thepla is Methi!
Methi thepla can be served with any hot or cold beverages like chai, coffee, milk etc. It is also served with yogurt and any type of pickles or chutney! My whole family survives on these theplas during any type of travel, whether it is a road trip or long international flights! I also freeze them for quick snack or meal. Many mornings, I just warm up frozen thepla in a toaster oven and top it with either peanut butter or fried egg whites for a quick breakfast. It is also a very common kids lunch box item!
This is definitely my family favorite! How about you? Pair it with pickled jalapeños or INSTANT RAW MANGO PICKLE! If you end up making it and liking it, tag me on Instagram @myvegetarianroots. I would love to see your recreation of this deliciousness!
Happy and Healthy Eating!
Methi Thepla – Fenugreek Flatbread
Ingredients
- 2½ cup Wheat Flour
- ¾ cup Bajra Flour (black millet flour)
- ⅓ cup Chickpea Flour
- 3 cup Chopped Fenugreek Leaves
- 4 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Red Chili Powder
- 1½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 2 tsp Garam Masala If garam masala is too much for you, use 3 tsp cumin coriander powder instead
- 2 tsp Finely Chopped Green Chilis
- 2 tsp Grated Ginger
- 2 tsp Minced Garlic
- ¼ cup Toasted White Sesame Seeds
- 2 tbsp Jaggery
- ½ cup Plain Whole Milk Yogurt skip or use vegan yogurt for making this vegan
- ½ cup Peanut Oil any oil would work
- ½ cup Warm Water
- ¼ cup Peanut Oil this is to cook thepla, you might need more or less depending on your preference!
- ½ cup Rice Flour any dry flour like rice flour, whole wheat flour, all purpose flour works just fine to roll the thepla
Instructions
- Dissolve 2 tbsp of jaggery into ½ cup of warm water and keep it aside.
- Clean fenugreek leaves by separating leaves from the stems. Discard all the thick dirty stems, you could use some very thin green stems though. Wash all the separated leaves 3-4 times with clean water. Drain all the water out. I like to use salad spinner to get rid of the water as much as possible. Rest clean leaves on a paper towel for 5-10 minutes. Then cut the leaves as tiny as you like for the thepla. Keep it aside.
- In a big wide bowl, mix all 3 flours, minced garlic, grated ginger, finely chopped green chilis, sesame seeds, salt, red chili powder, garam masala (use cumin coriander powder instead for milder taste), turmeric powder. Mix it well.
- Add ½ cup of oil to the flour mix. Mix it very well with your hands or standing mixture.
- Add prepared fenugreek leaves and plain yogurt to the flour mix. Mix it very well.
- Now add warm jaggery water to the flour mix and start to kneed the dough. If the dough does not seem to come together, keep adding little more water at a time to make the dough. The dough consistency should be like playdoh (the one kids play with!). In other words, the dough consistency should be a little firmer than pizza dough. You should be able to roll the thepla easily with just a small amount of dry flour.
- Cover the dough for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, kneed the dough again with 2 tbsp of oil to smooth it out. Make 16-18 equal sized balls (as big as gold ball) out of the dough. The bigger the dough ball, the thicker your thepla will be.
- Start warming up your flat pan/tawa.
- Roll one dough ball between your palms to smooth it out and press it a little to flatten it.
- Dust it with dry rice flour (any dry flour like rice flour, whole wheat flour, all purpose flour works just fine).
- Start rolling thepla. Roll it as big/small or thin/thick you like with the help of dry rice flour. The less dry flour you use the better it is! Thicker thepla will stay softer for longer.
- Place your rolled out thepl on the hot tawa/flat pan. Cook it on one side on low heat for 30-40 second or until you see some white and light brown spots on the side that is facing the hot tawa.
- Flip the thepla so now the other side is facing the tawa. Cook it on low heat for 20-30 second and then turn the heat to medium. Cook more on medium heat for another 30 ish seconds or until you see the side that is facing the tawa is somewhat cooked with some brown spots on it.
- Once the second side is somewhat cooked, add ½ to 1 tsp of oil on the thepla (on the side that is facing up) and flip it.
- Put some pressure on thepla and spin it with the help of Wooden Roti Chapati Presser or spatula.
- Flip it after 10-15 seconds and cook the other side the same way by putting some presser on thepla and spinning with the use of tawa presser or spatula. It is cooked now, take it off the tawa!
- Repeat the same process of rolling and cooking for rest of the dough balls.
- Serve thepla with any pickles, tea, coffee, milk, yogurt, chutney or even peanut butter!
