Gujarathi Methi Theplas | Spiced Fenugreek Indian Flat Bread

I have heard about and seen beautiful pictures of methi theplas for many years but have never tasted them before. It is after we relocated to the US, I have been regularly eating theplas at many places and have become fond of these. Almost all of my relatives here have atleast one Gujju friend who sends over yummy methi theplas when they host parties :). Surprisingly this is not a common item in the menu of Indian restaurants, I wonder why - it would make a great addition. Methi theplas are Indian flatbreads made from wheat and chickpea flour flavoured with a spiced fenugreed mixture and a staple in a Gujarathi household. Needless to say its a great way to smuggle in these very healthy and bitter tasting methi/fenugrek leaves into our system. There is no way you could say it had methi leaves in them, no bitter taste at all. These Methi theplas are extremely soft and stay good for 2-3 days in room temperature and so they are perfect choice for travel food. They are quite easy to the make and the only time consuming activity would probably be picking the methi leaves, if you have that ready its as easy as making normal rotis :).

Ingredients

Serves - 3-4
Spice Level - Moderate
Prep Time - 10 min
Cook time - 10 min

Fresh Methi/Fenugreek leaves/Vendhaya Keerai - 1 to 1.5 cups
Yogurt - 2.5 Tbsp
Lukewarm water - 1/4 cup +/- 1-2 Tbsp
Salt - 1.5 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 Tsp
Hing/Asafoetida - 1 Tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 1.5 Tsp
Green chillies minced - 2
Oil - 1.5 Tbsp
Wheat Flour/Atta - 1.5 cups
Chickpea Flour / Besan/ Kadalai Maavu - 1/2 cup

How do you do it

1. Pick the methi leaves and wash them well, drain and keep them aside.

2. Sieve/ Sift the chickpea flour and keep aside.

3. Now mix the wheat flour, chickpea flour, all spices powders [ cumin, coriander, red chilli, turmeric, hing], ginger garlic paste, minced green chilli and salt together well.

4. Add the methi leaves and yogurt now and mix well again.

5. Now add the water little by little and knead to make a smooth pliable non-sticky dough similar in consistency to your roti/chapathi dough. The Methi leaves give out some water and we have added some yogurt too, so be careful while adding water and kneading, make sure you dont add too water much resulting in a very sticky mass. If at all you have used some excess amount of water, add some wheat flour and knead again.

6. Once done, rest it in a container for 15 minutes covered with a damp cloth.

7. Divide the dough into 10-12 medium sized balls. Take a small bowl with some wheat flour in it. Take one of them and dip into wheat flour and using a rolling pin, roll into a thin circle, dust with flour as when necessary to prevent sticking.

8. Heat a tava/flat griddle, once its hot, transfer one of the rolled theplas on to it. When you see small pockets forming flip the thepla. Apply ½ or 1 tsp oil on the cooked side. Now again flip and apply ½ or 1 tsp oil on the other side. Flip again twice. Once the thepla is cooked as well as browned, remove from the pan. make all the theplas this way.

9.Stack them up in a roti basket or in aluminium foil until ready to eat.

Serve these Yummy theplas with your favorite pickle or a simple Jeera Aloo or some delicious Tomato Thokku [pickle].

Notes

1. Lukewarm water is used to make sure the theplas are softer for a long period.

2. These theplas can be refrigerated and they keep good for 2-3 days. To warm them up, do not use the microwave, microwaved rotis/chapathis turn hard after some time. You can quickly warm them up using a heated tava/griddle or steam them.

3. As soon as you buy methi/fenugreek leaves, pick the leaves and store in an air tight container , it keeps fresh for more than a week and its quick to use in a recipe like this.