Methi Muthiya/ Dumplings with Fenugreek leaves...look West, The Indian West

I have four standard dishes  for methi/fenugreek leaves which I end up making again and again…so last weekend when I realized I had more methi than I needed , decided to try Methi Muthiya out for brunch…had been on my list for quite some time but somehow had never tried it making it myself…In fact have never made any Gujrati dish at home besides dal and I need to rectify it since I quite like Gujrati khana in spite of the fact that it is all vegetarian!!…these can either rolled into balls and deep fried or can be steamed like I have… 

Methi Muthiya/ Dumplings with Fenugreek leaves

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• Methi/Fenugreek leaves, cleaned and chopped finely, 1 cup
• **special ingredient, refer below
• Besan/Gram flour/Chickpea flour, 1 ¼  cup
• Suji/ Semolina, 1 tbsp
• Atta/ Whole Wheat flour, 1 tbsp
• Til/ White sesame seeds, 2-3 tsp
• Dahi/ Plain Yogurt, 1 tbsp  or so, if required
• Oil, 1 tbsp
• Baking soda or ENO salt , a pinch
• Sugar, 1- 1 ½  tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Turmeric, 1/2 tsp
• Coriander powder, ½ tsp
• Cumin powder, ½ tsp
• Red chili powder, ½ tsp
• Lemon juice, 1 tbsp
• Ginger paste, 1 tbsp

** I had about ¾ cup finely chopped up garlic chives, which I added in there and loved it. You can skip it and reduce the quantity of besan to 1 cup. If skipping garlic chives, add 1 tsp of garlic paste

For tempering:

• Oil, 2 tbsp oil
• Mustard seeds, 1 tsp
• Til/White sesame seeds, 1 heaped tbsp
• Hing/ Asafoetida, 1/4 tsp
• Green chilies, a couple, diagonally cut and seeds removed if you want

Instructions:

The proportion for besan to methi leaves is based on the fact that the methi leaves have just been cut and have no additional water sticking to them. If they have been cut for a while or have still water sticking to them you will need to add a little more besan to get a firm dough but if there is too much water, don’t risk it as too much besan will dry them up..squeeze out the water and then use.

To prepare dough mix all ingredients except yogurt and keep aside for 10-15 minutes. Knead into a firm dough – if the mix is not coming together add a little yogurt, if it is too sticky add more besan and all other spice powders proportionately.

Put the steamer on.

Grease your palms with a little oil and make barrel shaped long rolls – about 1 ½” to 2” in diameter. Place the rolls on a greased container  a few inches apart as they will swell up a bit on steaming.
Steam for about 15-18 minutes. Insert a toothpick to check if they are done. 
Don’t over steam – as they will go hard. Let them cool slightly and cut them diagonally into ½” thick slices. These slices are called “muthiyas” (we munched on a few right after steaming !! )

There are 2-3 ways to add tempering.  You can either add the tempering mix straight on the steamed “muthiyas” OR add “muthiyas” to the tempering in the pan and let them fry for about 2-3 minutes OR do what I did – since I was making these for the first time I wasn’t too sure whether I would be able to handle them without breaking them.

Heat a non stick pan and lightly fry the “muthiyas” crisp on both sides using about ½ tsp of oil. Lay them on a serving platter.

For the tempering, heat  oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds start spluttering add in the rest of the ingredients, mix for about 10-15 seconds and switch of the gas. Pour the tempering on the muthiyas and done!! Serve with green chutney or ketchup.

Done?? Hah!! You would think so…but noooo , you can garnish them with freshly grated coconut and coriander leaves…I didn’t because by this time I had lost my patience and was super hungry…so yes, DONE!! And YUMMMMM J