Methi Na Thepla/Gujarati Dhebra/Fresh Fenugreek Leaves Flatbread

Dhebra is one of the most loved Gujarati tea time snacks/dishes. It is a type of paratha which has bitterness from fenugreek/methi leaves, sweetness from the sugar, sour taste that come out of curd and heat from the green chili paste. In addition to this, this paratha has the goodness of garlic & ginger, pearl millet and whole wheat flour, not to forget all the green leafy veggies going into it. It can't be healthier than this.
Gujarati's are well known for their handva, muthiya, dhokla and thepla/dhebra. Dhebra can serve different purposes like tea time snack to midnight snack and from travel food to picnic munchies. Dhebra are popular with kids to grown-ups alike.
I remember having dhebra in my school lunch box prepared by my mom, BTW she makes the most flavourful dhebra I've ever tasted. This is her recipe. So here's some recipe which just can't go wrong.

Makes 20-22, 6" diameter dhebra.
Ingredients:
3 cups firmly packed chopped fresh fenugreek/ methi leaves
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour/ chapati flour
1 1/2 cups pearl millet/ bajri flour
2 tbs of oil
3 pinches of hing/asofoetida.
2 tbs green chili, ginger & garlic paste
1 1/2 tbs sugar
3 tsp kashmiri red chili powder
2 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste, usually requires 2 to 3 1/2 tsp of salt but it can be adjusted according to taste.
1/4th cup yoghurt (a little bit of sour yoghurt is best for this recipe)
Few mls of water for kneading the dough.

For cooking we shall require a few more tbs of oil for shallow frying. About 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour for dusting.

Method:
In a deep bowl all both flours and 2 tbs of oil, give it a nice rub till the oil is nicely incorporated in the flour.
Now add all the spices, ground paste, sugar and salt and give it a nice rub once again.
Add fenugreek/methi leaves and mix it well.
Now start to knead a semi soft to hard dough adding a tablespoon of yoghurt at a time, till you run out of 1/4th cup of yoghurt. Add water to knead dough after this, remember pearl millet doesn't need too much liquid to form a dough hence add few tbs of water at a time.
Dough should not be runny at all, you should be able to make ping-pong sized balls out of it.
Let this dough rest for 20-30 mins.

Now make ping pong sized balls out of the dough and roll out 1/4th cm thick paratha, using whole wheat flour for dusting. Heat tava/griddle/non stick pan (if planning to make oil free dhebra) and place rolled out dhebra/paratha on to it. After 30 seconds turn dhebra with spatula and let it cook on the bottom side. Apply 1/4th tsp of oil on the top surface and turn it to shallow fry, press your spatula and keep turning the paratha every 20 seconds till golden brown spots appear on them.
Repeat this with all the remaining dough balls.

Dhebra can be served with pickles,jam, coriander chutney, garlic chutney, spiced curd, sweet curd or any dal or curry of your choice. This paratha/dhebra goes very well with masala chai/tea.

Dough

Shallow fried with golden brown spots

Dhebra served with sweet & spicy lemon pickle

Beetroot Stir Fry/ Beetroot No Sambharo

I know I have been neglecting my poor blog since quiet a long time, but here I'm trying to redeem myself. :)
Having many hobbies has its drawbacks. I just finished one of my crafts project which had been pending since long, it took time but its complete now and so I'm back to blogging.
Today I was planning to make a simple healthy dish and found some beetroots, which were neglected since few days, so I decided to do them some justice.
Beetroots either you love them or you hate them. Though they are highly nutritious and loaded with antioxidants, not to mention their importance for our cardiovascular health, these roots are ignore and mostly restricted to salads. So I wanted to make something simple and special with these beauties. To my surprise this dish came out well, tastes good and looks pretty too. For a picky eater like me, I can say I can eat this dish alone in itself.
So here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:
2 Large beetroots cubed and boiled
1 tsp canola oil/sunflower oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
1/2 tsp mustard seeds/rai
Pinch of asofoetida
1 sprig of curry leaves/mitha limda
2 green chillies cut in half
1/2 tsp amchoor powder/dry mango powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder/haldi
1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder/ mirchi powder
Salt to taste.

Method:
Pour oil in nonstick skillet and let it heat up. Add mustard seeds & cumin seeds, let them come to a splutter, then add in curry leaves and green chillies along with asofoetida.
Add boiled beetroot cubes along with all the spices and salt to taste.
Do not add water as this dish is intended to be dry.

This dish can be served as a side dish with any curry or rice dishes.
Amchoor or dry mango powder is added to balance the sweetness of beetroot, it gives this dish a nice tangy kick on the other hand red chili powder adds the spice level making this dish sweet sour and spicy, all at the same time.
I'm planning to enjoy this dish with spinach stir fried with onions and garlic and hot rotis.