Methi Dhebara

Here I am with another all time favorite dish of Gujjus. Even Non-Gujaratis are also quite familiar with this. They are healthy, very filling, and perfect for breakfast/snacks/dinner and the best option as carry out for traveling. They stay good for 3-4 days at room temperature and taste equally good whether hot or cold with soup/chutney/curd/tea-coffee/pickle or all by themselves. Wow! So many advantages? Too good to believe! Well, the catch is preparing perfect Dhebara is not everyone's cup of tea. It asks for little expertise but lot of patience, starting from cleaning methi, kneading dough, and finally rolling and cooking them.Ideally only millet flour should be used but that makes rolling part even clumsier. So I use both whole wheat and millet flours instead. The key to success is to knead dough without water! Water retained by methi leaves after washing them and yogurt is sufficient to knead dough.

Some people alternatively refer to them as Thepla. They both are same except that Theplas are patted with hand and Dhebaras are rolled.

Last week, I bought Methi in literally wholesale quantity and I am planning to make all those dishes that require substantial amount of methi. To start with, enjoy these delicious Dhebara.

Makes 16-18 Dhebra

Preparation Time: 30 Minute

Cooking Time: 45 Minute

Ingredients

1 and 1/3 cup whole wheat flour

2/3 cup millet flour

2 cup methi leaves

3 tbsp yogurt

1 tbsp shredded jaggery

1 tsp ginger paste

2 tsp green chili paste

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chili powder

1 tsp oil

Salt

Oil for frying

Procedure

1. Beat the yogurt, add salt, jaggery, turmeric powder and red chili powder. Keep it aside till jaggery is melted within yogurt

2. Mix both flours and sieve with oil

3. Add chili-ginger-garlic paste, methi leaves and knead dough using yogurt mixture (keep it on harder side since it gets softer due to salt and jaggery)

4. Divide dough into balls, roll and fry them on griddle on both sides

You can refrigerate dough for 4-5 days and freeze it for about a month or so. If you plan to freeze it, divide it into balls and put it in a ziploc bag. Take out in advance for couple of hours until they become soft and can be rolled.