Lajawaab

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Bajri-Methi na Dhebra

by Priyanka posted at 12:16 AM 16 comments



Yumm....Slurp....Yumm... Slurp.....!!!!Thats how i go when i think of Methi na Dhebra with garmagaram Cha. It also reminds me of Rasika Ba (Ba means mother or grandma in gujarati) - our beloved next-door neighbour in Ahmedabad. I cant put it in words what she means to us. This dear old gutsy lady is like a grandma to us- she is from Kathiawad and in the real sense an Annapurna. We remember running over to her house as kids whenever we got a whiff of the aroma of whatever it was that she cooked in her small kitchen. And she would graciously partake of whatever she cooked and some more and regale us with stories of kings and queens from Kathiawad and Rajasthan (she was second-in-line to the throne of the province known as Malia) and some words of wisdom. So, this one is for you Ba.

Well, for all you non-Gujaratis out there, this is a Gujarati snack dish made from Fenugreek leaves (methi) and millet flour (bajri no lot- "lot" in guajrati means flour). When Mallugirl asked me a couple of days back whether theplas are made with millet flour, it instantly reminded me of Dhebras. As far as i know, theplas are spicy indian vegetable stuffed parathas (similar to soft tortillas) made with regular whole wheat flour whereas dhebras are small fried vadas stuffed with vegetables and made from millet flour.

This is the second dish that i made for P yesterday. P likes to munch on something when he has his morning tea. Since we were out of breakfast snacks, i made these. I knew he would love it. And i wasnt wrong. If you have never tried these, i would recommend making them-they taste absolutely heavenly when you have it with a cup of hot tea or coffee in the morning or simply as an afternoon snack.

Dhebras are not thin like puris...its just that i made them like i woould make puris. Generally Dhebras are patted out to be thick as a patty.

Here goes the recipe:

Makes 22-24 dhebras

Ingredients

2 cups millet/bajra flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 tbsp semolina/rava

3 tbsp besan (gram flour)

2 tsp sesame seeds

1 cup fenugreek leaves (usually fresh ones are used, but since i couldnt get any, i used kasuri methi)

salt to taste

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp red chili powder

1/3 tsp turmeric

1/2 to 3/4 cup yoghurt

To be made into paste

5 green chilies

1 inch piece of ginger

2 cloves of garlic

1. Add all the ingredients except yoghurt and the ground paste and mix well. This ensures that the spices are uniformly mixed.

2. Now add the green chili-ginger-garlic paste and mix well.

3. Next start making a dough using yoghurt (the yoghurt should be sour- khatta in taste). You might not need all 3/4 cup of yoghurt. Make a firm but semi-soft dough (like you would make for puris) and leave it aside for atleast 30 minutes to an hour.

4. After an hour, get some oil ready for frying in a kadai. Make medium sized balls (like you would make for puris).

5. Start patting out the balls with hand or rolling with a pin on a plastic wrap ( i used some wheat flour to dunk the balls in- it made the job easier) into medium sized patties and gently slip them into the kadai for frying.

6. When the vadas puff up and turn brown all over remove them and let drain on a paper towel to remove excess oil. Let cool. (Stored well in the refrigerator, they last atleast a week) You can reheat in the microwave before you eat.

7. Serve hot with coffee or tea or simply with golkeri (a sweet gujarati mango pickle made using jaggery)

Comments 16 comments
Dee said...

hey. i really am thinking yum..yum.. slurp..yum! Lovely recipe, Im partial to gujarati food!

Tee said...

Must try this !! looks so good and I can imagine munching on these with a hot cup of tea...Pure bliss!:)

FH said...

YUM!! Slurp!! Drool!!! All in one and you owe me Laptop now!;D
Really great looking snack.I do have all the ingredients ,I will male it.Thanks Priyanka for posting traditional dish.

evolvingtastes said...

Priyanka, this looks just awesome, but also formidable for a bhakri challenged person like me. How difficult is it to roll out? Yours look so perrrfect.

Sharmi said...

Priyanka, lovely combinations of flour and spices. the dhebra looks so scrumptious. would love to try it out.

archana said...

Dhebra ani narala chi barfi donhi mast distahet:) Dhebra nakki karoon bagheen:)
Ek request karu tula, te word verification kadhlas tar sop hoyil. Me teen da submit karte comment dar veles navin words enter karave lagatat. I hope tu mind nahi kelas :)

Anonymous said...

wow! its yumi.............i feel like to make now. my husband likes this kind of methina vada or dhebra. lets i will try to make now. thanks for giving recipe.
arunakanani

Manasi said...

Am making this today!!! hope it turns out as yummy as ur's!!

Anonymous said...

First time here. LOVE your recipes!! What a nice collection you've posted. Will be back later to browse st leisure. I want to check everythinmg out! :)

Saju said...

my fav too, I have not had these for ages, you have prompted me to make them.

KayKat said...

This looks really tasty. I'm a fan of millet dishes, tasty and nutritious!

Anonymous said...

hi..made them after a long time..very tasty..but they did not puff out the way they r shown in the pic..any tips to make them puff out like puris?

Priyanka said...

Anonymous... usually dhebras are not meant to puff- they are made thicker like a thick hashbrown in consistency- however- when i kneaded the flour for the dhebra...i made it with the consistency of making puris and not dhebras. So if you want them to puff...knead the flour/dough as if making for puris.

Keya said...

I had the same questin as Anonymous mentioned I tried it but it did not puff..
but thanks for clearing this out. Anyways I loved the way it turned out... so tasty an yummy.. I made in a small quantity and now everyone is complaining why didnt I make more... Everyone loved it..

Thanks Priyanka for postig the recipe

Anonymous said...

I had the same question too! I tried the recipe this weekend. Tasted delicious but they were really stodgy - I wanted them to look like the puffy dhebras in the picture! My dough was the consistency of puri dough. I even tried adding some baking soda, but it only made them oily. Any other tricks of the trade?!

Anonymous said...

Your story of Rasika Ba was so sweet.. i grew up in Mehsana and couldnt stop thinking of those gujju aunties so generous with their kitchen!!

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Priyanka
I love food and cooking !!

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