Fenugreek Goodness: Methi Onion Bhaaji and Methi Muthiya ( A Guest Post)

When I had hosted the Herb Mania Fenugreek Event, I had received a sweet email from Falguni a non-blogger containing 2 beautiful recipes for Methi (Fenugreek). I could not post this during the roundup as I was caught up with so many different things and my apologies for the same. But then it is better late than never and I am including her recipe in this post. I am also including this in the Herb Mania Fenugreek Roundup. 

Back to Falguni and her recipes. Even though Falguni says that she is no expert and has just started exploring her culinary skills, her detailed recipe and style speaks volumes about her passion for cooking and writing. She can be reached at trivedifalguni@hotmail.com  for further questions about these recipes.

 Here is an excerpt of her email:“I have just started exploring my culinary skills and am no expert.I would like to contribute 2 very simple preparations that are a part of my everyday cooking. These recipes preserve all the goodness of methi. And these recipes will not turn out that great with dry methi leaves, so use fresh methi whenever available.Sending you pictures of the same would have been an absolute icing on the cake, but believe me I failed to find any methi in the neighborhood of where I live in Chennai. I went hunting on Saturday as well as Sunday.”

Here are her two wonderful Methi recipes.

 Methi-Onion Bhaaji (Fenugreek Onion Dry Curry)

 Ingredients:

• 1 bunch fresh methi(Fenugreek) leaves, washed and then finely chopped
• 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
• 1 green chilli, finely crushed (not paste)
• 1.5/2 teaspoons oil
• salt, turmeric powder,
• coriander powder, jeera, hing 

Method:

• Heat oil in a kadai, when sufficiently heated add jeera, let it splutter and add a pinch of hing
• Add the crushed chilli, finely chopped onion and a bit of salt.
• Once the onion turns slightly brown, add the methi leaves and add the rest of the spices as per your taste and mix.
• Cover the kadai with a dish containing some water, but take care not to add water in the kadai. Let it cook in its own juices for 5 minutes.
• Remove cover and mix once more, turn off gas after another 3/5 mins. Let it be for some time.
• Serve with hot rotis.

 Note that though methi is bitter, this preparation does not taste very bitter since the sweetness of onion offsets the bitterness..(Your can’t escape the tinge though)Also since methi and onion both get reduced in quantity after cooking, alter the quantities as per the no. of people to be served…. The above quantity would be sufficient for 2 people. Tip:Methi contains iron and if you wash it after chopping the picked leaves, most of the iron and other essential minerals/vitamins will also be washed off.  In case of any green leafy herbs, it best to take additional time to clean them before chopping.

  Methi Muthiya

 Ingredients:

 

For the dough:

• 1 bunch fresh methi leaves, washed and then finely chopped
• 1 green chilli, small piece of ginger, 3 garlic pods finely crushed (not paste)
• 2 cups wheat flour
• 0.5 cup besan (You could also add some soy bean/bajra/jowar flour)
• 3 teaspoon oil ( 1 for sautéing methi and 1 to put in the dough and 1 for greasing)
• 0.5 spoon Eno powder
• Pinch of hing, salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder, ajwain seeds (as per taste)

 Method:

• Sauté the methi leaves on 1 teaspoon of oil in a kadai for 5 mins and mix with all the above ingredients and form medium consistency dough.
• Rub some bit of oil on your palms and form medium width rolls.
• Grease a colander with a bit of oil, place the rolls and steam on medium flame.
• Poke a knife and if it comes out clean, the rolls have been steamed fully.
• Wait for some time to let the rolls cool off but dont let them turn cold, cut into rings.
• The reason is that if you season them when they are warm itself, they will absorb the seasoning masalas better.(For those on diet, the recipe ends here.

These rings take good anyways and can be had with green coriander/mint chutney, ketchup, etc without going ahead with the seasoning as mentioned below).

The blessed ones may however continue with the below steps to come up with the totally traditional muthiyas. 

For the seasoning:

• 1.5/2 teaspoons oil (more the oil, better the taste but 1.5/2 teaspoons is the minimum required)
• 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
• Pinch of Hing, Jeera, Mustard seeds, sesame seeds, coriander powder, red chilli powder, salt,
• 0.5 teaspoon sugar, juice of half a lemon 

Method:

• Heat oil in a kadai, when sufficiently heated add mustard seeds, jeera, let it splutter and add a pinch of hing
• Add the finely chopped onion and a bit of salt.
• Once the onion turns slightly brown, add the cut rings of dough, some red chilli powder, coriander powder, salt, sugar, lemon juice, sesame seeds and mix well.
• On a slow flame, keep the kadai covered with a dish for 5/10 mins before switching the gas off. Intermittently keep mixing the stuff with a light hand so that all the rings
• Get a chance to be at the bottom of the kadai and become crisp.

 Serve with coriander/mint chutney, ketchup, etc. Even on their own they taste delicious.