Methi Muthia Tuvar Nu Shaak

EVENT:FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP
THEME:#177 MAGIC OF FRESH METHI
Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday and a wonderful start to the new Year. As for me, I can’t complain about the start but it hasn’t been exactly very smooth. US visa application took hours to fill, somehow they have not managed to get their online application forms user friendly like the ones for UK or Schengen visa. I so missed the easy and direct Queen’s English on the forms. For me when it says entire transaction it means the transaction for all the applicants. But they have a different idea..pay individually!
Anyway, tomorrow hubby and I will be making our to Nairobi for our visa appointment on Wednesday. I’m a bit excited, no not about entering the heavily guarded embassy but we are traveling by the newly constructed SGR(standard gauge rail) train. We’ll be passing through the Tsavo National Park and hopefully we’ll spot some wildlife on the way. Any train journey is exciting for me.
After a well deserved break, FoodieMonday/Bloghop team are back. We are starting the year off with some healthy fresh methi or fenugreek. The theme was suggested by Sasmita who blogs at First Timer Cook.
Methi features in my cooking quite often and I’m lucky that we get it the whole year round. I use in theplas, handvo, muthia, rice, chilas, bread, add it along with other vegetables to make a different tasting curry or sabji.
When Sasmita suggested methi, immediately what came to my mind was methi muthia(fenugreek dumplings). These are slightly different from the regular muthia that I make. These muthias are fried and added along with other vegetables to prepare a curry, sabji or shaak, made on their own in a tomato gravy or enjoyed on their own as a snack. Many steam the batter instead of frying it to make the famous snack called muthia but I prefer to make them the way my mother in law taught me, they are much softer and one can add a larger quantity of vegetables in the batter.
You will find that fried muthia or dumplings are commonly added in a variety of Gujarati curries or shaaks especially during special occasions. My mother in law would always make mixed green vegetables and add fried muthia whenever we had guests over for dinners or lunches. I would have preferred to make the mixed green vegetable curry but since here in Kenya its the hot season, all the fresh greens are hard to come by.
The next best option was to use fresh tuvar (pigeon peas) and eggplant. I decided to make the gravy using eggplants and added the cooked tuvar and fried muthia to it. Surprisingly the shaak or curry turned out so delicious. Served with hot rotis and a cold glass of chaas, it was perfect for lunch.
Let me take you step by step as to how to prepare this delicious curry.
METHI MUTHIA TUVAR NU SHAAK
Serves 4
For the methi muthia (fenugreek dumpling):
1 cup besan, chana or chickpea flour
2 cups finely chopped fresh methi (fenugreek)
4 tbsp sooji (semolina)
¼ tsp baking soda (soda bicarbonate)
1-2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2-3 tbsp oil
½ tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
½ – 1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp dhana jiru (coriander cumin powder)
¼ tsp carom seeds (ajmo, ajwain)
½ tsp coarsely crushed coriander seeds
1 tbsp lemon juice
2-3 tbsp plain yogurt
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp green chilli paste
oil to deep fry
For the curry (shaak, sabji):
400g eggplants (baigan, ringad, aubergine)
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp green chili paste
1 tbsp oil
¼ tsp asafetida (hing)
1 cup boiled fresh tuvar (pigeon peas)
¼ tsp methi seeds (fenugreek)
½ tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1-1½ tsp salt
1 tsp dhana jiru (coriander cumin powder)
½ tsp garam masala
1-2 tsp powdered jaggery (gur)
½ cup water
2-3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
Preparation of the muthia:
- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl except the oil for frying. The mixture or dough should be a little stiff.
- Let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes.
- Heat oil for deep frying in a pan, wok or karai over medium heat.
- In the meantime, wetting your hands with water or greasing them with oil, take about a teaspoonful of the dough and roll it into an oval shape.
- Repeat step 4 with the remaining mixture.
- Put a tiny piece of the dough in the hot oil. If it sizzles and comes up immediately then the oil is ready.
- Lower the heat and add the rolled muthia or dumpling 6-8 at a time.
- Fry them, turning them over frequently till they turn golden brown.
- Keep the fried muthia on the side till required.
Preparation of the curry (shaak, sabji):
- Roast the eggplant over open flame or in the oven. I prefer to roast it in the oven. Cut the eggplants into halves, brush them with little oil and bake them at 180°C for 20-30 minutes.
- Peel the skin off and mesh the eggplants.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wide pan over medium heat.
- Add methi seeds and wait till they begin to sizzle.
- Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
- Add garlic paste and saute for a few seconds.
- Add ginger and chili paste. Mix well.
- Add hing, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, dhana jiru and mix well.
- Add the meshed eggplant, boiled tuvar, salt, jaggery and water.
- Mix well and let it simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes.
- Add about 12-14 muthias and garam masala. Mix well gently, cover and let the curry rest for 10 minutes.
- Garnish with coriander and serve with rotis or rice.
- What do you do with the remaining muthia? Well, enjoy them with your favorite chutney as a snack or save them in the freezer to add them to another curry.
Tips:
- Enjoy the remaining muthia with some chutney.
- You can use the remaining muthia to make a muthia tomato curry.
- You can add muthia to a mixed sabji of peas, hyacinth beans, papdi, valor, fresh corn etc.
- Make sure the dough for the muthia is quite stiff. You should be able to roll it into an oval.
- For a vegan version of this recipe avoid using dairy yogurt and replace with vegan yogurt or add more lemon juice.
- For a gluten free version replace semolina with fine maize meal.
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A little request:
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
- or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962
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42 Comments
Batter Up With Sujata
January 7, 2019 at 3:51 pm
This curry sounds mouthwatering. But I would love to enjoy the muthia as a snack. Fried hot muthia with tea or coffee Wow perfect for this cold weather. Lovely share.
mayurisjikoni
January 10, 2019 at 9:24 am
Thanks Sujata, yes we enjoyed the remaining as a snack with masala tea and some chutney. Its a nice tea time treat.
sizzlingtastebuds
January 7, 2019 at 4:27 pm
That’s a wonderful dish to make isn’t it ? Steamed / pan fried / deep fried— these are wonderful in any gravy as you said. Enticing pics, Mayuri ! Loving the entire set up especially the rolled up chapatis ..
mayurisjikoni
January 10, 2019 at 9:23 am
Thank you so much Kalyani. Muthias are a favorite in our house.
The Girl Next Door
January 7, 2019 at 5:10 pm
Wow, both the muthiya and the curry look delicious! Love the set-up as well. 🙂
mayurisjikoni
January 10, 2019 at 9:23 am
Thanks Priya.
Sandhya
January 7, 2019 at 5:13 pm
Looks awesome Mayuri! Wish I could dive in this yummy subji!
mayurisjikoni
January 10, 2019 at 9:22 am
Thanks Sandhya.
themadscientistskitchen
January 7, 2019 at 7:45 pm
I think I will make the Muthias your way. I was never satisfied with my Muthias. Always thought they were very hard. The gravy too is delicious. Will come back for a leisurely read.
Btw enjoy your train ride share pics as I have heard quite a bit about this train n will like to see it atleast virtually. All the best with your Visa.
mayurisjikoni
January 10, 2019 at 9:30 am
Archana the trick to making soft muthia if steaming is to add more veggies. If you’re going to fry them to add to sabjis, then they are a bit hard. The gravy it soaks up makes it soft. Taking pictures from a moving train, they don’t come out too good and we can’t open the windows as the compartment is air conditioned.
Vidya Narayan
January 9, 2019 at 4:56 am
It was my gut feeling that you would make something similar for this theme. I don’t know how but I knew it would be a Gujarati dish and when I saw this, I was super happy. Bookmarking this recipe as currently I have all the sabzis at home including fresh tuvar. The only thing I have to make are some muthias and I am good to go. Fantastic traditional regional recipes that I adore. Good luck with the visa formalities and hope all goes well.
mayurisjikoni
January 10, 2019 at 9:21 am
Thanks Vidya, its funny how or certain themes you know instantly what you want to make. I’m glad I finally got my mother in law’s famous muthia shaak on the blog. As I mentioned she would add it to variety of sabjis.
Sasmita Sahoo Samanta
January 10, 2019 at 7:16 pm
Such a fantastic regional recipes di !!!! Thank you so very much for including this for theme sharing here 🙂 Love to try this sometime surely 🙂
mayurisjikoni
January 11, 2019 at 5:09 pm
Thanks Sasmita, please do try out the recipe.
PepperOnPizza
January 11, 2019 at 4:14 pm
Wow. Methi leaf dumplings. Roasted brinjal (almost a bharta with the seasoning). Thowar dal.Jaggery, and garam masala. This is like 2 sabzis and a dal fry! Very interesting recipe, Mayuri. I can’t wrap my head around this dish to understand what the flavours and textures must be like. No option, I have to make this soon! Hope the train ride was as exciting and interesting as you anticipated! Sujata Shukla from PepperOnPizza
mayurisjikoni
January 11, 2019 at 4:59 pm
Thanks Sujata, this is one sabji that you will enjoy on its own as its filling too. The train journey was really good. Comfort seats and scenic.
FoodTrails
January 11, 2019 at 6:07 pm
Methi Muthia was on my mind for ta long time.Looking at pic of your curry, I am tempted to make muthias along with the curry!! A wholesome bowl of comfort and rich in flavours!! Will soon try making these your way!! Lovely share!!
mayurisjikoni
January 12, 2019 at 3:29 pm
Thanks Swati, one can enjoy it on its own too.
Poonam bachhav
January 12, 2019 at 11:16 pm
The curry with fresh pigeon peas and methi muthia sounds delicious di ! Bookmarking the recipe. I loved your presentation as well.
mayurisjikoni
January 15, 2019 at 5:29 pm
Thank you so much Poonam, please do try it out and let me know if you enjoyed it.
veena
January 15, 2019 at 7:24 pm
wow!!This is such an elaborate recipe and looks so very delicious. My bookmarks seems to be ever increasing
mayurisjikoni
January 18, 2019 at 10:41 pm
Thanks Veena, yes it is a bit elaborate and I guess that’s why my mother in law would only make the muthia sabji for special occasions.
Heidi Roberts
January 21, 2019 at 10:28 pm
I would love to be able to taste your interesting looking food!!
mayurisjikoni
January 23, 2019 at 9:44 pm
Thanks Heidi.. perhaps one day you’ll be able to. Otherwise the nearest would be Nayna 🙂 for now. I’m sure she makes something similar.
Shobha Keshwani
January 21, 2019 at 11:44 pm
The curry made with fresh tuwar looks so healthy and delicious.. Muthias are on my list and I will be making them sometime soon.
mayurisjikoni
January 23, 2019 at 9:42 pm
Thank you Shobha, do try the muthias. As I mentioned the ones to be used as a steamed snack are a bit different from the ones I’ve fried.
Rafeeda – The Big Sweet Tooth
January 22, 2019 at 8:59 am
I would really love to invite myself to your house for a full on Gujrati meal… and I promise you a Malabar meal, but we don’t have much veg options… but whatever I can, I will make for you… hehe… That shaak looks so lipsmacking, I think I would eat those bhajias just like that without waiting for the gravy to get done…
mayurisjikoni
January 23, 2019 at 9:38 pm
Rafeeda, perhaps one day we’ll be able to invite each other. You never know. I would love to try out Malabar dishes even though limited. Its not the quantity but the love that makes the meal worth cherishing.
simplysensationalfood
January 24, 2019 at 12:29 am
I am drooling at this shak , it’s a family favorite. I love your recipe and photos are amazing.
mayurisjikoni
February 14, 2019 at 4:30 pm
Thank you so much Nayna.
preethi76
January 24, 2019 at 2:41 am
Methi muthia Tuvar nu Shaak looks tempting. Book marking this fab recipe . Lovely share.
mayurisjikoni
February 14, 2019 at 4:28 pm
Thank you so much.
Pavani
January 24, 2019 at 1:38 pm
Wow, what a visual treat to eyes.The curry looks delicious with full of flavours.wish I am your neighbour so that I can come and have this yummy curry.
mayurisjikoni
January 26, 2019 at 11:32 pm
Thanks Pavani, we all wish we lived next to each other, can you imagine the different cuisines we all would get to taste.
jayashreetrao
January 24, 2019 at 1:38 pm
The curry looks tempting and those dumplings I can eat them just like that. Lovely share for the theme.
mayurisjikoni
January 26, 2019 at 11:32 pm
Thank you so much Jayashree.
amrita
January 24, 2019 at 2:33 pm
Hope your train journey was exciting ….this curry could be a meal itself with goodness of leafy greens and lentils
mayurisjikoni
January 26, 2019 at 11:31 pm
Thanks Amrita, train journey was really good, much more relaxing than the plane. Yes it can be a meal on its own.
Seema Doraiswamy Sriram
February 4, 2019 at 3:44 am
Oh wow a treasure recipe, Mayuri Patel. The addition of extra veggies added makes it even more wholesome. the dumplings sure do look tempting by themselves.
mayurisjikoni
February 14, 2019 at 3:49 pm
Thank you so much Seema.
Archana
March 9, 2019 at 12:58 pm
Mayuri, I made this sabzi finally. Will share images asa I stop eating it. Lol been snacking on it since morning.
Austin Angers
June 17, 2020 at 8:17 pm
Good article. I certainly love this site. Keep it up!