Food blogger Smruti Shah shares a traditional Gujarati preparation of seasonal greens, vegetables and spices.
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Served with puri, Surti Undhiyu is a winter speciality.
Here's the recipe:
How to make Methi Muthiya
Ingredients
- 1 cup wheat flour
- 1/4 cup gram flour
- 1/2 cup chopped fenugreek leaves
- Few sprigs of chopped cilantro
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp chilli garlic ginger paste
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- 1 tsp carom seeds
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 cup water
Method
- Mix wheat flour with gram flour.
- Add fenugreek leaves, cilantro, sugar, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, chilli garlic ginger paste, sesame seeds, carom seeds and oil. Mix well.
- Add water gradually, and knead into a firm dough.
- Make either round or log shaped muthiya.
- Deep fry muthiyas. You can also shallow fry to avoid excess oil. Keep aside.
For the vegetables
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup lilva tuvar (green pigeon peas)
- 1/2 cup val papdi (Indian flat beans)
- 1/2 cup surti papdi
- 10 baby potatoes
- 1/2 cup purple yam
- 1/2 cup white yam (ratalu)
- 6 baby eggplants
- 1/2 cup sweet potatoes
- Green masala prepared below
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 1/4 cup fenugreek leaves finely chopped
- Green masala
Method
- To make green masala, blend 1/2 cup green chillies, 1 inch ginger piece, 5-6 garlic cloves, a bunch of green garlic shoots along with the garlic, 2 cup cilantro, a pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp carom seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp sugar in a blender.
- Add as little water as possible and make a thick green paste. Keep aside.
- Take the baby potatoes, de-skin them and slit them with a '+' shape on one side. Ensure it is not cut through the other side. Repeat for baby eggplants.
- Cut the remaining vegetables into cubes, about the same size as the potatoes and eggplants.
- Mix the green masala with shredded coconut and use 1/4th of the masala to stuff the potatoes and eggplants.
Assembly
- Heat 5 tbsp oil in a big and deep pan.
- If the muthiya is to be shallow fried, use this oil to shallow fry and make the undhiyu in the same oil. This gives the oil an extra flavour!
- Once muthiya is crisp and golden brown on the outside, remove from the oil onto a kitchen towel.
- Add 1 tsp each of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, carom seeds, sesame seeds and a pinch of asafoetida in the oil.
- Once the mustard seeds pop, add half of the remaining green masala and let it sizzle for a minute or two.
- Add all the greens (lilva tuvar, val papdi and surti papdi) to the oil.
- Sprinkle some salt and sugar on them, to avoid discoloration.
- Layer the potatoes, yams and sweet potato.
- Put the remaining green masala on the top and finally add the eggplants and muthiya.
- Top the mixture with fenugreek leaves and some shredded coconut.
- Make a mixture of 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and half cup water.
- Sprinkle the mixture on top of the undhiyu and cover it. Cook for 30 to 35 minutes till the vegetables are soft.
- Before serving, mix the undhiyu well, top with shredded coconut and cilantro and serve with puri or phulka.
Photo: herbivorecucina.blogspot.in
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