Thepla is a type of Indian flatbread and is one of the most famous dishes of Gujarati cuisine. It is famous not only in Western India but also in North India. It is made from wheat flour, fenugreek leaves (known as methi in India) and spices (such as turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, etc.). Thepla is not only made from fenugreek leaves, and other things like radish (commonly known as muli in India) or bottle gourd (dhudi) can also be added. Methi Thepla takes a little time to prepare, and you can enjoy it anytime.

What is Methi Thepla?

Methi Thepla (fenugreek flatbread), famous in Gujarati cuisine, is made of wheat flour, chickpea flour (also known as besan), fenugreek leaves, and powder.
Thepla is one of the most popular dishes for Indian travellers, as it does not spoil for many days and is a good choice for long trips.

You can enjoy this methi thepla at any time of the day. It is usually eaten in the morning for breakfast, but you can also enjoy it at any other time, such as lunch or dinner.

You can eat Methi Thepla with mango pickle or curd, but many people like to eat it with tea.

Fenugreek leaves are super healthy, and the bitterness is softened by wheat flour, and spices enhance the flavours.

Types of Thepla

There are many types of Thepla, and we serve them in many ways, but here we will discuss only some of them which are generally prepared - Plain Thepla, Radish Thepla and Dhundhi Thepla, and Methi Thepla.

Plain Thepla: Also known as Sada Thepla (plain thepla), is the simplest of all thepla and is prepared with a few ingredients like wheat flour, spices like red chilli powder, and turmeric powder. Knead it well, make it into flatbread, and enjoy the thepla.
Muli thepla: Muli thepla (also known as radish thepla) is very similar to plain thepla, but in this case, you need to grate the radish and add it to the mixture. Mix the spices, radish, and leaves and knead everything well. Prepare pita bread, cook well, and enjoy with mango pickles or cottage cheese.
Dudhi thepla: In this type of thepla, only one ingredient is different, the bottle gourd (dudhi). We use grated bottle gourd in a mixture of wheat flour and spices; we add grated bottle gourd.

Now that we have presented some examples of theplas, we will prepare our favourite methi thepla.

INGREDIENTS FOR METHI THEPLA RECIPE

1 cup chopped fenugreek leaves (methi)
Salt to taste
2 tsp Sesame seeds (til ke beej)
¼ tsp asafoetida (hing)
½ tsp turmeric powder (haldi powder)
1 tsp red chilli powder (Red Chilli Powder)
1 tsp coriander powder ( sukha dhaniya powder)
½ tsp cumin powder (jeera powder)
1 tsp green chilli and ginger paste (hari mirchi and adhrakh paste)
Ajwain (carom seeds)
¼ cup curd
¼ cup oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp besan
Water as required
Oil for cooking
Extra flour for dusting
Pickle
Green chillies

PREPARATIONS FOR THE THEPLA DOUGH

Take a bowl, mix wheat flour in it, then add chopped fenugreek leaves as well. Now put gram flour in it, add powder spices like turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder.
Salt to taste, curd, ajwain (carom seeds), green chilli and ginger paste, sesame seeds, hing (asafoetida).
Now put 2 tbsp of oil in it and add some water at the end
Now Knead it well
Now add water to it and knead it well so that it becomes a soft dough
Tip: Add water little by little, adding water all at once will not make soft dough
In the end, add 2 tbsp of oil to it and knead it for the last time so that it becomes soft.
Now that it is well kneaded, now we will make small balls out of it which should be of equal size from which we will make Methi Thepla.

HOW TO MAKE METHI THEPLA

Now that we have prepared everything, now we will take a rolling board on which we will roll out small balls of the kneaded dough.
Now take that thepla balls one by one, put some flour on the rolling board and make the balls into a flatbread.
NOTE: Just make the methi thepla a bit thicker because of its softness if you roll it very flat not thick, it will become crispy like a crispy papad.
Light the gas on a medium flame and put a griddle pan on it, if you don’t have a griddle pan no worries just take tawa instead.
Once the pan is hot, put flattened thepla on it. Lets cook for less than a minute until it becomes light golden or you see faint air pockets on the top.
Now flip and apply some oil all over it. Flip again and apply oil to other side and cook.
NOTE: Don’t over cook the theplas, make it golden brown. If you over cook the thepla, it will taste a little bitter.
Continue to flip back a couple of times until it becomes golden brown. In the same way you can make all theplas.

QUICK RECAP OF THE THEPLA RECIPE

Once your dough is ready, make small even sized balls, and use a rolling pin to make flatbreads.
Once your pan is hot, place the rolled flatbread on it, and let it cook.
Flip over the thepla, and brush it with oil.
Repeat on the other side, and cook the thepla till it is golden brown.

EXPERT TIPS FOR THEPLA RECIPE

When preparing theplas, make sure to use fresh ingredients, especially fenugreek. Try to find extra dark-looking fenugreek leaves.
Wash 150-200 grams of fenugreek leaves with water and dry them well. Then separate the fenugreek leaves from the stem. Only use the leaves.
Chop the leaves very finely because if they are not chopped properly, they can tear the dough when rolling.
If you want to store theplas for some time, keep them in rolled in an aluminium foil.
While fresh ingredients are always delightful, beginners can always use ginger powder instead of grated ginger to make rolling easier.