Methi Parathas: Fenugreek Flatbread

Want to have greens, but methi (fenugreek) is too bitter for you? Try methi parathas – atta (whole wheat flour) balances the bitterness of fenugreek beautifully. The end result is delicious.

You Need:

[For 6 parathas]

• Methi (fenugreek) leaves – 100 grams
• Atta – 1 cup
• Ajwain (carom seeds) – 1/2 teaspoon [buy here]
• Salt – To taste
• Milk – a few teaspoons, for kneading
• Oil/ghee – for cooking, ~1 teaspoon per paratha

How To Make Methi Parathas:

1. Prepare the dough

Pluck methi leaves, discard the stems and wilted leaves.

Wash well, grind the leaves to a paste. You could alternatively finely chop the leaves, but if you’re averse to the bitterness grinding is the way to go.

In a mixing bowl, place the flour (atta), salt, carom seeds, two teaspoons of milk. Add the ground fenugreek leaves to it.

Knead the atta into a pliant dough as you would for regular chapatis, except that you don’t need any additional water for this dough. Ground fenugreek leaves act as binding agent; if the dough still feels dry, add a few more drops of milk.

Let the kneaded dough stand covered for twenty minutes.

2. Cook

Toast the parathas in a pan or griddle like any layered parathas – check out this link for instructions. I shape them into folded triangles, with ghee between the folds and fry them on a non-stick pan with vegetable oil.

To Serve:

Serve methi parathas with a vegetable side dish, homemade yogurt, and a sweet chutney (e.g. ginger jaggery chutney with mango chunks, tamarind jaggery chutney) to balance out the bitter notes of fenugreek in the methi parathas.

Meal below: methi parathas with panchmel dal, chayote tomato curry, pomegranate raita.

Notes:

Want to get more daring with parathas? Try your hand at these recipes: