Alu - Methi Subji

This recipe is courtesy of my good friend Sowmya, an excellent home cook and an extremely hospitable person. It can be made with just kasuri methi or fresh methi, I had a bunch of fresh methi on hand, so I used that. Here's how I made it:

1 bag of baby potatoes (contains abt. 20 - 25)

1 bunch fresh methi - only leaves to be used

3 tsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 tsp turmeric pwd

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp garlic paste

2 tsp coriander pwd

2 tsp cumin pwd

1 to 2 tsp red chilli pwd

1 tbsp kasoori methi - crushed (increase if not using fresh methi leaves)

Salt and sugar to taste

Boil the potatoes in pressure cooker for 1 or 2 whistles, they should be cooked but remain firm. When cool, peel and keep aside. If potatoes are not baby-sized, you can chop them too.

Heat the oil in a large wok, add the mustard and cumin seeds. When they stop spluttering add the chopped onions and fry till softened. Add the ginger and garlic pastes and fry another few mins. Then add the methi leaves, cover and cook on medium low heat for 10 mins. You can use a few tbsp water to avoid burning. Then add the kasoori methi, turmeric ,coriander pwd, cumin pwd and red chilli powder. After 5 mins add the boiled and peeled baby potatoes and salt and sugar to taste. Cover and cook on medium heat for 10 mins, stirring in between to make sure all potatoes are well coated with the methi-onion-spice mix. Add few drops of oil as they are cooking and let some of the potatoes get slightly golden-brown to give a nice crunch.

Serve warm with rotis or rice.

Tender Methi - Mung Dal Salad

This recipe is from Tarla Dalal's magazine. Since it called for tender methi, I planted a handful of methi seeds in a plastic tray on my patio and in about 8 days, harvested the tender saplings which were just enough for this refreshing salad.

Here's how I made the salad -

1/3 cup mung dal - soaked in water for 1/2 hour and cooked in boiled, salted water for 10-12 mins. till cooked but still firm.
Handful of tender methi shoots - leaves and stalks
1 small Persian cucumber
1 green chilli pepper - chopped
Salt, sugar to taste
1/4 tsp lemon juice

Just mix all the ingredients together and enjoy this salad at room temperature.

The tender, fresh methi had only the mildest of bitter tinge, which was perfectly set-off by the mung dal and cool cucumbers.

This was the first time I made this salad, next time I may try adding chopped onions and tomatoes also.

This Tender Methi - Mung Dal Salad goes to the Fenugreek Event at What's Cooking.
This event was started by PJ of Seduce Your Tastebuds.

Also contributing my all time favorite Methi Subji - Methi with Gram Flour (Methi chi Peeth Perleli Bhaji) to the above event.

I'm sending this Tender Methi and the salad I made with it to the Fresh From ur Garden event at Taste Buds.

Methi Mutter Malai

I was never a big fan of this dish, mainly due to the 'malai' part. But a few months back, we had one of those ready-made frozen versions and my daughter loved it. So started my quest to make it at home. I have finally settled on this version that we all love. I keep the fat content kinda lower by using low-fat cottage cheese (not paneer, but the regular cottage cheese from the grocery store) and have adjusted the quantities of the ingredients such that the methi taste of the methi (which I actually love) does not over-power, making it suitable for kids.

Here's how I make it now:

1 cup fresh methi leaves - washed and chopped fine
1 1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 low fat cottage cheese
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of turmeric pwd
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 green chilli (deseed & derib for lower heat)
1 large clove garlic
1 1/2 inch ginger - peeled
1/4 cup cashewnuts
1/4 tsp cardamon pwd
1 inch stick of cinnamon
4 cloves
4-5 sprigs of cilantro
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp sugar
1/8 to 1/4 tsp garam masala pwd

Heat oil and add the cumin seeds and turmeric pwd. Toast on low heat for 2-3 mins. Make a paste of all the ingredients listed above from onion to cilantro as well as the cottage cheese. Add this paste to the oil and fry on medium low heat for 15 mins., stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Then add the chopped methi and about 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook 5 - 7 mins. The methi gets cooked pretty fast. Add more water to get desired consistency (not too runny). Add the frozen peas, salt and sugar. Give it one boil. Add the garam masala and mix well.

Methi Mutter Malai goes well with any kind of Indian bread.

Methi Bhaji and Methi Parathas

Methi Bhaji (Subji)-

This is a dry subji. We call it 'Methi chi peeth perleli bhaji' meaning methi subji with gram flour. I have always loved this item, so much so that whenever I visit my Dad in Mumbai, I always request the cook to make this bhaji the first day I arrive & then atleast once every week while I am there. Methi leaves have a slightly bitter taste and combining them with gram flour and jaggery in this subji wonderfully balances out all the flavors.

Luckily I found fresh methi at the Indian store this Friday, hence got 4 bunches (they were rather small) as I wanted to savor this bhaji and make the parathas too. Here's how I made the bhaji:

4 small bunches of methi leaves - after discarding the stems/roots, washing (very well as it tends to have some mud stuck between the leaves), and chopping in the food processor, it made about 2 cups. If fresh methi is not available, frozen can be used too.

3 tbsp oil (this veg. does need more oil than I normally use)

For the phodni/tadka - 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp hing, 1/2 tsp turmeric pwd.

1 tsp coriander pwd

1 tsp cumin pwd

2 tsp Maharashtrian Goda Masala

3 tbsp jaggery/gul

Salt to taste

1 cup gram flour

Heat half the oil. Add mustard seeds, when they splutter add cumin seeds, hing and halad. Immediately add the chopped methi leaves. Add about 1 cup of water. Cover & cook on medium high for 7-8 mins. Then go in the masalas - coriander pwd, cumin pwd, goda masala and the salt and gul. Stir well & let it cook for another 5 mins.  Give it another good stir. Then sprinkle the gram flour over the bhaji, mix very well, add the rest of the oil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook for another 7-8 mins. so the flour gets steamed.

Thats it. The bhaji is ready. Before I go on to the parathas, let me warn you folks - we rarely have any bhaji left over to make the paratha stuffing. The methi leaves, though they seem like a big pile when cleaning, shrivel up when cooking. The addition of the gram flour does help increase the quantity of the bhaji, but rarely enough to have leftovers. Usually I get 2 bunches of methi leaves and the bhaji with that is good for 1 meal for 3 to 4 people. This time I wanted to have leftovers, hence bought 4 bunches.

Methi Parathas -

Really just an extension of the above dish. Like I mentioned earlier, this subji is fairly dry and as it cools, it becomes dry enough to use as a paratha stuffing, without fear of it oozing out. For the paratha dough, you need -

1 cup whole wheat flour

pinch of salt

water to knead to a soft pliable dough

few drops of oil

Mix the salt with the wheat flour, gradually add water to form dough. Drizzle a few drops of oil & knead some more. Leave it covered with a damp cloth for about 1/2 hr.

To make the parathas, divide the dough into 6 to 8 balls. Flatten each slightly. Cup in the palm & fill about 2 tsps of the methi bhaji. Bring the sides together & seal closed. Press between the palms. Stuff all the dough this way. Then roll out each into parathas dusting a little flour as needed. Roast on medium high tava on both sides using one or two drops of oil until golden brown spots appear. Enjoy hot or roll and pack in aluminium foil for lunchbox. My 5 yr old daughter likes this with boondi raita. I served it with a simple raita of red radishes and green onions in the above picture.

This Methi Subji and Methi Parathas are off to Redchillies Herb Mania Fenugreek event.

Updating this post to send it to the Fenugreek event at What's Cooking, this event was started by PJ.