Thepla recipe
Thepla recipe – One of the most popular & healthy Gujarati Breakfast recipes. Thepla is a flatbread similar to paratha, made of whole wheat flour, oil and spice powders like turmeric, red chili powder etc. To make variations of thepla, ingredients like millet flour, besan, curd, fenugreek leaves (methi) or grated bottle gourd are used.
Most Gujaratis love eating their Theplas with curd or mango pickle known as aam ka chunda. These are commonly & often prepared in most Gujarati households not only for breakfast, but also for their meal, snack & even to enjoy during their travel.
They can also be carried to work or school in the lunch box with pickle & some sabji.
Pro Tips
- If you are keen to use millets then you can use bajra (pearl millet) & jowar flour (sorghum).
- Besan enhances the flavor and increases the protein content in the dish.
- Always use curd or yogurt along with millet flour and besan to make soft theplas.
- However curd reduces the shelf life so they should be consumed with in 5 to 6 hours if kept at room temperature.
- Please note that using millet flour and besan makes the theplas slightly hard. So using a good amount of oil & curd is very important.
- Kneading & resting the dough well for at least 20 minutes helps to make soft theplas.
How to make thepla
1. If making plain thepla then skip this step. Pluck the methi leaves. Rinse them well a few times. I sprinkle vinegar and leave for a while. Then rinse. Drain to a colander. Chop finely.
2. Add wheat flour and bajra flour. When I made this I used only atta and skipped bajra flour. Replace bajra and besan with atta if they are not for immediate consumption.
3. Then add besan.
4. Next transfer chopped fenugreek leaves, red chilli powder, turmeric, salt, garam masala, grated ginger, chilli and ajwain.
5. Pour curd. Skip curd if you prefer to store them for more than a day.
6. Mix every thing well.
7. Pour water only as needed and make a soft dough that is not sticky.
8. Pour 1 tbsp oil and knead well. If you are not using besan & bajra flour then you can reduce the quantity of oil.
9. Smear few drops of oil over the dough. Cover and rest for 20 mins.
Rolling
10. Divide the dough to 8 equal balls.
11. Dust some wheat flour on the rolling area and over the ball. Flatten it.
12. Roll to a thin thepla. Do not roll very thin or very thick. If you add bajra or jowar flour and more fenugreek leaves, the edges may turn uneven. Though that doesn’t affect the taste, to please my fussy boys I use a lid to cut them round. Take a look at the main pictures.
13. Roll 5 of them and transfer them to a platform. Make the rest while you toast these.
Toasting
14. Heat a tawa or griddle until hot enough. Then transfer one to the tawa.
15. Cook until you see small bubbles. Flip it and cook on the other side pressing gently with a spatula.
16. Flip too and fro and cook until they have some golden to brown spots on them. Drizzle half tsp oil over it on both sides.
17. Remove and stack on a kitchen tissue to keep them soft. If you plan not to consume the same day, then do not stack them as the hot theplas will let out moisture.
The color of the thepla is different in the main pictures as they were made another time using bajra flour and more red chili powder.
Serve thepla with curd, pickle or aam ka chunda.
Variations
In this post I have shared how to make methi thepla. You can make few changes to this recipe and make plain or sada, lauki or mooli thepla.
To make plain or sada thepla just skip millet flour,besan, methi leaves & curd from the list of ingredients mentioned in the recipe card below.
Replace methi with half cup grated bottle gourd or radish to make lauki or mooli thepla.
INGREDIENTS (US CUP = 240ML )
- 1½ cup wheat flour (atta)
- ¼ cup bajra or jowar flour – millet flour (optional)
- 3 to 4 tbsp chickpea flour (besan) (optional)
- 1 to 1¼ cup methi leaves (fenugreek leaves) (skip to make plain thepla)
- 1 tsp ginger grated or ginger garlic paste
- 1 green chili fine chopped or paste (skip for kids)
- ¼ tsp salt or as needed
- ½ tsp red chili powder
- ½ tsp garam masala (coriander powder)
- ¼ to ½ tsp turmeric (haldi)
- 4 tbsp curd (yogurt) (skip to make plain thepla)
- 1 tbsp oil for dough
- 1 tbsp oil for frying
INSTRUCTIONS
Make dough
- Skip if making plain thepla – Rinse methi leaves in lot of water and drain them well. Chop them finely and add to a mixing bowl.
- Add all the ingredients except oil to the mixing bowl. Begin to mix well all the ingredients to bring out the moisture from methi leaves.
- Sprinkle water just as needed and knead to a soft non sticky dough. Pour 1 tbsp oil and knead it well.
- Keep it covered and rest the dough for 20 mins. Divide the dough to 8 to 9 portions. Make balls and keep covered.
how to make thepla
- Lightly dust flour over the rolling area. Place a ball over the flour and flatten it slightly. Smear flour on both the sides.
- Begin to roll to a 8 inch thepla of medium thickness. Similarly make about 5 and keep them aside on the platform.
- Heat a pan or tawa until hot enough. Transfer a thepla to the tawa.
- Cook on a medium heat until half cooked on the bottom, then flip it and cook until golden spots appear on both the sides.
- In between press down the thepla with a spatula for even cooking.
- Drizzle about half tsp oil on each. Stack them on a kitchen tissue to keep them soft.
- Serve methi thepla with curd, pickle or aam ka chunda.
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