Muthiya

Muthiya is a traditional gujarati snack dish which is nothing but spicy steamed rice flour dumplings. The very fact that the main cooking procedure is steaming makes it a healthy alternative.
This contains rice flour, so actually its a meal in itself.

Try this with different vegetables every-time, and you will have more variety.
The next time you are bored of the regular Roti, Sabzi, Dal-Chawal routine, try this. Best ejoyed for dinners. Makes the dinner light for the tummy and healthy for the body.

Muthiyas in Gujarat are especially enjoyed in the June-July months, at the onset of monsoon. This is because the greens are available only for about a 15 day period. You may not find this in the markets, these are available usually with ladies who bring veggies in baskets which they carry on their head. They get the greens from villages, or probably even grow them in their small patches of land. ( I know this as we buy our veggies from these ladies :-) They get us fresh veggies, which has not undergone a long journey to reach my kitchen, like the veggies purchased from malls. If you live anywhere in Gujarat, you may get this. If you are not in Gujarat, you can still enjoy muthiyas made of Fenugreek leaves(Methi) or Bottlegourd (Doodhi)

What goes in:

Muthiya greens - two bunches, finely chopped.
Options other than muthiya greens are Methi (Fenugreek), Bottlegourd, Onion etc - Bottle gourd should be grated.
Chilli - garlic- ginger paste - 2 tbsp
Rice flour - 1 cup
Bengal gram flour ( Besan) - 2 tbsp
Jowar flour (sorghum) - 2 tbsp (optional)
Salt - to taste
Oil for kneading - 3 tbsp
Water for kneading
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - If you prefer a red colour and more spice
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

For the tempering -
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Sesame seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 10-12


How you make it.

1. Take a bog bowl and toss in the chopped greens. Add one tsp of salt to it and mix well. Let it rest for some time. This will release some water from the chopped greens. 
2. To this, add the chilli-garlic-ginger paste, salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder and Asafoetida. Mix well. 
3. Add the flours and first, dry mix all of this. 
4. Add oil, and little water, slowly kneading into a a consistency where you can roll the dough into a log shape and it remains firm, yet soft. To get the consistency right, try taking a fistful of the dough and press firmly. It should get shaped well. 
5. make cylinders 3 inches long and about 1.5 inches thick. 
6. Steam this for about 15 minutes. 
7. Once steamed, let these cool. 
8. Cut them into half inch pieces. 
9. For the tempering, heat the oil, add mustard seeds. As the mustard seeds start sputtering, add the sesame seeds and the curry leaves. Add the muthiya pieces. 



Muthiya preparation

10. Toss well and serve hot! 

Enjoy 

Variations: 

• For the not-so-health-conscious people, if you enjoy fried food, the good news is Muthiya can be fried ! ( At home, we are two groups, one likes the steamed one and the other likes the fried ones ;-) ) 
• For the fried version, use only gram flour. you can add some sorghum flour. But like any other indian fritters, gram flour works best here. 
• Incase the steamed version is leftover, and you are wondering what to do with it, just crush it with your fingers. And toss into a wok with some heated oil. Makes for a nice rice upma! 

Enjoy! 

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