Recipe: Methi Parata (Fenugreek leaves Parata)

"Keerai amma keerai" (greens vendor's way of telling everyone that he has arrived) is a very familiar sound in the mornings, to almost everyone from Tamil Nadu. The greens vendor usually comes at specific time every morning selling a variety of green leafy vegetables on his bicyle. He brings in bunches of greens - Amaranth (Mola keerai/ thotakura), Indian Mustard leaves (Agathikeerai/ Avisaaku), Drumstick leaves ( Murunga keerai/ Munagaaku), Spinach (Paalak/Paalakura), Fenugreek (Vendhiya keerai/ Menthi kura), Sorrel leaves (Pulichakeerai/ Gongura) etc. Mom makes a healthy and tasty dish with greens at least once or twice a week. While growing up, me and my brother used to help her in plucking and cleaning the leaves, which is a time consuming process. One of the methods how 80's kids were often engaged by parents. 

In Canada, we generally get spinach, that too baby spinach which is used in salads here. Obviously recipes made using baby spinach doesn't taste the same as the ones prepared with the Indian variety. Fenugreek leaves rarely make their appearance at the aisles of Walmart and Freshco. The other greens varieties are quite a rarity and can consider yourself lucky if you find them at select Indian grocery stores. 

Whenever we find a fresh bunch of methi leaves at the grocery store, we just grab them without any second thought. I have also been growing methi in our balcony since last 2 years. So usually in summer, you can find atleast a batch of methi in a corner of our balcony. They are easy to grow and can be harvested within a month. Methi leaves are one of the healthiest green leafy vegetable. It particularly helps lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels. It is not only healthy, it imparts a wonderful flavor to the dish too. We use methi in our cooking in a variety of recipes - methi paratas, methi dal, aloo methi, methi pulav etc. 

Methi parata is a very simple parata recipe, which can be an any time meal - breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack. It can be served with just butter or curd or a pickle. It is a great way to include methi in kid's meal. Pack your kid's lunch box with methi parata along with some ketchup and curd. They will finish their lunch without any qualms. 

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Ingredients:

• Wheat flour - 2 cups
• Methi leaves (chopped) - 1.5 to 2 cups
• Red chili powder - 1 tsp
• Dhaniya (Coriander powder) - 1 tsp
• Ajwain (Carom seeds) - 1/4 tsp
• Jeera (Cumin powder) - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - Per taste
• Oil/ Ghee for frying

Procedure:

• Pluck the methi leaves and discard the stem 
• Soak the leaves in water (at room temperature) with a teaspoon of salt, for 10mins
• Rinse the leaves thoroughly until the water is clear of impurities
• To a mixing bowl, take wheat flour, add all spices mentioned above, salt and mix well
• Chop methi. Add it to the flour mixture and knead well into chapathi dough
• Take lemon sized balls of the dough and roll them into paratas
• On a cast iron pan, fry both the sides of the parata for 20-30 secs each side. Then apply oil/ ghee and fry until both sides are well cooked and turn into golden brown colour
• Serve the methi paratas hot, with butter or fresh curd or pickle or all of these 

Tips:

• Once you buy methi, pluck good leaves and store in an airtight container with a tissue paper on top. Tissue paper sucks in the moisture and helps to keep the leaves fresh for 4-5 days
• If the leaves are wilted, while cleaning soak them in cold water for 10 minutes to make them fresh
• You can also soak methi leaves in water adding a teaspoon of vinegar to remove the dirt
• The trick to get soft paratas lies in the way we need the dough. Knead until the dough turns soft
• Addition of a tablespoon of oil to wheat flour while kneading also help to make the paratas soft 
• You can add methi leaves as is, without chopping. But you may have to pluck each leaf separately which is a time consuming process. By chopping, you not only reduce the preparation time but the chopped leaves when kneaded, imparts great taste to the paratas
• Store the left out parata dough in an air tight container for use, the next day. So it's a great meal prep option too.
• Final tip is to use an iron tawa for frying paratas. It gives a wonderful texture to the paratas

Hope you like this recipe. You can check out the below video to watch the preparation of methi paratas in detail.