What is Thepla?
Theplas are famous Gujarati flatbreads, made with a few ground spices, yogurt, ginger garlic green chili paste, jaggery, and salt. Gujaratis are known to travel the world with their homemade snacks. And they ALWAYS travel with a stash of Methi Theplas. These theplas stay fresh for 5-7 days and are super soft. A generous amount of oil is used to cook the theplas, to make sure the oil acts as a preservative. You can make thepla with different vegetables, or even a mix of vegetables. The vegetables you are using should either be finely shredded or finely chopped.
How to Make Soft Gujarati Theplas?
The key point to making soft theplas is to knead a very soft dough. The ratio of flour to vegetables should always be 2:1. The secret of making a soft dough is to use a sufficient amount of oil and water. I like to add curd to the dough to add richness. But, if I am traveling long distances, or freezing them, I usually skip adding the curd.
Expert Tips to Make Perfect Methi Na Thepla
Making the soft dough is the key. You need to hydrate your dough properly to make sure your dough is soft to make perfectly soft theplas. Use your fingers to mix the dough, spices, oil, and water well. This will ensure that the dough is hydrated well. Add little water at a time to make sure to add the right amount of water to the flour to knead the dough. The flour-to-vegetable ratio to make perfect theplas should always be 2:1. Adding besan to the thepla dough helps the dough with its elasticity. This will be helpful, when we roll the theplas, making sure they don’t tear because of the addition of methi leaves/ or any other vegetables.
Use a generous amount of oil to make the theplas. Adding oil with toasting the theplas renders the beautiful brown marks on theplas, and also helps the theplas to stay fresh for a long time. Roll a few theplas first and then start cooking them. Line a plate with a kitchen towel. Start stacking the cooked theplas one on top of the other.
How to Store Theplas?
Store the theplas to keep them fresh in an insulated container (Indian casserole) for upto 5 days. You can refrigerate them by wrapping them in aluminum foil. To freeze the theplas, like baking parchment paper between each thepla, and wrap stashes of 10 theplas in the foil. Freeze them for up to 3 months.
What Should I serve Methi Thepla With?
As much as I love to enjoy Methi Theplas on their own, we do eat them with a few famous side dishes. One of the ways I thoroughly enjoy theplas, is with a generous spread of white butter and athela marcha. This combination never fails to please. Linking a few recipes that pair perfectly with these theplas.
