Rajesh said he tasted methi (fenugreek)leaves dishes like aloo-methi, methi daal, etc only after we got married. He would however talk reverently about these methi kababs that his mother used to make when he was a kid. So when my in-laws visited us for the first time, I requested my mother-in-law to make this dish. It was delicious! I now make it fairly regularly at home, the only variation in my preparation is the shape. I shape it like a cutlet, while my mother-in-law would shape it in the form of kababs, a slightly elongated roll. As it is shallow fried, the kabab takes longer to cook which is why I shape it in the form of a cutlet, as a result it gets done fairly quickly. While the recipe itself is fairly simple, separating the methi leaves from their stalks is fairly time consuming. So lets get down to the recipe.
Ingredients
- Methi (fenugreek) leaves - 1 large bunch
- Onion - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
- Green chillies - 2, finely chopped
- Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (more or less depending on your taste)
- Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp (optional)
- Coriander cumin powder - 3/4 tsp
- Rice flour - 1/2 cup
- Sooji/cream of wheat/semolina/rava - 1/4 to 1/2 cup
- Salt to taste
- Oil (to shallow fry)
Instructions
Separate the leaves from the stems of the Methi bunch. Put the leaves in a bowl and rinse it a few times. Let it sit in water and let the leaves rise to the top and the sediments/mud settle down at the bottom of the bowl. After 5-10 minutes, remove the leaves and put in a colander and allow as much water to drain. You can also put the leaves on a dish towel or an absorbent kitchen paper for the water to be absorbed. Chop up the methi leaves roughly.
In a large bowl, put in the chopped methi leaves, chopped onions, green chillies and the rest of the ingredients (other than oil) and mix well. At this point, the ingredients may not bind well. DO NOT ADD WATER.
Keep the mixture aside for at least 30 minutes to an hour. The salt in the mixture will make water ooze out of the methi leaves and the onions and the whole mixture will come together.
If you feel that the mixture is soggy, a little sooji (semolina) can be added to help with the binding.
Take a tablespoon of the mixture and form into spherical shapes and then slightly flatten them into cutlets (like the way burger patties are formed).
Refrigerate the uncooked cutlets for at least 30 minutes.
Heat a frying pan and spray cooking oil or lightly grease the pan with oil. Place the cutlets on the hot pan and shallow fry on low to medium heat till golden on one side, spray oil on the uncooked side, flip the cutlets over and do the same on the other side as well.
Serve hot with tomato ketchup.
Note:-
- These can be deep fried as well, it may get done quicker than shallow frying. Since you shallow fry on low to medium flame, it tends to take longer to make this.
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