Methi Leaves Vadi served with Coriander Coconut Chutney.

“Methi Leaves Vadi served with Coriander Coconut Chutney” … Steamed and tava fried crisp spicy~aromatic fritters made from fresh methi leaves (fenugreek leaves) with chickpea flour (besan / chane peetHa) … similar to famous crunchy snack favorite of Mumbaikars prepared with kothimbir / coriander leaves … the same is prepared with methi leaves too and tastes delicious … Yummilicious …...

** Methi Leaves Vadi is prepared similar to Kothimbir Vadi or Coriander leaves fritters, a very famous snack prepared and relished in every Mumbaikars home. I first came across this one in poli bhaji shops ie shops that sell roti / chapati with bhaji in every nook and corner of Mumbai. They prepare this often and sell them and I used to buy a few and munch on them very often. I first came across the recipe from my then neighbor of 28 yrs back who was very old and loved talking to me specially about their traditional dishes. Though busy life never gave me an opportunity to do much then after I changed my residence my maid help always used to say that she has to rush home to prepare the same. 

** It was some 15 yrs back when I had a spondylitis problem and had to take compulsory rest, that I had to take my maids help in cooking too. She helped me very much and did some cooking too for about 2 months. Lol, I do not allow anybody in kitchen, unless I have no choice. But, I will always remain indebted to her for her help, not only then, but again 10 yrs ago when I had Back and Neck issues too. She has been with me for almost 14 yrs, but had to leave job 2 yrs back as she shifted to her native place. Such a wonderful women, whom I will miss always. She had prepared this dish with coriander leaves a few times for me and I loved it. There are many more Maharashtrian dishes that I simply love and will be posting soon, so do keep an watch on my Blog for the same. 

** I then started preparing the same with methi leaves too as hubby and me both are fond of fresh methi leaves. I have tweaked the recipe from what she prepared and there is addition of many more aromatic spices in this vadi. Do try this out and enjoy with your family and friends. This is a very easy dish to prepare. You can serve the Vadi hot after steaming giving it a tadka / tempering or you can allow it cool, slice it to thick rings or cubes and tava / pan fry the same and then add on the tempering. Both taste good, but personally I prefer the tava fried one as it gives the vadi crisp taste which is much more tastier with some addition of chutney. But some do prefer it without frying for health reasons, in which case you should relish the same hot as it does not taste so good once cooled down unless fried. 

** Here is the Recipe to “Methi Leaves Vadi” ….. 

** Ingredients : 

Fresh Methi Leaves / Fenugreek Leaves : 3 cups finely chopped. 

Besan / Bengal Gram Flour / Chana Dal Flour / Chane PeetHa : 2 cups. 

Rava / Bombai Rulav : 1 cup 

Curds / Dahi / Yogurt : ½ cup thick curds beaten smooth. 

Green Chilly / Tarni Mirsanga / Hirvi Mirchi : 4-5 very finely chopped. 

Haldi / Turmeric Powder : ½ tsp 

Red Chilly Powder : 1 -2 tsp (+/- depending upon individual taste) 

Garam Masala Powder : ½ tsp 

Hing / Asafoetida Powder : 1 tsp 

Lemon / Nimboo : ½ of small sized lemon 

Cooking Soda / Eno / Soda pitti : ½ tsp 

Salt to taste 

Oil (any edible) : 1 tblsp 

Oil For Tava frying : as required. 

** To be coarsely crushed / pounded : 

Black Pepper Corns / Mire : 2-3 

White Til / Sesame / Tilu : 1 tsp 

Jeera / Cumin Seeds : 1 tsp 

Dhania / Coriander Seeds : 2 tsp 

Oam / Vovon / Ajwain Seeds : ½ tsp 

Fennel / Badisep Seeds : ½ tsp 

Fresh Ginger / Adrak / Alle : 1 tsp finely chopped 

** For Tempering : 

Oil : 1 tsp 

Mustard Seeds / Rai / Sasam : 1 tsp 

Curry Leaves : 10-12 

** For Garnishing : 

Freshly Grated Coconut : 2 tblsp 

Coriander Leaves : 1 tblsp finely chopped. 

Lemon / Nimboo : ½ of small sized lemon 

** Keep all the ingredients ready before you start assembling for preparation of Vadi. 

** Sieve the besan / chana dal flour into a large sized bowl to remove any lumps if so. Sieving of flours give you a smoother and evenly mixed batter for addition of dishes. 

** In the same bowl add in the rava and mix it with a spoon. Now add in the methi leaves prepared and kept aside along with curds, green chillies, haldi powder, red chilly powder, garam masala powder, hing powder, salt to taste along with 2 cups of water and mix well. The batter should be thick and smooth. Keep it aside covered for 5-10 minutes. 

** Note : The resting time is very important for my version of vadi as I have added in rava and rava soaks up water and swells a little bit which has to be dealt with before steaming or else the Vadi will be hard. 

** Keep the pedavana / Idly steamer with enough water on heat and bring it to full boiling consistency. Meanwhile apply oil to the dish that you will use for steaming from within. I used cylinderical cylinder shaped steel glasses of about 4 inch height to get round spiral shaped vadi when sliced. You can use a round dish with a depth of about 3 inches too and later cut them to desired shape or squares. 

** To be coarsely crushed / pounded : Add the pepper, til, jeera, dhania, oam, fennel and ginger in a thick bottomed dish or a pestle and coarsely pound / crush all the ingredients together. Do not make it fine. Remove and add the pound ingredients to the bowl of ingredients kept aside. 

** Mix all the pounded ingredients into the bowl and mix well. If you find it too thick add in a little bit water, the batter should be dropping consistency like that of vada etc. that we drop in hot oil. Slightly thicker than that of Idly. Lastly add in the oil and the soda / eno to the batter and mix well. Pour it immediately into the prepared tumbler / dish that is kept ready. 

** Place the batter poured dish immediately into the pedavana / Idly steamer which has now already come to full steam and cover with the lid tightly. Let it cook on high heat for 5 minutes, then lower the heat to minimum and cook for 15-20 minutes. Done. 

** Open the lid immediately and let the steam pass off. Do be careful, you may burn your hands. So keep your hands safe and use tongs for removing the tumbler or vessel which holds the steamed vadi. Keep it away and allow to cool for some time and come to room temperature. Now run a blunt knife though the inner rim side of the vessel / tumbler and invert the same. The vadi will come out in one go. Place it on slicing board and allow to cool if still hot. You can now slice them into required thickness slices. 

** Heat a tava and when it comes to smoking point, lower the heat to minimum apply oil all over the tava evenly spreading it into an layer and gently place each sliced vadi on the tava. You may place as many vadi as required. Now raise the heat to medium and fry till crisp on the bottom. Gently flip over and fry on the other side too. Remove and keep aside on an absorbent paper for excess oil to be taken care off. 

** For Garnishing : In a small bowl mix the freshly grated coconut and coriander leaves and mix them gently with a spoon. Keep this ready aside. 

** Put the fried Methi leaves vadi in a vessel or lay it flatly on a layer on a plate and garnish with the mixture of coconut coriander leaves all over. Give a gently squeeze of lemon juice all over the vadi in a swift swirl. Do not add too much of the juice as we have already added some to the batter. 

** For Tempering : Heat the oil, when hot add in the mustard seeds, when they begin to splutter add in the curry leaves and fry for a few seconds. Pour it over the garnished and kept ready vadi. They are now ready to be served. 

** Methi Leaves Vadi Steamed and Tava Fried” is done and ready to be served. I served it with Coriander Coconut Chutney. You can serve the same as it is as it tastes equally good without any accompaniment or with some tomato ketchup too or any chutney of your choice. Enjoy these Methi Vadi with family and friends as snack at party time or get together 's they are sure to love them. 

** Note : You can steam and keep the Vadi ready before hand and fry them as and when needed as they taste best when served hot. You can also prepare it the previous night if you are short of time the next day and put it in the fridge in a air tight box. Just remove it and let it rest at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before you slice them and then fry as mentioned above. 

** You can use the search option for "Chutney or Methi Leaves" where you will get many more chutney dishes. Do try out various types of dishes to relish with dosa / Idly / roti etc. or with dal-chawal too. Enjoy the dishes with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible. You can also click on the link below for checking the same. 

** For the Coriander Chutney Recipe, You can check the following link for the same…. 

http://gayathrifoodbytes.blogspot.in/search?q=Coriander+Chutney

** An Earnest Request : There are many more recipes of similar type in the blog. For all my Recipes, use the search option or the label section in the Blog. If you are still not able to find it please leave a message in comment section or mail me the same. You can also go to my page (add on the left side of blog) and leave a message and I will try my best to get back to you as soon as possible … Thank you. I have also started a food group for "Konkani Saraswats" by the name "KONKANI DELICACIES" the link of which is posted on the left side of the blog page. Do join us in our culinary journey. I strongly believe in Sharing and always endorse that "Sharing Is Caring".