Palak Muthia – Spinach Muthia
Palak Muthia is a delicious easy snack in Gujarati cuisine. Muthia is made with whole wheat flour, vegetables and spices that are then formed into logs and steamed. These steamed muthia are shallow fried with some whole spices. They are crispy from outside and soft from inside.
This recipe uses spinach and some cabbage, but recipe is so easily adaptable, and you can add lot of other vegetables.
Muthia word means ‘fist’ and it can also be called dumpling in a way. The dough is formed into small petit logs with the help of your fist which means muthi and that’s where the name came from. I would rather call it Muthia. It’s made up of whether one type of flour or combination of flours. There are different vegetables that can be added to it. We can make it with cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, squash like bottle gourd or opo, radish, spinach or methi (fenugreek leaves). It’s so easy to make. It is leavened with baking soda or Eno. Muthia’s a staple traditional Gujarati food.
Muthia are essentially steamed so they can be considered healthy too. You can enjoy them steamed or shallow fried with some tadka. Either way they are my favorite. The steamed ones piping hot dipped in peanut oil taste awesome.
Muthia can be vegan if you skip yogurt or use vegan yogurt. There is another recipe that used muthia, which are deep fried. The combination of glutinous and non-glutinous flours used give muthia a perfect texture.
How is Muthia made?
All the dry ingredients like flours, spices and vegetables are mixed and formed into a wet dough. If you want soft muthia, then there are couple of minor tips that help getting them that way. My mom would always have slightly wet/sticky dough still able to form logs. Veggies also releases lot of water.
The dough is formed into small sausages or logs, steamed for 15 minutes. Once they are steamed, you cut them into pieces and either eat them steamed or shallow fry them with some other whole spices. It’s so good. We like to serve it with side of sauce or chutneys and tea. You can eat them for breakfast, lunch or light dinner too. There is another way to do it also, some people do not form logs and just spread the dough in a greased tray and cut square pieces. Either way it works.
We cook muthia in various forms. Likewise, methi Muthia, a deep-fried snack is also added to Undhiyu. It’s a very important part of that dish. We also add Muthia in subjis like Valor papdi (Hyacinth beans) I love that dish. There is also rasiya muthia aka muthia in gravy. In conclusion, muthia can be made in so many ways.
The shallow fried muthia have such a nice soft interior texture and crispy on the outside.
Tips or Suggestions
- The key to soft muthia is to have a loose dough. Keep the dough slightly wet, they turn out soft.
- Use soda or Eno to leaven the dough.
- Don’t over steam them.
- The vegetables that already have water content give it extra moisture and thus makes it soft.
- You can use any vegetables or greens listed above.
- instead of regular fine milled flour, I love using coarsely ground whole wheat flour as my mom always used that, It gives it grainier texture. If you don’t have it, its okay to use. Just add a few tbsp of cornmeal or semolina to achieve that texture.
- Leftover rice – if you have some leftover rice, you can mush it and add it to muthia too.
- Oats can also be added. It’s such a versatile recipe.
- Do not add yogurt for vegan or use vegan yogurt.
Palak Muthia
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour coarse ground
- 4 tbsp chickpea flour
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 inch piece ginger
- 1 tbsp green chili
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2-3 tbsp yogurt
- 2 tsp oil
- 1- 1/2 cup spinach roughly chopped
- ½ cup cabbage finely chopped
- 1 tsp baking soda or Eno
- Lemon juice
Tempering
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- Asafoetida
- 3-4 curry leaves
Instructions
Dough and Steam
- In a large mixing bowl add both flours, and spices, ginger chili garlic paste, oil, yogurt and add roughly chopped spinach leaves, cabbage and make a smooth sticky slightly wet dough.
- Divide the dough into equal portions and shape them to thick but tiny logs and place them on greased tray or plate. Cover the steamer.
- Steam on high heat for 15-20 mins or until the dough is cooked and looks firm. You can test to see if it’s done by inserting a knife to see if it comes out clean.
- Carefully remove the tray of muthia from the steamer and let it cool down.
- Once cool, cut them into thin slices and keep aside. You can serve these as it is with some peanut or sesame seed oil for dipping.
Tempering
- Heat oil in a non-stick pan and once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, let them crackle.
- Add curry leaves, asafoetida, sesame seeds and let it cook for just few seconds and add the muthia immediately.
- Give it a stir to mix all the seeds and pieces get coated.
- Cook them for 5-7 mins until you see crispy brown edges. I like to cover it for just 2 minutes once they have turned crispy. The steam softens it up.
- Serve muthias hot with chutney. For breakfast it pairs well with tea.