
Gujarati muthia (Steamed vegetable dumplings)
Have it steamed or with a tempering of sesame seeds, this traditional Gujarati snack is an all-time favourite in our family.
Muthia is yet another tea time snack that is much loved by all Gujaratis and is relished with tea and chundo – a sweet and sour mango chutney. Muthia is basically a steamed mix vegetables dumpling that gets its name due to the way it is rolled in ‘mutthi’ which literally means fist.
These dumplings comprise of flour, vegetables and the essential flavours of Gujarati cuisine – sweet, spicy and sour spices. To make muthia, grated vegetables with the spices are mixed together to release their natural juices and then the flour is added to bind it all in a sticky dough. The sticky dough is then rolled in an oblong shape and then steamed.
I still remember the smell of freshly steamed muthia wafting through the whole house and my mum calling us to enjoy the hot muthia dipped in peanut oil and koro sambar – a powder pickle of red chilies with fenugreek and mustard seeds. And then the leftovers would be tempered with aromatic mix of sesame seeds and curry leaves to be enjoyed with tea the next day.
But it doesn’t end there. These dumplings are super versatile and you can do a variety of recipes with them. Valor muthia (muthia with flat beans), rasa wala muthia (muthia in watery gravy) are some of the ways Gujaratis use them. One of the most popular use of muthia is in Undhiyu (one pot vegetable dish) which is made slightly differently that the technique I have described here. The muthia recipe that I have written here is what we call as vata which is a big log that is steamed and then cut in cubes.
Like most of my recipes, this one too is highly customizable. Though traditionally bottle gourd and fenugreek leaves are added to the dough; for the lack of fenugreek leaves, I added amaranth leaves which were lying in my fridge. So please feel free to clean up your fridge just like in my clean-up-the-fridge handvo. Cabbage, onions, spinach, carrots, zucchini, methi, drumstick leaves are some of the great veggies to put in muthia as long as you keep few things in mind.
- As water is not added to the dough, choose vegetables that release their juices when mixed with salt and sugar
- A sticky dough makes soft muthia so the ratio of vegetables to flour should be almost equal. Do not get tempted to add more flour as the muthia can become dense.
- Don’t skimp on the essential flavours – chili for spicy, lemon for sour and jaggery for sweet. As my mother would tell me, these flavours need to be ‘agal patdu’ means put more than what is required.
- If you have some khichdi or rice lying around in the fridge, do put that in too. Adding in some mushy rice gives muthia a great texture and softness.
- You can play around with the flour too. In the past, I have used jowar, semolina, bajra as well while making muthia and they turned out equally delicious. My suggestion would be to use a combination of flour to get the best results.
Hope you will enjoy making and relishing these muthia as much as we do. If you are left with some leftovers, don’t worry, go ahead and make super sticky, sweet and spicy orange glazed muthia. You will thank me for it 🙂
Recipe Card
Gujarati muthia (Steamed vegetable dumplings)
Recipe Rating
Average rating 5 / 5. Vote count: 2
No votes so far! Be the first to rate this recipe.
AUTHOR
Hema B Kathrani
CUISINE
Gujarati
PREP TIME
20 mins
COOK TIME
15 – 20 mins
SERVINGS
serves 3 – 4
Author: Hema B Kathrani | Cuisine: Gujarati | Category: Snacks
Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook Time: 15 – 20 mins | Servings: serves 3 – 4
Have it steamed or with a tempering of sesame seeds, this traditional Gujarati snack is an all-time favourite in our family.
Ingredients
- ½ cup coarse whole wheat flour *see notes to make it gluten free
- 1 ½ cups besan (chickpea flour)
- ½ cup lauki/dudhi/bottle gourd, grated
- ½ cup amaranth leaves, chopped
- Spices:
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp dhania-jeera powder (coriander-cumin seed powder)
- ¼ tsp garam masala powder
- ¼ cup jaggery powder
- 3 tbsp ginger-chili paste
- 2 tbsp yogurt
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp baking soda
- Salt to taste
- Tempering:
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 dry red chili
- 8-10 curry leaves
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
Method
- Prepare the dhokla steamer and grease the plate with oil.
- To make muthia:
- In a large bowl, combine grated dudhi, amaranth leaves, all spices, yogurt and salt.
- Using your hands, mix all till the vegetables start releasing their juices.
- Add besan and coarse whole wheat flour and bring it all together in a sticky mess.
- Create a hole in the center of the mix and put baking soda in it.
- Pour the lemon juice over it which will create a froth.
- Working quickly, mix the froth to the dough combining it well.
- Now, wet your hands and form a big log and put it on the greased plate.
- Wet your hands again and make another log and place it next to the previous log keeping at least 2-inch space between them.
- Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
- Steam the muthia in the steamer for 15 minutes.
- Do the skewer test to check whether muthia is done.
- Remove the plate from the steamer and cool it on the rack.
- To enjoy the steamed muthia, slide a log on to your plate and drizzle with peanut oil and enjoy.
- To temper the muthia:
- Cut the logs in cubes once they have cooled down completely.
- In a pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds.
- Once they crackle, add curry leaves, dry red chili and sesame seeds and sauté it for 30 seconds.
- Add cubes of muthia and mix well.
- Sauté it for 5-10 minutes to get a golden crust on the dumplings.
- Enjoy it hot with tea or yogurt.
Notes
- Coarse whole wheat flour or bhakri flour gives the muthia a great texture. However, if you can’t find it, use the regular whole wheat flour or any other flour of your choice. It can be made gluten free too by adding jowar (sorghum) flour as a substitute for whole wheat flour.
- Amaranth leaves can be substituted with any other green like spinach or methi (fenugreek).
- Depending on the vegetable that you have used or the juice it has released, you may need to adjust the quantity of the flour. Use 1 tbsp at a time to get a sticky dough which can be rolled in a shape.
- Curry leaves and sesame seeds tend to splutter when added to the hot oil. I like to keep a lid at hand to cover it as soon as I put them in the hot oil to avoid getting it all over the place.
- For crispier muthia, add more oil for tempering or deep fry them.
- Let the muthia cool completely before you cut them in cubes.
Did you make this recipe? Follow me on Instagram handle @acookwithin or @acookwithin on Facebook.
www.acookwithin.com
Let me know how this recipe turned out for you by writing to me in the comments below. And if you take a picture, please tag me on my instagram handle @acookwithin to share your creation😊 It would make my day!
Comments