Arugula Thepla

Not in the mood to make that salad with Arugula? Or bored of making regular rotis for daal? Try these easy, flavorful Arugula theplas for a change!

A typical shopping session in the Indian grocery store usually ends with grabbing a packet or two of locally made methi (fenugreek) theplas lying next to the billing counter. We love having them instead of rotis for dinner with daal. They are conveniently light as rotis but are loaded with spices and greens and are not as thick and heavy as parathas.

When I harvested my first batch of Arugula from our yard yesterday, I took a bite of the leaves. They tasted a bit spicy and bitter than the store bought ones. I realized I should have harvested the leaves a bit early before the spice and bitterness kicked in. I chopped the leaves and tossed into a salad with other veggies and dressed it up with a quick balsamic vinaigrette. I was pleasantly surprised.

When I was cooking daal for lunch in the morning, I debated between making rotis or quinoa for lunch to go with the daal. Then, it suddenly occurred to me that I could make theplas with Arugula instead of fenugreek. The spices in the recipe could not only mask the bitter taste, but could also complement the natural spice of the arugula leaves.

I ran to the yard, harvested the freshly watered arugula, chopped the leaves finely and made the dough with the typical thepla ingredients.

The theplas turned out soft, thin and flavorful! We enjoyed our lunch with the warm, ghee slathered theplas with daal and finished off with cooling sweet lassi (creamy yogurt whisked with sugar and diluted with water).

Perfect lunch on a hot June afternoon. So here is the recipe for you to try when you are not in a mood to make a salad or if you have some extra arugula in the fridge. :)

ARUGULA THEPLA

Yield 10 - 12 flat breads

Prep time 10 min

Cook time 20 min

Total time 30 min

INGREDIENTS

2 cups Whole wheat flour

2 cups finely chopped arugula

1/4 cup besan/senaga pindi (chickpea flour)

1/4 cup yogurt

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ajwain/vaamu (carom seeds)

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp kasoori methi

1 inch peeled ginger

2 tbsp olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves

3-4 sprigs cilantro

2 green chilli peppers

Warm water for kneading

About 2 tbsp ghee/clarified butter

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Blend ginger, garlic, green chillies and cilantro into a coarse paste without adding water.

2. To a large bowl, add whole wheat flour, besan, carom seeds, salt, turmeric, chilli powder, kasoori methi and mix well.

3. Add arugula, yogurt, and the above paste and mix well with hands or a stand mixer. Now, slowly add warm water and knead thoroughly until the dough comes together. Add more flour if the dough becomes too tacky.

4. Divide dough into lime sized portions and shape into round balls. Keep them aside.

5. Add 1/2 cup flour to a plate. Dust each dough ball by pressing against the flour and shape into a disc

6. Sprinkle flour on a rolling board or a clean surface. With the help of a rolling pin, roll out the the discs to make very thin (approx 8" sized) rotis/theplas. You may need to sprinkle more flour if the theplas tend to stick to the pin.

7. Heat a cast iron pan/skillet on med-high flame. Spread 1 tsp of ghee. Place the thepla on the hot skillet and fry for 1-2 minutes or till brown spots appear. Add another tsp of ghee and flip. Cook for 1-2 minutes. As the theplas are thin, they don't need much time to cook.

8. Serve with daal, pickles or yogurt.