Muthia comes from the word Muthi which means a fist. The dough is rolled making a fist before it is steamed to form dumplings. soft, warm, veggie dumplings are easy to make and healthy too. With the choice of veggies and flour for binding...sky is the limit to create these delicious muthias.
Although cabbage and doodhi/gourd muthias are very popular, mom always made mooli muthias. She would add shredded mooli/radish with it's greens to add flavor and fiber to the dish. Also, she said radish was great to keep away urinary tract infection.
Use your choice of finely minced veggies. You could also try a mixed veggies combination.
I use my little handy chopper to finely minced large chunks on radish and greens.
In 4 cups of minced radish, add 1 tbsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. turmeric, 1 tbsp. red chilli powder, 3 tbsp. coriander powder,
Add 4 tbsp. crushed jaggery/gud and juice of 1 lime.
This will give sweet and sour flavor to muthias, just what gujjus like!
Add 2 tbsp. oil. Mix well and keep the mixture aside for 10-15 minutes to allow it to sweat. That will bring out all the moisture.
Meanwhile, get the steam bath ready.
Place an inch of water at the bottom of the pan with a little bowl or a stand to raise the colander.
A colander is usually used to place muthias to steam them.
Look at the amount of moisture.
Add 1/2 cup chickpea flour/besan and 2 cups whole wheat flour. Mix well to form a dough. If the dough is very sticky, add more flour to it. The amount of flour needed depends on the moisture in the veggies. You could also add some other healthy flours like jowar, bajra or nachni to increase the protein and fiber content of this dish.
Grease your palm with some oil. Take some dough on your palm and roll to form a rope.
Place in a colander keeping space in between. Cover and steam for 15 minutes.
The muthias are steamed and have grown thicker too.
Let them cool for 4-5 minutes before cutting into 1 inch pieces. Enjoy fresh & hot muthias as is.
You could also temper them to give it more flavor and texture.
In a pan, heat 4 tbsp. oil. Add 1 tsp. mustard seeds and few chopped green chillies. You could also add sesame seeds and curry leaves during tempering.
Add steamed and cut nuthias to the temper. Fry for few minutes to give a crisp texture.
Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro.
Enjoy Fresh & Hot Gujju Muthias!
