Thepla is a Indian flatbread made with whole wheat flour, gram flour, millet flour and spice powders. Optional ingredients like fenugreek leaves, bottle gourd or mix veggies can be used.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 8
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Cuisine: Gujarati

Ingredients

  • 1½ cup wheat flour ((atta))
  • ¼ cup bajra or jowar flour (- millet flour (optional))
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons besan ((gram flour) (optional))
  • 1 to 1¼ cup methi leaves ((fenugreek leaves) (skip to make plain thepla))
  • 1 teaspoon ginger (grated or ginger garlic paste)
  • 1 to 2 green chili (fine chopped or paste (skip for kids))
  • ½ teaspoon salt ((adjust to taste))
  • ½ to ¾ teaspoon red chili powder ((reduce for kids))
  • ½ to ¾ teaspoon garam masala ((coriander powder))
  • ¼ to ½ teaspoon turmeric ((haldi))
  • 4 tablespoons curd ((¼ cup yogurt) (skip to make plain thepla))
  • 1 tablespoon oil (for dough)
  • 2 tablespoons oil (for frying)

Method

Make Dough

  1. Skip if making plain thepla - Rinse methi leaves in lot of water and drain them well. Chop them finely and add to a mixing bowl.
  2. Add all the ingredients except oil to the mixing bowl. Begin to mix well all the ingredients to bring out the moisture from methi leaves.
  3. Sprinkle water just as needed and knead to a soft non sticky dough. Pour 1 tbsp oil and knead it well. Taste test and add more salt if you want.
  4. Keep it covered and rest the dough for 20 mins. Divide the dough to 8 to 9 portions. Make balls and keep covered.

How to make Thepla

  1. Lightly dust flour over the rolling area. Place a ball over the flour and flatten it slightly. Smear flour on both the sides.
  2. Begin to roll to a 8 inch thepla of medium thickness. Similarly make about 5 and keep them aside on the platform. If you want you can cut them with a 8 inch lid.
  3. Heat a pan or tawa on a medium high heat until hot enough. Transfer a thepla to the tawa.
  4. Cook on a medium heat until half cooked on the bottom, then turn it and cook until golden spots appear on both the sides.
  5. In between press down the thepla with a spatula for even cooking.
  6. Drizzle about half tsp oil or more on each. Stack them on a cloth or kitchen tissue to keep them soft.
  7. Serve methi thepla with curd, pickle or aam ka chunda.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.