Methi Thepla, pack for an outstation trip or train journey

Visiting places and traveling by train have been a part of my husband and my life for long now. In fact, we enjoy traveling by train and being the foodies we are, we look forward to eating food we carry from home and from different stations. If you have travelled a few times by the Rajdhani, Duronto or Shatabdi trains, you are sure to tire of the food and then you look forward to carrying your own food. It doesn't matter whether the food's packed from a restaurant near the station or from home, you still enjoy it with child like pleasure on a picnic. Our menu now includes methi thepla, sandwiches (we carry the makings not prepared ones), masala rice, paratha, fruits and snacks. When we stayed in Mumbai we frequented this store that stocked fresh methi theplas and puran polis. So any journey meant asking him to keep a couple of packs of methi thepla and puran poli aside for us. On a trip to a hill station recently, we carried methi theplas that I made after checking recipes online and narrowed on this one. I wasn't sure if the theplas would last the 3 days of our trip so I held off posting the recipe till we returned. We are back from our trip and I am glad to say the methi theplas did last us through the 3 days although it did turn a little dry on the third day.

Theplas are an integral part of the Gujarati cuisine and is normally had with achar or chhunda. It can be had for breakfast or as a snack but is known more as a food that remains unspoiled for a few days and hence apt for a train journey or on a trip. Theplas are commonly made with either methi or dudhi/lauki or bajra and sometimes with just masala. The best thing about thepla is the convenience in handling it when traveling. Roll a couple of thepla in aluminum foil for each person and hand it over with individual mini tubs of ready yogurt or pickles and you save the effort of carrying and serving in plates. It is also good to take along when on the move, like on a hiking trip or when in a theme park, pack achar applied thepla and keep packs of chhaas to sip and you can hit the road with least down time :)

Here I have given the recipe of the methi thepla I made last week.
Ingredients
Wheat flour - 2 cups
Gram flour - 2 tbsp
Dry fenugreek leaves / dry Kasuri Methi - 3 tbsp
Turmeric pwd - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli pwd - 1 tsp
Garlic - 4 cloves
Sesame seeds - 1 tsp
Asafoetida pwd - a couple of pinches
Cumin pwd - 1 tsp
Coriander pwd - 1 tsp
Oil - 4 tbsp
Salt as per taste
Soak the dry kasuri methi in water. Finely chop the garlic and keep aside. Sift the wheat flour and gram flour together and then add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, sesame seeds, asafoetida powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and mix. Drain the soaked kasuri methi and add it to the flours along with the garlic. Add water little by little and knead it into a ball of dough. Add 2 tbsp oil and knead again into a ball. Take a spoon of oil and apply all over the ball of dough and keep covered.

When ready to roll out the theplas knead once again and divide into small balls of dough and keep aside. Roll each ball into a thin chapati. I rolled out each thepla into circles of about 4 inch diameter size. Heat a tawa and roast the thepla on it. Turn the thepla over every few seconds and then apply oil on both sides and cook till done.

The methi thepla has to be cooled completely before packing, only then will it last for a few days. If packed when hot the steam will make the thepla soggy and it will spoil. Once cooled, pack it in aluminum foil, along with some achar or chhunda and put it in your bag for your journey.
Bon Voyage! Bon Appétit! 

Semiya Upma / Vermicelli Upma

 

At home, we had a different breakfast every morning, it could be any of these - idli, dosa, appam, puttu, rawa upama, semiya upama, daliya upama, chapati bhaji, dal dosa, bread and eggs, veg sandwiches. Mom had to think of different dishes to make everyday else my sister and I would complain about eating the same stuff over and over. Add to that I would refuse to eat some of these - like idli and rawa upma / upama. My mom would make every effort to have another option for me on those days. But on some days she insisted I had what was made, so upma was eaten with my favorite elaichi kela / small banana or a little sugar sprinkled over it. Today, when I am the one cooking I realize the trouble my mom took to make sure each of ate well.

This one of the breakfasts I like to make - semiya upma or vermicelli upma. The recipe is very similar to rawa upma.

Ingredients

Vermicelli - 1 cup or 1 katori

Onion - 1 medium

Green chillies - 2

Curry leaves - 8 to 10

Mustard seeds - 1/2tsp.

Water - 2 cups or 2 katori

Coconut - 2 tbsp.

Oil - 1tbsp

Salt to taste

Heat a pan and dry roast the vermicelli on low heat till light brown. Take it off the heat and keep aside. Chop the onion and green chillies finely.

Heat the oil in a kadai add mustard seeds and once it has spluttered, add the green chillies and curry leaves, a second later add the chopped onions and stir fry. Saute the onions till light brown. Add the water and salt, mix well and let the water boil. Lower the heat and add the roasted semiya to the water. Cover the kadai with a deep plate and add some water in the plate. This will help in cooking the vermicelli. After about 10 minutes take the plate off and check if the vermicelli is cooked. If necessary add a little more water and stir it well. Add grated coconut, stir it well and take it off the heat.  It is ready to serve.

Pair the semiya upma with a chaaya and enjoy.

Little Italy, Bund Garden Road, Pune

I went to Little Italy La Pizzeria for lunch on a weekday expecting the restaurant to be near empty, instead there was only one table free. The crowd was a mix of office goers, friends and a group of ladies on a kitty party and no one seemed to be in any hurry to finish and leave!

This restaurant is in the ground floor of Hotel Shriman just at the beginning of a lane, off Bund Garden Road. My rickshaw driver did not know this hotel so you want to keep an eye out for it yourself when you do go there.

 

On entering Little Italy, the captain was immediately there to seat me and was a tad surprised to learn that I was eating alone. Anyway, I was seated immediately and the menus were brought over. The restaurant interiors were done well although the seating is a little too close to have a private conversation. Since I was alone the conversations around kept me entertained.

 

The menus brought over quickly, the additional one for their wine selection. I ordered the Cannelloni Florentine and it came piping hot straight from the oven. There were 3 cannelloni pieces with the cheese topping in golden hues. There was a good amount of sauce covering the cannelloni and around it. The spinach and ricotta cheese filling was nice and moist and spoonful of the sauce, cheese and cannelloni was Yum. For dessert, I ordered the Panna cotta and it came topped with a green syrup and a slice of kiwi. It was the first time I had a Panna cotta so I cannot compare it with any place else. The Panna cotta was soft and firm with a pudding like consistency. It was mildly sweet and when combined with a little of the syrup it tasted good. I completed the meal with a black tea although maybe a coffee was the right pairing for an Italian meal!

Overall, a very good lunch.

My only grouse was the proximity of the other tables. I could hear complete conversations and know the per head contribution of that ladies kitty group!