March 2, 2007

FENUGREEK LEAVES FRITTERS

Fenugreek leaves fritters/Methi Vadas for "F", is my contribution to Nupur's "A to Z of Indian Vegetables" weekly event. This week's letter is "F". Thanks for hosting Nupur!:)

Fenugreek Leaves:




More info about these Fenugreek leaves are here at WIKI.
This beautiful is picture from "foodsubs", which has great info about this herb, thank you foodsubs!:)








Unlike last week for "E",I got very creative this time for "F" and here they are, my Fenugreek leaves fritters or Methi Vadas as we call them in India!
What's so special about this dish?! Corn meal of course, which is not a usual addition in Vadas and makes these fritters very crispy and keeps them crisp for a quite sometime after frying!! Can you guess what is the other Southern US (without the Methi leaves of course) name for these fritters?!:))

Fenugreek Leaves fritters/Methi Vadas:


You Need:


1 cup Yellow Cornmeal,1/2 cup Plain flour,1 tbsp Cornstarch,1 cup fresh or 1/2 cup frozen Fenugreek leaves(Methi),1/2 tsp sugar(yes,sugar!),salt,few green chillies chopped,1 medium Onion minced,1 tsp grated ginger, 1/4 tsp baking soda,3 tbsp hot oil,and some Cilantro(optional)






How To:



Mix all the above dry ingredients and add hot oil and mix.Add enough hot water to make a thickish dough and keep it aside for 10 mins.It must not be thin which makes it soggy and too soft to make shapes and fry.






Heat enough oil to deep fry around 370F, and take 1-2 tbsp of dough and drop it carefully into the oil.Fry rolling them on all sides to a golden color and drain on paper towel.Make sure oil is at the right temp. Too hot,Vadas burn on the outside and still raw inside.If oil is not hot enough, Vadas sucks too much oil and becomes very soggy.






Serve these delicious tasting and very crispy Methi fritters with any sweet and tangy sauce you have like Delhi Chaat sauce or just as they are with coffee or Tea or with Kadhi and rice as a sidedish as well.





Enjoy the Indian style Hush Puppies!!! ;D

46 comments:

Mishmash ! said...

Ur blog is reflection of ur passion for cooking . I really recommend u writing ur own book...ok here comes another stupid doubt..whats the advantage in adding baking soda in pakodas/fritters?

Shn

FH said...

Thank you shn. Phew,I made it for this event before the deadline,I am happy about that.I will think about the book! ;D
No,no question is stupid,that's how we all learn.
Soda; my mom and grandma always added it.It makes the Vadas or Pkodas or anything fried crisp outside and airy inside when fried just like Baking powder makes baked goodies puffed and soft in the oven.
Try once,you will see.Have a great weekend shn!:))

Seema Bhat said...

Wow Asha,
Lovely looking fritters perfect for the rainy day like today.

Deepa Hari said...

Hi Asha,

Ur Methi fritters luks crispy and delicious...

mommyof2 said...

I love methi too;-) allu methi with a cup of tea,ohhh.. and ur pakoras with that would be awesome;-)I gotta move near you then starve myself to death afterwards;-)

FH said...

Hi Seema,I know!!:D It was raining cats and dogs last night.I made these last week,I wish I had some leftovers.Thanks.

Thanks Deepa.Hope you give it a try!:))

G, if you move near to me,we are both going to have so much fun and become "skinny"(not!) and need a big pick up truck to haul both us around with 4 kids in it!:D:D

Anonymous said...

Fenugreek Hushpuppies!! They look great... please send a plate right away :)

FH said...

Package is on the way, Linda!!:D

With a little sugar in the batter which is not Indian at all(I hear all the Indians fainting right about now!) tastes soo good.Indian style Hushpuppies rock! Hope you try :)

Deepak Gopi said...

Hi Happy Holi.You may be knowing thatKerala doesent celebrate holi :(:(:(. lot of people come from Karnataka also to offer Pongala.
good day & a nice week end :)

Anonymous said...

Asha, how can you catch up with all these food events going on....and that too with such wonderful entries..I bought fenugreek leaves for this event but they are resting in my refrigerator...:-)

Methi pakods/Fritters look perfect for a raing season
-Sushma

FH said...

Hi Deepak,I don't think any south Indians states celebrate Holi,It's just catching up everywhere because it's fun holiday.Never had heard of Pongala,thanks for that.
Have a great weekend.

FH said...

Hi Sushma,I used frozen Methi,you got fresh ones but didn't use it!!:)
Weekly event are a little hard for participate,had to rush.But I like cooking and creating ,so I don't mind.Use the fresh ones to make these,you will love it!:))

J said...

I have a silly doubt to ask...is cornmeal the same as cornflour, or are you referring to maize flour/makkai ka atta? I have some maize flour at home and made makkai di roti and saag recently. I liked this new twist to pakodas.

Sig said...

Hey Asha, Wonderful recipes! I read Foodie's Hope often, but for some reason none of the links ever work for me, so I could never comment there! Is it just me?

Sia said...

indian ishtyle hush puppies han? he he... just i rememberd u telling me abt postin 2 more entries b4 saturday... so came to check and what i get to see... yum... got frozen mente soppu ashakka. guess i'll need fresh one for this.
had late lunch and emmegala haage biddu kondiddivi tv munde;) watching a movie and now its interval time...he he...

Sia said...

oh!!! just read ur comment... u used frozen methi? cool...

FH said...

Hi J,it's not silly,just ask away!:))
Cornmeal is made of corn but it's not corn flour or Maize flour we use for rotis.Corn meal looks like yellow or white rava /semolina(coarse),available in the flour section in any American supermarket.If you don't get it at all,then use Rava.Corm meal is slightly different taste than rava.Hope it helps.

Hi Sig,sorry about that.Since I changed the template few week's ago some of you can't log in ,don't know why! If you can read it,and would like to comment and any q's ,you are welcome to leave it here.I will paste there and answer you.
Sometimes,using diff. browsers like Firefox,opera works as some have told me.Hope you try.Thanks Sig!:))

FH said...

HAHAHA!!Sia,Punya madidri emmegala tara biddukolloke time ide nimmibbarigu.Naavu kattegala tara kelasa(grocery shopping etc) madi igatane manege bandevu.Kalella noyta ide.Indian storege hogeddevu,mootegatle snacks(Udupi Kodbale,Chakli,Nippattu,Balekai chips!)tegedukondevu!!Slurp!!
eradu tingaligomme hogutteevi ashte allige,swalpa doora illinda !
I never get fresh Methya soppu here,I grow some in summer in my backyard.Last week I got some frozen in a Pak store locally.Frozen works well too,gets very crispy with corn meal.Try some sometime,goes well sweet chutney if you make the vadas spicy and chatpata.
Paati gave me a (French style)Naan recipe,I am made some.It was good.I brought down my bread machine from the shelf,baking some sweet loaf today and then experiment more to perfect Naan like the one you get in Dhabas!!:))
I don't think Indians use yeast,egg,butter and milk and all that.Do you have any recipe for Indian Naan?Let me know.
Yesterday,I saw your BBB too and few more recipes I had missed before I met you.I didn't know you had one.I will try your's too :))

USHA said...

Hi Ashaji,

Fritters looks amazing...the crispness really tempts me alot...
First i had littlebit doubt about whether this cornmeal and corn flour is same,but i got answer from you to the Jyothsna's query...
Do we surely need cornstarch, can we substitute with any other?Thanks in advance.

Suma Gandlur said...

Asha,
Great dish. Was dying with curiosity to see what you are going to come up with. I have another dish for fenugrrek leves which I am thinking to post in the future events.
Thanks for the recipe.

Nabeel said...

looks yumm .. especially the last picture .. anything fried is always good. At first glance, i read the title as "Finger Licking leaves" as in Finger licking chicken.

Gattina Cheung said...

My jaw locke! My gosh, your fritters straight out from food magazine!!!
Sometimes I wonder, if the substitute (in this case celery leaves) really make a decent substitute?! I know in most cases of others, they really don't...

FH said...

Hi Usha,glad about the corn meal.Cornstarch thickens the whole thing to bind,bcos the mealy texture corn meal.kip it if you like,no problem.

Hi Suma,I made Methi allo too with the frozen Methi!:D Thanks ,can't wait to see yours:)

FH said...

Finger licking fritters works too for "F" event!!;P Thank you ,hope you try this weekend.Little different from the usual.

Hope your jaw is onlocked now Gattina!;D
Hush Puppies are southern US special.I think if you saute Leeks for any dishes,you can easily add to fritters like these.Try a small amount and see if you like it,I am sure it will taste great too,can add spinach too.Enjoy.

bee said...

too freaking yummy looking.

sunita said...

Hi Asha,

Those fritters are so tempting...hmmm...have'nt made fritters for a long time...I want them...now...yummm...now lets see...what have I got in my pantry...

Enough of that...you've got an amazing passion for food,that's for sure...

By the way, even I tend to add the baking powder or soda, something I've seen my mom do as well....

Anonymous said...

Hi Asha
fenugreek leaves fritters look delicious.

shalini

Unknown said...

Asha..fritters looks crunchu and crispy..now i know one of the secrets ..BAKING SODA.I never knew that..thanks for sharing

Mona said...

Asha..HAPPY HOLI TO YOU & YOUR FAMILY!
Thanks for the vadas recipie & guess what, I had them yesterday :)
& we have Gujias [ sweet curry puffs] and mathri [ cornflour & ajwain namkeens] and also Kanji vadas [ vadas soaked in sour kanji or water, which is made sour with mustard seeds added & kept over a month] for Holi festival up North here...
Do you know, In Agra & Mathura, holy is celebrated with greatest fever than in the whole of India. It lasts for three days here. On first day they play it with color, On the second day, hooligans play it with keechads from the drains & on the third day, women play it , by showering [beating]their husbands with Dandas [ sticks]...now isnt that cool!? That is the best type I like...:D

FH said...

Oh, frigging thank you Bee!!!;D

Thanks Sunita.I am beginning to think adding soda to frying things is K'taka special or something becuse many ppl do not add it.We always did to most fritters.

Hi Shalini,glad you liked them,hope you give it a try now :)

FH said...

Hi Mahesh,I am surprised that many of you don't use soda in there.Well..new thing to learn indeed.Try next time.Love the Pineapple choice.I will make something nice and unusal.

Happy Holi to you darling girl!:)
Good lord Mona.I wish you would post all those recipes for Vadas,sounds great.I bought some Mathris yesterday,I love them.
Holi,I would like to disappers on the second day and would LOVE to return on the third day with colorful jadoos!!:D:D:D
Somehow,south iNdia doesn't celebrate that much,it's catching on though,For us here,only know when somebody says Happy Holi!Enjoy.

Pinki said...

Hi Asha, wow delicious. Happy Holi

Prema Sundar said...

I always add Baking soda for vadas Asha. As u said they are a bit airy inside and puffed when u add them. Haven't tried methi fritters.. they look so lovely.
Before blogging I new only one dish to make out of methi and now I knew lots.. thanks

FH said...

Thank God for you Prema!!:)))
It does make it crispy,I don't why many don't know about it.Methi is so versatile,enjoy all the dishes.Happy Holi!:))

Susan from Food Blogga said...

I've bought fenugreek seeds, but never the leaves. Thanks for the information. Those fritters look fantastic!

Ashley said...

Wow that looks superbly wonderful... I'll have to try that. Where can you get Fenugreek leaves at anyways? hmm have a wonderful day and Night (since at the current moment it is night here): )..

-kora

FH said...

Hi Pinki,hope you had a good time on Holi day!:)) Thanks for visiting.

FH said...

Hello Susan,fenugreek leaves are tough to get in the regular grocery store,but you can add Spinach,Water cress or any of your fav edible,friable greens as well.Hope you try :)

Hi Kora,thanks. Fenugreek leaves are available only in Indian stores,fresh or frozen.But you can replace that with finely chopped Spinach leaves too!:)

david santos said...

Hello, Asha! This work is very good
Good week for you
By, by

FH said...

Hi David,thank you.Have a great week!))

Swapna said...

Hmm..these look absolutely delicious..Wish I could reach over and pick 2-3 from the plate

FH said...

Hi Swapna,wouldn't that be nice if we could grab some from the screen?!I would grab all your dishes too!;D
Thanks.

Menu Today said...

Hi Asha,
Your Methi fritters looks perfect...I will try your version soon..

FH said...

Thanks MT! This is a Americanized
Indian pakoras!!:D

brii said...

asha..these leaves are beautiful!!!
I'm here from Yasmeen's blog..looking for your pasta with herbs..and found this!
wow!
veeeeeery nice and interesting blogs, you have here!!
baciusssss

FH said...

Thank you Brii, food blogging makes me happy! :))