Methi thepla is a quintessential Gujarati snack. It is a flatbread made with whole wheat flour, gram flour, fresh fenugreek leaves, spices, and yogurt.
Gujaratis are known for traveling far and long amongst all the Indian communities. Since ancient times, when long-distance travel was not so easy and you wouldn’t find food to your liking everywhere. So they perfected the art of travel food. If you have ever traveled with a group of Gujaratis, you would know their khakras, fafdas, and theplas! When we lived in Baroda a few years back, thepla was the most common picnic and road or train travel snack.
How to make methi theplas soft for travel?
On the outside, theplas may be considered the same as plain parathas where some vegetables and spices are added to the dough. But parathas do not last as long as theplas and neither do they stay so soft. There are a few key points while cooking theplas that are essential to make them last and stay soft for long.
- The dough is kneaded entirely in yogurt and no water is added.
- Add a little extra oil while kneading as well as cooking to ensure the theplas remain soft even after reheating.
- The gram flour added to theplas keeps them soft over time.
- They are rolled very thin so they can be easily packed for travel!
Different thepla varieties can be made with different vegetables — Methi thepla with fresh fenugreek, palak thepla with spinach, or even lauki thepla with grated bottle gourd. In fact, most leafy vegetables can easily be used to make theplas. For others, you can grate them and knead in the dough.
Thepla is easy to pack, has a long shelf life, and it tastes great both hot and cold. These, plus the fact that it is a nutritious meal in itself with the flour and vegetables and spices all incorporated together, make it a popular tiffin, picnic, and travel snack. They don’t really need any side dish, but you can serve theplas with green chutney, tomato chutney, pickle, or yogurt.
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Methi Thepla Recipe for travel snack
Ingredients (1cup = 240ml; 1tbsp = 15ml; 1tsp = 5ml)
Methi thepla dough ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (plus some more for dusting)
- ½ cup gram flour
- ¼ cup fresh fenugreek , washed, drained, and finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 8-10 stalks of fresh coriander leaves , finely chopped
- ¼ tsp asafoetida
- 2 tbsp oil
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp paprika (or Kashmiri red chili powder)
- Salt , to taste
- 2 cups yogurt , to knead the dough
For Cooking
- Vegetable oil
Instructions
- Mix all the dry dough ingredients in a big mixing bowl.
- Slowly add in the yogurt little by little and knead into a soft dough with yogurt.*
- Heat a flat pan on medium-high flame.
- Divide the dough into 6-8 small balls.
- Using a little dry flour for dusting, roll out each ball into a flat circle.
- When the pan is hot, put the rolled thepla on the pan. While it cooks, roll another one!
- Flip the thepla after around a minute. Sprinkle oil on the cooked side and flip again. Press and cook until golden brown spots appear. Sprinkle oil on the other side, flip, press and cook the other side.
- Repeat for the remaining dough.
Video
Notes
- To keep the theplas stay soft and last long, make sure you add sufficient oil while kneading and also cooking.
- Knead the dough only in yogurt. We use very thick homemade yogurt. You need to use at least 3% fat yogurt.
- You can add extra flavors by adding green chilies, cumin seeds, and/or coriander seeds.
- If you don’t have fresh fenugreek leaves, you can also use Kasoori Methi (dried fenugreek leaves) but since they are much more concentrated in flavor, just add about 1 tbsp dried fenugreek in 1 cup whole wheat flour.
How to freeze methi theplas
Theplas easily keep in the refrigerator fridge or outside in cold temperatures for up to a week.
For longer, you can freeze them. I normally freeze theplas in batches of 10. Once they cool down to room temperature, pack 10 theplas together in food foil and then place 2-3 such packs in a freezer bag and freeze.
To defrost, remove 15-20 mins before eating and microwave for 2 mins (turn after 1 min) on high, keeping the theplas inside a kitchen towel or a cheesecloth to retain moisture.
You can freeze them for up to 2 months.
You might find it a bit crazy, but last month when I came back from India, a day before, we made a 100 methi theplas for me to carry back to Bucharest! I checked in the frozen theplas in a freezer bag. As soon as I got home, they went straight into the freezer to be taken out a few at a time as and when needed!
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Methi Theplas are an absolute favorite. I have never tried freezing them but this sounds really good. Will have to try.
You should! They are such an easy snack to have when you want something for that odd time hunger pangs and also a great make-ahead meal for big gatherings like I just had! 🙂
I’d love to try your recipes – please could you explain how much exactly you mean when you say 1 cup.
Many thanks
I use the standard US cup measure where 1 cup = 240ml.
Hope that is helpful. Do share your feedback when you make it.
The proportions in this recipe are incorrect. I only added less than a cup of yogurt and ended up needing far more than 2 cups of whole wheat flour. The recipe needs testing and correcting.
Hello Anon,
I am sorry you had this experience but I make a lot of theplas and use this recipe everytime. So it is a highly tried and tested recipe. What I can think of is that you might be using a very runny yogurt. We use thick yogurt which doesn’t have a lot of water content. Also, the yogurt is added slowly so that if the yogurt is runny, the quantity can be adjusted to when the dough is kneaded.
I am so sorry you had this problem and I do hope this doesn’t discourage you from cooking theplas 😮
Yammy thepla if I am traveling with my family by road in car on the way We are having lunch in dhaba with home made thepla recipe given by you with mango pickle. No need to buy outside food.
That is so wonderful to read, Brijesh! Thank you very much for sharing this. Homemade food is the best, and especially when traveling when you can’t be sure of what food you will find on the way. I am so glad this recipe was helpful to you! 🙂
Hello , for travelling abroad can we take out theplas from freezer and after completion of journey again put them in freezer? I mean doesn’t it gets spoiled because of defrosting and frosting?
Sandhya,
When traveling abroad, I take them out of the freezer right before leaving the house and put them in the freezer as soon as I reach home.. Since the luggage hold is very cold, they don’t get spoiled. Unless you have a very long layover, they stay good. Also, freeze them a few days before so that they are well frozen. I’ve taken them on 16 hours journeys with 3-4 hour layovers.
Hi,
I have an query…incase I don’t have an option to reheat in hotels…how am I supposed to consume these refrigerated theplas…as I am traveling with kids.
Hey Sheela!!!
I am so sorry, I missed your question. I had been traveling last 2.5 months with very limited connectivity. o these theplas taste fine even if they are not heated but consumed at room temperature. Very often when we are traveling we do not have means to heat them and then we simply take them out of fridge early so that by the time it is time to eat, hey are at room temperature and soft. Of course, they taste best when slightly heated but they are fine even without.
I know I am way too late in responding but I hope it helps!
Very Nice Recipe
Thank you, Johar!
I am glad you found the recipe for Methi Thepla helpful!
Hello, i want to know how long it stays when it is sealed pack. As i want to parcel these thepla from india to Ireland. Thank u in advance.
Hello Priya,
How are you sending them? I have in the past packed them in ziplock bags and carried them frozen in long distance flights. You need to freeze them again as soon as you reach your destination.
Let me know if this helps or you need more clarification.
Hi I just chanced upon this, not sure if you even access this blog:) but does yoghurt not make it bad for shelf life?
Hello Lakshmi,
trying to get back to the blog after a long time. Yoghurt makes them softer and actually increases shelf life for travelling. When we were children and used to go on train rides that were more than 2-3 days, my mom always made pooris also with the flour kneaded only in yoghurt.
I made these today, have tried a few recipes before but today for the first time I got the taste of real theplas like my Gujarati neighbor had made for me almost 2 decades ago. Thank you! This was delicious!
Thank you Bhanu! Glad this was helpful!