Thepla
Soft fenugreek flatbreads with gram flour worked into the dough. They stay pliable for days, which is why they travel.
- Prep
- 25m
- Cook
- 25m
- Waiting
- 20m
- Total
- 1h 10m
- Serves
- 12 theplas
- Effort
- Moderate
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 2 cups | Salt the chopped fenugreek and squeeze out the bitter liquid 5m Squeeze over a bowl and use that liquid as part of the water. | Knead everything to a soft dough, slightly stickier than you want 10m Add water a spoonful at a time. The greens release more as you work. | Rest the dough covered for 20 minutes 20m The gram flour needs the time to hydrate or the dough tears as you roll. | Divide into 12 and roll thin, about 15cm across 12m Roll thinner than a chapati. Thick theplas go leathery once cool. | Cook on a medium-hot tawa with oil, pressing the edges, until brown freckles appear on both sides 20m Two turns per thepla. Press with a folded cloth so the middle touches the metal. | |
| 1/2 tsp | ||||||
| 2 cups | ||||||
| 1/4 cup | ||||||
| 1/2 tsp | ||||||
| 1 tsp | ||||||
| 1 tsp | ||||||
| 1 tbsp | ||||||
| 1 tsp | ||||||
| 3/4 tsp | ||||||
| 2 tbsp | ||||||
| about 1/2 cup | ||||||
| 4 tbsp | ||||||
-
Salt the chopped fenugreek and squeeze out the bitter liquid
5m- fresh fenugreek leaves 2 cups
- salt 1/2 tsp
Squeeze over a bowl and use that liquid as part of the water.
-
Knead everything to a soft dough, slightly stickier than you want
10m- from 1 Salt the chopped fenugreek and squeeze out the bitter liquid
- chapati flour 2 cups
- gram flour 1/4 cup
- ground turmeric 1/2 tsp
- red chilli powder 1 tsp
- ground coriander 1 tsp
- sesame seeds 1 tbsp
- caster sugar 1 tsp
- salt 3/4 tsp
- neutral oil 2 tbsp
- water about 1/2 cup
Add water a spoonful at a time. The greens release more as you work.
-
Rest the dough covered for 20 minutes
20m- from 2 Knead everything to a soft dough, slightly stickier than you want
The gram flour needs the time to hydrate or the dough tears as you roll.
-
Divide into 12 and roll thin, about 15cm across
12m- from 3 Rest the dough covered for 20 minutes
Roll thinner than a chapati. Thick theplas go leathery once cool.
-
Cook on a medium-hot tawa with oil, pressing the edges, until brown freckles appear on both sides
20m- from 4 Divide into 12 and roll thin, about 15cm across
- neutral oil 4 tbsp
Two turns per thepla. Press with a folded cloth so the middle touches the metal.
Why these keep and chapatis do not
Two things go into the dough that a chapati does without. Oil coats the flour before the water reaches it, shortening gluten strands so the bread stays tender instead of tightening as it cools. Gram flour brings starch that holds water but very little gluten, so it dilutes the network further. The result is a bread that is still foldable on day three, which is exactly why theplas are what people pack for long journeys.
Notes
- Salting and squeezing the methi does two jobs at once. It draws out the bitterness and stops the dough turning slack an hour later.
- Cook on medium, not high. High heat browns the outside before the inside steams and you get a stiff bread.
- Stack them under a cloth as they come off. Trapped steam is what keeps the surface soft.