Dhebra is a popular Gujarati deep fried snack or breakfast recipe, that is prepared with bajra flour and methi. It can be served with yogurt, coriander mint chutney, or pickle. Check out the easy recipe to make it.
Start by preparing the methi leaves. Pluck the leaves from the stems and discard the stems. Measure out 120 g (2 cups packed) leaves. Wash the leaves well with water a few times to get rid of the dirt. Drain the water well and chop the leaves finely.
Add 1.5 cup pearl millet flour, ¼ cup whole wheat flour, 2 cups of chopped fenugreek leaves, 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro, 2 teaspoon chopped green chili peppers, 2 tablespoon sesame seeds, 1 teaspoon carom seeds, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, salt to taste, 1 tablespoon ghee, 1 tablespoon jaggery dissolved in 2 tablespoon water and ¼ cup yogurt to a large mixing bowl and mix the ingredients well using your fingers.
Add water little by little and knead to make a soft dough. Do not add a lot of water at once otherwise, the dough can become sticky. The amount of water will depend on the quality of flour used. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and keep it aside on the counter for 20 minutes.
Divide the dough into 14-15 equal size pieces. I use my measuring scale to divide the dough so that the Dhebra are equal in size. Take one piece and make a smooth ball from it. Press it in between your palms. Dust it with some dry flour and gently roll to make a thick circle (0.5 cm).
Roll 5-6 balls into circles and keep them on a plate in a single layer. Keep the remaining dough covered with the cloth to avoid drying.
Heat oil for deep frying in a skillet over high heat. When the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium-low. Drop 4-5 dhebra in hot oil and fry until they are browned from the bottom (4-5 minutes). Flip them using a fork and fry on the other side as well. Don’t be in a hurry to turn the dhebra until they are browned and set, otherwise, they may break while turning. Fry on medium-low heat only. Keep flipping them once in a while frying.
Once one batch is fried, roll the other dough pieces. Increase the heat to high to heat the oil well. Reduce the heat once the oil is hot and then drop the next batch in oil. Fry all the dhebra in the same manner.
Once the dhebra are browned well and crispy, drain them on a plate lined with kitchen towel. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
If the methi leaves are too bitter, add some salt to chopped leaves and keep them aside for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, rinse them off with cold water and makes sure you take out all the water before adding it to the recipe.You can also add other flours like jowar (sorghum), makai (corn) or besan (chickpea) while making it.You can also add grated lauki (bottle gourd), carrot or palak (spinach) instead of methi to the dough.Adjust the amount of green chili peppers, as per your spice level.In summers when fresh methi is not available, you can always add in dried fenugreek leaves instead. But the taste differs a bit when dried ones are used.