My most liked food - muthiya

Whatever be the case, my first post had to be about muthiya. Though there may be many recipes available easily off Google, this one is for a few people I cherish, who absolutely love the dish....Did I say absolutely? I mean to craziness... Amrita at one point nicknamed me muthiya rani and Swati claimed her 'one pound of muthiya' when she visited Mumbai in December 2010.

Somehow, this reminds me of the old days at the Times of India when we often did potlucks and when it was my turn to say what I'd be getting, I was given no choice! It had to be muthiya. That said, I want to establish that I have become a little tired of eating it... love to cook it though.

It is basically a Gujarati recipe devised to take care of left over rice, but over the years it has become so popular that numerous variations of the same are tried and tasted, and loved all over the world... and since it is basically a steamed dish, it can I guess fall under the category of 'low fat' or 'health' food :)

Now, getting to the point:

The recipe
Ingredients (measurements are indicative only, you can vary them a bit according to taste):

For the muthiya:
Boiled rice - 1 cup
Chickpea flour (besan)- 2 tablespoons
Whole wheat flour (atta) - 1 to 1.5 cups
Grated cabbage - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Sugar - 1 tablespoon
Green chilli paste/ sauce OR red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon (optional)
Lemon juice – 2 tablespoons
Baking soda - 1 pinch
Oil – 2 teaspoons

For the garnish:
Oil – 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds – a pinch
Cumin seeds – a pinch
Finely chopped coriander (cilantro) – 1 tablespoon
Grated coconut (fresh or frozen) – 1 tablespoon

Method

1. Start your steamer, so that the water is ready to with the dough. Ideally, it is a perforated plate (thali) placed on a stand in a large vessel filled with water. You can also use your steamer in an electric rice cooker, over water.
2. In a mix bowl, put in all the ingredients except the flours. Mix well.
3. Add the chickpea flour, mix and at first add only once cup of the whole wheat flour. Mix and start binding to a soft but firm dough. If it is a bit runny, add more flour. On the other hand, if it becomes too hard, use a splash of water to soften it.
4. Grease your palms with a bit of oil and roll the dough into small cylindrical shapes, as large as can fit in your steamer.
5. Steam for around 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, check that the steamer has not run out of water or refill it, otherwise your muthiyas will burn. After 20 minutes poke in a knife and if it comes out clean, the muthiyas are done. If not, steam for a minute or two more.
6. Once done, let the cylindrical rolls cool down, and slice into small pieces. Arrange in the serving plate.
7. For the garnish, heat the oil in a very small pan and throw in the mustard seeds. Once they pop, throw in the cumin seeds and turn off the heat. Spread this garnish evenly on the muthiyas. Sprinkle the coriander and the grated coconut and the dish is ready to serve.

Notes:

* Grated squash (dudhi) can also be used instead of the cabbage. Other leafy vegetables that can be used are methi and spinach (palak).
* The proportion of the two flours can vary. In fact, you can do away with the chickpea flour, if you don't have any and use only whole wheat flour.
* Any kind of cooked rice can be used… the type of grain does not matter. Even brown rice can be used.
* It is not necessary to have rice in the recipe… it can be cooked without the rice, though it’ll be much softer with the rice.
* For fat free options, skip the oil in the muthiya dough and skip the garnish.
* Finely chopped coriander (1 tablespoon) can be added to the muthiya dough as well.