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Recipes | Spinach & Radish Thepla – Wholewheat Indian Flat Breads, Perfect Snack & Travel Food

27 September 2012 22 Comments

Wholewheat flat breads or Thepla

There are things I love to do for my children even though it least interests me, going to movie is one such. I could never connect myself with the world of cinema except for listening to good songs. When hubby’s choice ruled there were more of detective English movies which later changed to animation and comic movies once the children started to influence us. But all I remember & cherish about my movie watching stint is the time we all spend together and of course the huge bucket of pop corns!

Recently my son persuaded me to watch this Hindi movie ‘Burfi’ by downloading & playing the songs over and again. Not bad, songs are melodious and for a change I forgot to eat pop corns and kept myself awake till the end of the movie 🙂

I made these Theplas for the day and packed it in individual aluminum foils just in case they feel hungry, as the theater was far and travel time was quite long.

Thepla or thin spicy Indian flat breads are a popular snack and travel food mainly from the western part of India. These breads are cooked in a way so as to keep them fresh for a few days. The thin texture acquired by pressing the breads with a cloth or a special small wooden plank make sure that there is less moisture and the bread does not get stale fast.

1. Radish Theplas or Savory Indian Flat Breads

Recipes | Spinach & Radish Thepla - Wholewheat Indian Flat Breads, Perfect for Snack & Travel Food

Mix of  grated Radish, baby fenugreek leaves and spices…

Ingredients;

(make around 12 Theplas)

  • 2 cups of whole-wheat flour
  • 2 small radishes
  • 2 tbsp fenugreek leaves (optional)
  • 2 tbsp. fresh yogurt
  • 2 small green chilies
  • 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
  • 1/2 tsp. cumin seed powder
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil for shallow frying
Recipes | Spinach & Radish Thepla - Wholewheat Indian Flat Breads, Perfect for Snack & Travel Food

Radish Theplas or wholewheat Indian flat reads

Method; Wash and grate the radishes. Chop fenugreek leaves, replace it with coriander leaves if you can’t find the same. Chop the green chilies finely.

Take a large bowl and add whole-wheat flour, turmeric powder, salt, cumin seed powder, chopped green chilies and mix well.

Add grated radish, chopped fenugreek leaves, yogurt and knead to make hard dough. Leave the dough for sometime for the radish to release water.

Do not add water even if the dough feel a little dry, as the grated radish release water and makes it soggy. Keep the dough a little harder than the normal chapatti dough.

Pinch small balls from the dough, dust it with wheat flour and roll it into thin circles using rolling pin and board.

Recipes | Spinach & Radish Thepla - Wholewheat Indian Flat Breads, Perfect for Snack & Travel Food

Heat a flat girdle and place the flat bread over it. Cook for a minute and turn to the other side. Pour a tsp. of oil and again turn to the other side. Repeat the same for the other side also and cook the flat bread till it gets golden brown spots on both the sides. Use the back of a ladle or a wooden knob (as shown in picture) to press the Theplas while they are cooking to make them crisp and reduce moisture.

Serve the Radish Theplas or whole-wheat Radish flat breads with fresh curd raita or green chutney.

2. Spinach Theplas or Savory Indian Flat Breads

Recipes | Spinach & Radish Thepla - Wholewheat Indian Flat Breads, Perfect for Snack & Travel Food

Spinach Theplas is my family favorite. During most of our travel trips these flat breads are packed with a few sachet of tomato sauce and a small box of green chutney.

Recipes | Spinach & Radish Thepla - Wholewheat Indian Flat Breads, Perfect for Snack & Travel Food

Spinach Theplas in making and my wooden block…

Ingredients;

(make around 12 Theplas)

  • 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup chickpea flour
  • 1 cup chopped spinach
  • 2 tbsp. yogurt
  • 1 tsp. red chilly powder
  • 1 tsp dry mango powder (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
  • 1/2 tsp. cumin seed powder
  • Salt as required
  • Oil for shallow frying

Recipes | Spinach & Radish Thepla - Wholewheat Indian Flat Breads, Perfect for Snack & Travel Food

Method; Wash and chop spinach finely. Take a large bowl and add both the flours, red chilly powder, turmeric powder, cumin seeds powder, dry mango powder (amchoor), salt and mix well.

Add chopped spinach, yogurt and knead into a hard dough.

Leave the hard dough untouched for 15 minutes, spinach will release water and make the dough soft. Knead again to make a soft dough with the water released from spinach.

Recipes | Spinach & Radish Thepla - Wholewheat Indian Flat Breads, Perfect for Snack & Travel Food

Fresh curd/yogurt with Spinach Theplas…

Pinch small balls from the dough, dust it with wheat flour and roll it into thin circles using rolling pin and board.

Heat a flat girdle and place the flat bread over it. Cook for a minute and turn to the other side. Pour a tsp. of oil and again turn to the other side. Repeat the same for the other side also and cook the flat bread till it gets golden brown spots on both the sides. Use the back of a ladle or a wooden knob (as shown in picture) to press the Theplas while they are cooking to make them crisp and reduce moisture.

Recipes | Spinach & Radish Thepla - Wholewheat Indian Flat Breads, Perfect for Snack & Travel Food

Delicious Theplas with homemade Garlic pickle…yum.

Serve the Spinach Theplas or whole-wheat Spinach Flat breads with fresh curd raita, garlic pickle or green chutney.

Notes;

  1. Do not add too much liquid to the dough, keep it slightly hard to get Thepla which stays good for a few days.
  2. Use a wooden block if you can to press the Theplas while cooking to reduce the water content and make them crisp.
  3. You can avoid veggies (radish/spinach) and make plain Theplas if you wish, the shelf life of plain Theplas is longer than the first.
  4. These wholewheat Indian flat breads stays good for upto 3-4 days when packed properly in an aluminium foil.
  5. Theplas make a healthy and handy lunch box option for children, spread each Thepla with tomato sauce and pack in lunchbox.
  6.  Sometimes a tbsp. of sesame seeds are added for extra crunch and flavors while kneading the dough for Theplas.

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22 Comments »

  • Aggie said:

    These look delicious! I recently picked up some flat breads that look similar to these from an Indian grocery, they were made with fenugreek leaves? I actually didn’t know what they were called, but I just loved them and have been wanting to go back for more. Your pictures are so lovely!

  • lakshmi balasubramanian said:

    Hi Sajeeta,

    Its looks very good. I know its also yummy too. thanks a lot for your receipe dear. will make it for my son lunch box sure dear.

  • Priti said:

    WOW! Looks yummy, I will tell this recipe to my mom and have it with curd , butter and pickles. Oh, I can’t wait for long… Thanks Sanjeeta for this yum recipe. 🙂

  • lathasathya said:

    sanjeetha very colourful and yummy i will try and let u know how my kids enjoyed

  • sanjeeta kk said:

    @Latha, try it and tell me how did they like these Theplas. You can even pack it in their lunchbox.

  • Faith said:

    I can see why Spinach Theplas are a family favorite — they look so tasty! I need to try the recipe!

  • vanamala said:

    wow…..awesome pics

  • Anushruti | Divinetaste said:

    Lovely! I like your roti press!

  • Meeta said:

    I cannot say I have every tries teplas before – but I need to change this. These look extremely good!

  • Nandita said:

    The theplas look so wholesome and tempting. I normally make methi theplas. I’ll try making with Spinach the next time 🙂

  • mjskit said:

    These are much better than popcorn! I love flatbreads of all kinds and I’ve been seeing more and more variations in the past month or so. These are some of the best I’ve seen. The ingredients are healthy and add tons of flavor. What great breads! Thanks for sharing these recipes and of course your lovely pictures were all needed to tell me that I was about to learn about a very special treat from Sanjeeta!

  • dassana@veg recipes of india said:

    theplas looking good 🙂

  • kristy @ the wicked noodle said:

    So beautiful! The colors are just gorgeous.

  • Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen said:

    Now that’s the kind of snack I’d want at the movies, these look so good!

  • Helene Dsouza I Masala Herb said:

    Is that that movie barfi? Was thinking of going and checking it out. Loved slum dog millionaire, so I think the 2 movies might have similarities.

    Is there a way that I can use something else then palak? I d love to try it out and I have some besan around but I dont really enjoy that green leaf type.

  • sanjeeta kk said:

    @Helene, Yes its Burfi, the same movie. You can replace spinach with fresh fenugreek leaves or even the dried methi leaves (Kasuri methi), it tastes much better and stays longer with dried methi leaves.

  • Nami | Just One Cookbook said:

    What a healthy flat bread and looks delicious – I love that inside ingredients are kind of see through from the bread. Very pretty and delicious!

  • foodwanderings said:

    Lovely lovely theplas Sanjeeta! Gorgeous colors & you are making me crave them at midnight here in the US. Do you ship? 🙂 Missing you my friend!

  • Kiran @ KiranTarun.com said:

    Love theplas! and this is definitely my favorite snack and delicious savory treat!

  • chinmayie @ love food eat said:

    I love theplas and I make it very often. I favorite is methi thepla with some spicy pickle 🙂

  • FoodMuster said:

    A work colleague had this for lunch one day and I couldn’t keep my eyes of it! She explained to me what it was and promised a recipe, but we haven’t crossed paths for a little while, so thanks for sharing this:) I have repinned your pin on Pinterest too!

  • Sherry W said:

    When our Indian friend made these they were plain, but just a bit spicey and I beleive she cooked them right on the stove burner- no oils. Is that possible. I have searched for over 25 years trying to find a recipe for Thepla. SO SO glad to have found this. Thank you!

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