Food Talk
 Magic of methi

Methi, besides its medicinal value, imparts a unique fragrance to food, writes Pushpesh Pant


From the chef’s corner

Ingredients
Mutton/Kid (shoulder, leg and chops) 1 kg
Methi 1 kg
Onions 250 gm
Garlic 8-9 medium cloves chopped
Ginger 1 thick piece about 2 inches
Cinnamon 2 sticks of about 2 inches
Cloves 4-5
Cardamom black four
Dhaniya powder 2 tsp
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Garam masala 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil 150 gm

Method
Trim and wash the meat well, pat dry. Slice the onions fine. Pick clean and wash the methi, then roughly chop removing the stems. Scrape the ginger, clean and ground coarsely. Heat oil in a thick-bottomed pan, add cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, when these begin to crackle, put the onions in and fry till golden brown.

Just before they turn a darker hue, add garlic and ginger. Now add the meat and fry for about 30 minutes. When the meat is well browned, add chilli and dhaniya powders moistened in a little water and fry for about a minute. Add salt and methi and continue frying for another 30 minutes. Add three cups of hot water, bring to boil and simmer till the desired thickness of gravy is obtained. You may substitute red chilli powder with six green chillies if preferred. A ‘richer’ dish can be prepared with the addition of khus khus paste (1 tbs) with methi.

As the coquettish sister-in-law told her drooling young relative, ‘Aloo methi ki bhujiya garam hoti hai’, teasing him with the implication that garam in this context is not chilli hot or piping hot, but hot in the sense of an adult’s only movie. 

We don’t know from this ditty how the poor boy responded to the salacious overtures of the more experienced relative but do know that methi(or fenugreek) is known to have a garam taseer and is particularly well suited for winter. 

The seed may be bitter to taste but is believed to have medicinal properties.

It reduces the levels of blood sugar in most persons suffering from diabetes, and who minds the bitter taste when the after effects are so sweet.

Methi dana is reckoned among the indispensable ingredients for making pickle and is also used for tarka and baghar or chownk — delightfully different from the common cumin.

In Rajasthan, it forms the base of an unusual sabzi-methi kishmish. Methi ki chutney is the inseparable twin of bedami the puri with its innards lined delicately with a thin film of delicious dal peethi.

Its affinity with fish is renowned and gives the good-old ajwain a run for its money. Methi ke laddoo are a seasonal speciality prescribed to soup up the metabolism and ward off colds and cough. 

In days gone by, in remote hill villages of Uttaranchal methi dana was substituted for tea leaves to provide a delicious drink — tonic not toxic.

Kasoori methi is the dried aromatic form of this spice that is most convenient as it is extremely user friendly for multi-tasking and is available the year round but nothing compares with the farm-fresh sprigs.

Fragrant fresh methi can be enjoyed on its own, in daal or with a few aloo chopped fine. 

There are places where you can order methi murg to break the monotony imposed by the ubiquitous butter chicken or chicken curry but it is seldom that one encounters methi paired with mutton mince or chunks.

Believe us, the combination sure beats the saag meat.

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