Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Methi ki Roti
Methi ki Roti (Fenugreek Bread)

Methi ki Roti

Fenugreek Bread
Vegetarian●●●Origin PunjabPrep 20 minutes, plus standing timeCook 15 minutesMakes 10

These wholesome Indian flatbreads are speckled with fresh fenugreek leaves and green chillies, offering a gentle bitterness balanced by rich melted butter. They cook quickly on a hot griddle to produce a tender, fragrant bread.

Ingredients

01
Fenugreek leaves · Methichopped
150 g
herb
02
Green chilli · Hari Mirchchopped
20 g2 tablespoons
vegetable
03
Wholemeal flour · Attaplus extra for dusting
500 g
flour
04
Salt · Namak
~0.3 gpinch
salt
05
Butter · Makhanmelted, plus extra for greasing
49 g3½ tablespoons
dairy

Method

  1. Toss together 150 g fenugreek leaves and 19.8 g green chilli in a bowl.
  2. Sift 500 g flour and 0.3 g salt into a wide mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and gradually pour in enough water to bring the mixture together into a soft dough.
  3. Fold in the fenugreek and chilli mixture until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
  4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes until smooth. Transfer to a lightly greased bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and leave to rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes.
  5. Divide the rested dough into 10 equal pieces and roll each portion into a smooth ball. Using extra flour for dusting, roll each ball out into a round approximately 15 cm (6 inches) across.
  6. Warm a tawa or heavy skillet over medium heat. Lay a circle of dough into the dry pan and cook for 1 minute, then flip and fry until golden brown spots appear on the reverse side.
  7. Remove from the pan and coat one side with some of the 49.4 g butter. Cook and butter the remaining flatbreads in the same manner.

Don't have something?

Fenugreek leaves
  • Dried fenugreek leaf

    Use 10% of the fresh weight, rub between the palms or soak in warm water for 5 minutes. More hay-like and less fresh-bitter; add near the end.

  • Spinach

    Use the same weight, chop and wilt. Gives leafy body but none of methi's bitter aroma; adjust salt and add a pinch of sugar.

  • Fenugreek shoots

    Use the same weight, chop finely and discard any tough stems. Milder and more tender; cook 2–3 minutes less.

Green chilli
  • Chilli powder

    Use 10 to 15% of the weight (about 1/4 teaspoon per chilli); imparts dry pungent heat and reddens the dish without the grassy crunch.

  • Dried red chilli

    Use 1 dried pod per fresh green chilli; snap in half and temper in hot oil for a deeper, toastier heat.

Wholemeal flour
  • Whole wheat flour

    Use the same weight; it is almost the same, though slightly finer, so add water gradually.

  • Plain flour

    Use the same weight but reduce water by about 10%; the result is lighter and less nutty.

  • Flour

    Use the same weight as plain flour; reduce water slightly and expect less bran and colour.

Butter
  • Unsalted butter

    Use 100% of the weight. If the original recipe relies on salted table butter, add a pinch of salt to balance.

  • Ghee

    Use 80% to 85% of the weight. Ghee is pure butterfat with moisture removed; it yields a deeper, nuttier flavour and handles high heat better.

  • Vegetable oil

    Use 80% of the weight for frying or tempering. The dish loses sweet dairy richness but remains glossy and light.

Similar dishes

Chapaati
Chapati
Chapaati has a simple, nutty wheat flavor without the mild bitterness, chilli heat, and rich buttery taste of this dish.
  • Same: Both are unleavened Indian flatbreads seasoned with salt and cooked on a hot griddle.
  • Different: Chapaati is cooked on a dry griddle without butter and lacks the fresh fenugreek leaves and green chillies used in this dish.
Phulka
Puffed Bread
Phulka has a mild, toasted wheat flavour without the sharp heat and herbal bitterness of this dish.
  • Same: Both are unleavened Indian flatbreads cooked over high heat.
  • Different: Phulka puffs over direct heat and uses vegetable oil rather than butter, omitting the green chillies and fresh fenugreek leaves found in this dish.
Tandoori Roti
Bread Baked in a Clay Oven
It tastes nutty and smoky with crisp blistered patches and a chewy interior, not tender, fragrant and gently bitter from fenugreek and green chilli like this dish.
  • Same: Tandoori Roti shares wholemeal flour and salt with this dish, and both are Indian flatbreads.
  • Different: It lacks fenugreek leaves, green chilli and butter, uses ghee or vegetable oil plus a little plain flour, and is baked in a clay oven instead of cooked on a griddle.
Roomali Roti
Handkerchief Bread
Roomali Roti is soft, delicately charred, and plain, without this dish's gentle fenugreek bitterness, green chilli heat, or melted butter richness.
  • Same: Roomali Roti shares with this dish a wholemeal flour base and cooking as a flatbread on a hot pan.
  • Different: Roomali Roti adds plain flour and lacks fenugreek leaves, green chilli, and butter, and it is stretched paper-thin and blistered on an inverted pan rather than cooked quickly on a hot griddle.