Wheat and chickpea crackers (Baked Muthia)

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Are you one of those people that believe fresh vegetables are more nutritive than frozen vegetables...I have to admit, I believed this for a long time... until I came across a couple of articles on nutrition that say frozen vegetables have the same level of nutrition as fresh ones...whew I was relieved to know that...now if I occassionally buy frozen vegetables I do not have to feel guilty that I am compromising on health for convenience.

On a related note, did you also know when you buy frozen vegetables in plastic bags,you need to check that the vegetables in them are free flowing, as clumping indicates that the item has been thawed and refrozen, meaning loss of nutrition. This was news to me and I am sure I have never checked for clumping when I bought frozen vegetables on the rare occasions I have bought them.So do keep this in mind the next time you are at the grocery :-)

Now to today's recipe,this cracker is actually a spin on the Indian muthia. Muthia,pronounced as Moo-thi-ya, is a dish that originates from Gujarat, a region in the western part of India. It has a steamed version and a deep fried one. My recipe for the steamed version is here, I have never tried the deep fried version and was intrigued when I saw a baked version of this muthia here in Aparna's My Diverse Kitchen.

I thought it would be very interesting to try this. I made some changes to the proportion of ingredients and added baking powder and olive oil making these crackers light and crunchy. The dried fenugreek leaves add a slightly bitter note,but not overwhelmingly so and with the spices used, this cracker turned out to be a very interesting and tasty experiment.

Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and method to make the wheat and chick pea flour crackers (Baked Muthia)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (atta)

1/2 cup chick pea flour (besan)

1 1/2 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (Kasoori Methi)

1/2 tsp chilli powder (or according to taste)

salt to taste (I used about 1 tsp)

1/4 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

4 tbsp olive oil

a little water to knead the dough

a little flour for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 deg F

Line one or two cookie sheets with foil and keep aside

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Add the olive oil,mix well, slowly add a little water and keep kneading until you get a smooth dough that is not sticky.

Divide into three to four equal parts.

With the help of a little flour roll out the dough into a thin circle (as thin as possible)

Place this circle on the lined cookie sheet and use a cookie cutter to score a shape on the circle (or use a pizza cutter to score lines horizontally and vertically)

Bake in the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes (Baking times will vary depending on the thickness of the rolled out dough)

Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.

Here is another view of the crackers...

These crunchy crackers are on their way to the Bookmarked Recipes event being hosted by Ruth.

Related Recipes

Steamed Muthia