methi na gota or methi pakora is a gujarati deep fried snack. basically these are fritters made with besan/gram flour and fenugreek leaves. they are usually served as a snack during tea time.
i have had methi na gota many times while living in mumbai. whenever we would buy mix pakora platter from the gujarati snack shops, they would also add methi na gota in the pakora mix. the texture used to be so soft and spongy, unlike the onion pakora or aloo pakora that used to be there in the platter… and i would always wonder how they make such soft pakoras.
i checked a few cook books which i have, to get the authentic recipe and also one, that would give that kind of soft texture and taste in the methi na gota. finally i made my own adaptations after seeing a couple of recipes.
in this methi na gota recipe, ripe bananas are added and they help in making the pakora having the soft and porous texture. you can skip bananas but i would not suggest it… since they do add a lot of taste, texture, flavor and sweetness in the pakoras.
the bitterness of the methi leaves also gets balanced due to the sweetness of the bananas. also the pakoras will brown quickly when frying due to the sugars in the bananas, so you will have a slight darker brown shade in the pakoras. you can also check this methi pakora recipe.
serve methi na gota with any green chutney or mint chutney or raw papaya chutney. i served these with tomato sauce. a cup of masala tea will add more, when you are having the methi na gota . enjoy the monsoons snacking these crisp, soft and porous pakoras.
few more snacks recipes for you!
methi na gota
INGREDIENTS
- 1 or 1.25 cup besan (gram flour)
- 1 cup methi leaves (fenugreek leaves)
- 1 medium sized ripe banana
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon red chili powder (lal mirch powder)
- 1 teaspoon white sesame seeds (safed til)
- 8 to 10 whole black pepper (sabut kali mirch) - crushed
- ½ teaspoon coriander seeds (sabut dhania) - crushed
- 2 pinches of asafoetida (hing)
- 2 to 3 pinch of baking soda Or ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon oil
- 1 green chili + ½ inch ginger - crushed into a paste in a mortar and pestle
- ½ teaspoon sugar (optional)
- salt as required
- oil for deep frying the pakoras
INSTRUCTIONS
making methi na gota batter
- rinse and then chop the methi leaves finely.
- mash the banana in a bowl. add the methi leaves to it.
- add all the ingredients including the 2 tsp oil.
- add very little water, about 1 or 2 tbsp and make a thick batter, like a thick cake batter.
- we are making a thick batter first so that later, the batter will become thin as the methi leaves will start to leave water. this also depends on how much water content the methi leaves have.
- keep this batter covered aside for 30 minutes.
- after 30 minutes check the batter.
- the batter should be of smooth, flowing consistency.
- if the batter is still thick then you can add a few tbsps of water.
frying methi na gota
- heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or deep fryer.
- when the oil is medium hot. drop the batter from 1 tbsp measuring spoon into the oil.
- take care not to touch the spoon with the hot oil. you can also use a regular spoon.
- as soon as you drop the spoonful of batter in the oil, they will start puffing up and expand a bit and becoming brown.
- since we have added bananas the browning happens faster. so fry on a medium hot oil.
- fry the methi pakoras till golden and crisp all over.
- drain the methi pakoras on paper towels to remove excess oil.
- serve methi na gota hot with any green chutney or tomato sauce.
Hello
Just wanted to know… is there any simpler and quick version of methi pakoras
you can check this recipe – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/methi-pakora-recipe-methi-pakoda/
I made its cooked well , also I added SAUNF or VARIYALI .. taste and smell of variyali awesome when eat ..
Thumbs up for that dassana
thanks yugesh. good to know this.
This I make often, its a great snack. The aroma of methi, when you fry this really carries far! I make the instant batter type, meaning I mix besan, methi leaves, ginger chili paste in a bowl. I add required water and salt at the time of frying( making the batter not so thick) and then immediately fry them. My sister taught me this method, saying this ‘instant gota’ method makes it really soft and fluffy. It really does. I would like your opinion on this. I make really the simple ones without banana, pepper and dhania, as i like the raw taste of methi.
thanks bharat for sharing your version. the way your sister makes methi na gota, i make methi pakoras this way, but with the addition of ginger and sometimes onions. i also add chopped green chilies. what i have seen is that when baking soda is added, the pakora or methi na gota becomes more soft and fluffy, then when its not added. your recipe will give a strong flavor of methi. when bananas are added, apart from giving a sweet taste, banana also reduces strong flavor of methi. pepper gives a nice faint peppery flavor and dhania also add its own taste.
I avoid baking soda because I am told that it makes gota to absorb more oil. Does it?
no it does not. if the oil is hot enough, they don’t absorb oil.
O.K, I get it. That was helpful. Thank you.
welcome bharat
Hi dasanna, I tried this recipe today…. I was little confused how the batter should be ….. 🙁 I made like onion pakoda batter …..after frying the pakoda taste was gud 🙂 forgot to add soda … y is it needed?
hi deepthi, the batter is a bit thick like a cake batter. i will try to add step by step in this one. soda helps in making them soft and fluffy. next time when you make, add the soda. it gives a better texture than when made without.
Ok …thank you 🙂
welcome deepthi
Tempting recipe can we add eno fruit salt instead of soda
not sure how the gota would turn up with eno fruit salt.
They look really tempting Dassana!! perfect for the weather..