Dudhi Muthiya | Vegan Steamed Dumplings

Dudhi Muthiya is a Gujarati delicacy made with grated bottle gourd, fresh fenugreek leaves spiced with green chilies, ginger, and turmeric. These irresistible savory bites have a perfect balance of spicy, tangy, and sweet flavors with golden pan-fried crunchy textures. Served with a hot cup of chai, Muthiya makes a delicious snack, breakfast, or side dish.

Muthia

The name "Muthia or Muthiya" comes from the way this dish is made, which is by gripping the dough in your hand and molding it to make small oval dumplings. Sometimes the dough is also shaped into bigger cylindrical croquettes which are steamed and then sliced.

There are many variations of Muthiya that use an assortment of veggies and flours. My favorite is with fresh dudhi (also known as Lauki, bottle gourd, or calabash). It is a delicately flavored, low-calorie vegetable that is a good source of vitamin C. With its mild taste it is also used to make delicious desserts like Dudhi Halwa or Dudhi Basundi.

I like to add fresh(or frozen) methi/fenugreek leaves to this easy dudhi muthiya recipe. It adds complimenting flavors and aroma to make this vegan dish even more nutritious.

Ingredients

In addition to the veggies, muthia uses a mix of flours - whole wheat, gram flour, and sooji. Fresh ginger and green chilies add a perfect spice, while turmeric adds a light golden color to the dish. To make the muthia light, mix in baking soda just before pouring the mixture into the bowl to be steamed.

Instant Pot Recipe

Traditionally steamed in a stovetop steamer or pressure cooker, muthia is a perfect recipe for Instant Pot. The traditional recipe does not use water. It instead uses the water from the vegetables by massaging it gently to form the dough and the rolls/dumplings.

Instead of making the rolls by hand, I have an easy shortcut to this recipe. I add a little bit of water to the dough to make the cake-like batter and then pour it into greased bowls to steam. Once cooked, cut them into smaller squares and pan-fry.

Similar to my rava dhokla and kothimbir vadi, I use Instant Pot to steam Muthiya. Simply remember to keep the Pressure release knob to venting instead of sealing.  I divide the dough into 2 bowls, to make thinner 1-inch muthiya. You can also steam in one deep 4 to 5-inch stainless steel bowl for thicker muthiya. If steaming in one bowl, increase the cooking time to 15 minutes.

Variations

• Substitute Dudhi with grated cabbage or zucchini
• Fresh/frozen fenugreek leaves can be substituted with spinach
• Sooji can be substituted with rice flour

Tips

• Depending on the exact ingredients used, you may need more or less water to make this dough. Make sure that the  consistency of the batter is similar to thick cake batter 
• You can also steam the whole dough in one stainless steel bowl for thicker muthiya. If steaming in one bowl, increase the cooking time to 15 minutes 
• Steamed muthiyas can be sliced and frozen. To defrost simply keep them in the refrigerator for few hours. After thawing temper them according to the recipe
• Steamed and sliced muthiyas are also added to the traditional Gujarati Undhiyu which is a delicious vegetable casserole dish

Served with a hot cup of ginger chai or sweet and tangy raw mango drink these Muthiya are simply delish.

Did you enjoy the flavors of this delicious muthia? Check out some more healthy breakfast and snack recipes:

• rava dhokla
• kothimbir vadi
• handvo

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Dudhi Muthia {Steamed dumplings} - Instant Pot

A Gujarati delicacy made with grated bottle gourd, fresh fenugreek leaves spiced with green chilies, ginger and turmeric makes a healthy snack or breakfast.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Resting Time10 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 6

Calories: 275kcal

Author: Archana Mundhe

Equipment

• Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
• Stainless steel pot

Ingredients

Main Ingredients

• ▢ ¾ cup Wheat Flour
• ▢ ¾ cup besan gram flour
• ▢ ¼ cup sooji rava or semolina
• ▢ 1 cup dudhi peeled and grated
• ▢ 1 cup fenugreek leaves chopped, fresh or frozen
• ▢ ½ cup cilantro chopped
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ginger grated
• ▢ 1 teaspoon hot green chili minced
• ▢ 2 teaspoon sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ▢ 1 tablespoon oil
• ▢ ½ cup water or as needed
• ▢ 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon baking soda or ½ teaspoon fruit salt

Tempering Ingredients

• ▢ 3 tablespoon oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• ▢ 15 curry leaves chopped
• ▢ 2 teaspoon brown sesame seeds
• ▢ 2 green chilies sliced (optional)

Optional Garnish

• ▢ ½ cup cilantro chopped
• ▢ 2 tablespoon coconut grated, fresh or frozen

Instructions

• Grease two 7-½ inch stainless steel bowls with cooking oil or spray.
• Add 1 ½ cups water to the Instant Pot insert. Set on Sauté mode so the water starts to heat. Heating up the water before placing the batter in the Instant Pot will result in light muthia. Make sure to do this about 5 minutes before you are ready place the batter in the Instant Pot for steaming. Boiling it for too long may cause a lot if water to evaporate.
• Mix all the main ingredients except baking soda in medium bowl. Once the water in the Instant Pot gets hot, add the baking soda to the batter and mix well. Quickly pour the batter in the two greased bowls. Place the Instant Pot trivet in the pot and stack the bowls on trivet. Note: It is important to start the steaming process within couple of minutes for the baking soda to work. Close Instant Pot lid with pressure valve to Venting.
• Set Instant Pot to Steam mode, with an external timer for 12 mins. Note: Timer function does not work with Steam/Venting, so an external timer is needed.
• Once the timer goes off, Press Cancel and open the Instant Pot after 5 minutes.
• Carefuly take out the bowls. Run a knife around the edges so the muthia can be released on a plate. Allow the muthia to cool for another 5 minutes and the cut into small squares.
• Muthia can be enjoyed steamed or enjoyed crispy by pan frying. To pan fry, Heat oil in a medium non-stick pan. Add mustard seeds and allow them to pop. Lower the heat and add cumin seeds, sesame seeds, curry leaves and green chilies. Cook for another minute as the curry leaves start to crisp up. Add the cut muthia pieces to the tempering and mixing gently to coat the tempering evenly on the muthia. Cook until the muthia turn golden on the sides. Garnish with grated coconut and cilantro.

Notes

To check if they are done insert a clean knife. If it comes out clean that means it is done. If they stick to the knife, simply put the bowls back in the Instant Pot and steam for another 2 minutes.

Substitute 1 cup of Dudhi with 1 cup grated cabbage or zucchini

Substitute 1 cup of fresh/frozen fenugreek leaves with spinach.

Depending on the exact ingredients used, you may need more or less water to make this dough. Make sure that the consistency of the batter is similar to thick cake batter. 

You can also steam the whole dough in one stainless steel bowl for thicker muthia. If steaming in one bowl, increase the cooking time to 15 minutes. 

Steamed muthias can be sliced and frozen. To defrost simply keep them in the refrigerator for few hours. After thawing temper them according to the recipe. 

 

 

Nutrition

Calories: 275kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 891mg | Potassium: 216mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 275IU | Vitamin C: 55.6mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 2.4mg

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