Dana Methi ki sabji or Fenugreek seeds curry is an authentic Rajasthani curry made with dry fenugreek seeds, dried fruits like dates, cashews, and raisins, and sugar or jaggery. People in Rajasthan depend a lot of dried foods like fenugreek seeds, and ker sangri due to the hot weather and unavailability of fresh vegetables. These curries are both tasty and nutritious. This is my mom’s recipe of the dana methi sabji. This is kind of fixed curry for festivals and it is also a good option for travelling as it does not need refrigeration.

Fenugreek seeds have a very sharp, bitter, and pungent flavor. It is very important to soak them and wash them well to get rid of the yellow water and bitter taste. My mom’s tip that works everytime for me is to soak the seeds in warm water and wash them thoroughly in a colander under running water. Some people say you shouldn’t touch the seeds while soaking or they will taste bitter. I am yet to try this tip though.

There are different versions of this curry. You can make it sweet and sour (like this one), spicy version without sugar and dry fruits and with papad, with papad and moong dal dumplings called mangodis. You can substitute sugar with jaggery  if you want to make this healthier.

This curry tastes good with puri or whole wheat parathas. You can serve it cold or hot.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• ½ cup dried fenugreek seeds (dana methi) soaked overnight
• 2 tbsp oil
• 8-10 curry leaves
• 1-2 dry red chillies
• ¼ tsp mustard seeds
• ¼ tsp cumin seeds
• 10-12 cashew nuts
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 10-12 raisins
• 2-3 dates chopped
• ¼ cup chopped raw mango (replace with 1 tsp dry mango powder (amchur) if raw mango is not available)
• 4 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp water
• Salt to taste

Recipe

Drain the water from methi seeds and put them in a strainer. Wash them under running water for 1-2 minutes to drain out the bitter taste.  Keep washing till the water that you drain from the seeds is clear (it should not be yellow)

Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan or kadhai. Add curry leaves, dry red chillies, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and cashewnuts. Once the cashews are light brown, add the soaked methi seeds, raw mango pieces, salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder, raisins, and dates. Mix well and cook for two minutes on low flame. Add sugar and 1 tbsp water. Mix well and cook for two minutes. Remove from heat. Over cooking this curry will spoil its taste. Serve hot with parathas or puri.