Mug ma Patra – Dhokli envelopes in Sprouted Moong beans

Mug ma Patra!! Yes, yet another Dhokli post and there will be more to follow 😉 as I explore the numerous Dhokli versions  regional Gujarati cuisine offers.  The origin of this post is as intriguing as the recipe.

A few months into the lockdown, Sunny DM-ed a picture of his thali  with Mug ma Patra he was having for lunch  and how he cherished the foods his Nanima and Mummy cooked. I could comprehend the dhokli part but never knew that sprouted moong beans too had dhokli added to it. Sunny’s Nanima called dhokli ‘Paatra’, something that intrigued me further. Such an ingenious name. We chatted about the dish and how it might have earned its name, maybe the region of his ancestry or the influence of the region they later spread their roots. Traditionally, the dough for dhokli has masala-daan spices added to it, but Sunny’s version had roti dough rolled in puri sized discs, with a smearing of ghee/oil and a sprinkling of methi masala/gujarati achar masala, the discs are folded into triangles and rolled into petit packets or padiku (there is another version here). As the patra cook with the moong beans, “some of them might disintegrate, but that is also fun as they become melt in the mouth as the texture is very soft,” Sunny shares as I kept inquiring about the cooking part of the Mug ma Patra.

Upon my request,  along with the recipe Sunny also shares his memories of this dish…

“My oldest memories of my nani/grandmother, are me waking up at 6 AM every day to go to school while she is already in the kitchen (waking up at 4 in the morning to beat the heat of Mumbai), sitting on the kitchen platform with at least a foot high pile of freshly made khakras stacked together. I would immediately pick 2-3, apply ghee and ‘jeeradu’ and then lose myself in heaven. But this story is not of Khakras. It is a story of another dish that has been a part of my life as much as Khakras, one that has been my go-to dish at least once a month. It is what we call Mug ma Patra or Mug ma Dhokli. Being a ‘pucca’ Jain, my granny used to come to our house to spend the ten days of Paryushan with us and the most exciting part for me as a kid we the different kinds of pure Jain food that my Mom and granny cooked during Paryushan. And since then one of my most favourite dishes has been Mug ma Patra, right from the simplicity to the nutritious nature of it, this is a great dish. And when you are eating the hot, melt in the mouth dhokli along with a scoop of mug, a squirt of lemon and the koro sambhar (Gujarati achar masala) help you elevate the taste profile to another level.
I have since learnt how to make it from my Mom and although I am yet to achieve the taste/texture profile, the kind that my granny achieved or that of my Mom (maybe it is the love and I can never replicate that). I do make a decent Mug ma Patra. The entire experience of making and then eating Mug ma Patra to me is deeply nostalgic as well as a humbling experience, the simple nutritious food of our parents and grandparents with very few ingredients are often the best foods and no restaurant/outside food can hold a candle to it.”

Sunny Shah  is  ‘an out and out Mumbaikar,’  based in  Bangalore.  While his  world revolves around food and  trekking, his work involves  efforts  to organise India’s handmade sector.