Misal Pav – Puneri Misal
Misal Pav is such a popular delicious street food dish from the State of Maharashtra. Spicy and aromatic sprouts missal with buttery pav/bread and topped with farsan or sev.
Perfect dish with full of flavors and textures.
I have always known misal to be a breakfast dish, thanks to an Old city café called Canara Coffee house where I had my first taste of misal in Baroda. The simplicity of that dish was so awesome. Not at all spicy, but full of sprouts and little bit of sauce and lot of yogurt on top along with thick sev. It’s quite different than the version I am sharing today with you all.
I cannot wait to go back to India and try lot of different varieties of misal. Do you know, there are so many ways to make misal. There is Kolhapuri misal, Puneri misal, etc. Even though misal is more of a breakfast dish, it can be pretty decent filling meal in itself with accompaniments like pav.
I have been making misal since few years and finally feel like sharing the recipe. I made some for my mom’s visit and she loved it. She said she is going to go back and try this recipe too. Lol.
Misal is traditional originally made with matki also known as Moth beans in English. That’s exactly how I love to make it. But some people love to add more protein and nutrition and add some other sprouted beans and lentils to the mix. Feel free to do that, however there is size difference between matki and other sprouts. Keep that in mind.
Ideally, you should use sprouted matki beans, but if you are on short of time just make it without sprouting. It will still taste good. Sprouting enhances the nutrition value.
I have kept my recipe to be simple and easier. But there are usually two parts to the recipe. One is the cooked matki beans or Usal part and the other Rassa means gravy. People make Rassa separately to add more spice and flavor to the dish and it can be customized.
Matki beans are softer once they are sprouted and therefore take less time in cooking them. I usually use pressure cooker or instant pot.
You can also boil them in a pot with a lid and then do the rest of the steps.
Ready-made sprouts are also easily available in frozen aisle of Indian grocery stores. While I have never used them, they save a lot of time and comes handy. Sometimes, I also sprout double batch and freeze half of the batch for later use.
The misal base/gravy is made with tomatoes, onions, garlic, dry red chilies (for heat and color), and dry spices.
Sprouted matki beans are ofcourse one of the main ingredients.
Sharing some serving suggestions if you are new to Misal;
Pav/Pau – Misal is best enjoyed with pav; it helps soak up the extra Rassa/gravy.
Toppings –
- Farsan/Sev – Crunchy sev or farsan is a must topping that provides texture. It is also served on the side so people can add it right before serving/eating as it soaks up the gravy.
- Other toppings served are raw chopped onions, cilantro and some lemon slices. It just rounds up the dish so well. However, if you do not like raw onions, you can skip it.
- Plain yogurt – I have always served misal with some yogurt. It adds nice creaminess to otherwise spicy misal. It’s optional.
- Imli chutney/ Tamarind Chutney – This might not be traditional, but I add some chutney on the side.
Misal Pav
Ingredients
- 3 Dried red chilies soaked in hot water Kashmiri chilies
- 4 tbsp neutral oil, divided
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- ½ cup medium onion chopped
- 1 small tomato chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh or dry coconut
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/8 tsp hing or asafoetida
- 2 curry leaves
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp coriander-cumin powder
- 2 tsp goda masala
- Salt to taste
- 2 tsp jaggery or brown sugar optional
- 2 cups Matki beans sprouts boiled
- Chopped onions, chopped cilantro, lemon wedges and Farsan/sev to serve
Instructions
- Soak dry red chilies in hot water for few minutes 5-10 mins approx.
- In a pan, take some oil and once oil is hot, add garlic, onions, tomato and coconut. Saute the mixture until it starts browning. Remove it and blend once it cools down along with soaked dry chilies. Set aside.
- Heat some oil in pot or deep pan on medium. Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida. Immediately add the blended mix and add all the dry spices – red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander-cumin powder, goda masala or garam masala and salt to taste. Add jaggery also to the mix.
- Add boiled matki beans and add 2 cups of water. Let the mixture simmer and come to boil. Adjust the consistency of liquid to your taste. It should have some liquid base.
- Garnish with some chopped cilantro leaves. Serve with a side of lemon, chopped onions, sev/farsan, pav and yogurt.
Notes
- Goda Masala is easily available in Indian grocery stores. You can add garam masala also.
- Serve the farsan/sev and other toppings on the side. It becomes soggy if you add it before serving and helps people customize it according to their taste.
- Matki beans can be easily steamed in a pot with some water. It takes only 15-20 minutes. In instant pot, add them once you add the blend and dry spices and cook it on manual pressure for 6 minutes. Do NPR.
- Pressure cooker – cook it for 1 whistle and keep the flame on slow for 8 minutes.