Kolhapuri Misal Pav is a famous Maharastrian street food consisting of sprouted moth beans curry served together in a spicy, thin gravy, garnished with chopped red onions, farsaan, lemon wedges, chopped coriander leaves and served with pillowy soft buttered and slightly roasted pavs.
Misal Pav is not something that I have eaten while growing up. This fiery hot lipsmacking dish, which is a great alternative to Pav Bhaji, was introduced to me by a good friend and neighbor, Mehul, who is a great versatile cook. While he has given his recipe, I have tweaked it a little bit based on all the readings and research I have done on this dish.
On a cold rainy day or a chilly snowy day, when you are in a mood for hot & spicy dish bursting with flavors at the same time nutritious too, this Kolhapuri Misal Pav is a perfect one to devor.
WHAT IS MISAL PAV?
Misal is a spicy and hot sprouted bean curry and Pav is a soft white bun. Hot bowl of Misal is garnished with chopped red onions, coriander leaves, lemon wedges, a generous amount of deep-fried mixture of snacks prepared from gram flour, flattened rice, peanuts, etc., called farsaan and served with buttered and pan roasted pavs.
Usually, Misal consists of Usal and Kat or rassa. Usal is a dry curry prepared using the sprouted moth beans, onions and some spices. Kat, also known as rassa is a thin spicy gravy prepared using roasted coconut, onions, tomato, ginger, garlic and a warm blend of other spices.
There are many variants of Misal Pav like Puneri Misal, Nashik Misal, Nagpuri Misal, Kolhapuri Misal. This is recipe of Kolhapuri Misal which is known to be spicier of all the variants.
HOW IS USAL PREPARED?
Traditionally, moth beans, known as Matki are used to prepared Usal. Small quantities of other beans may be used along with moth beans.
In this recipe, I have used moth beans and small quantities of black chickpeas, dried green peas, dried kidney beans and peanuts.
The process to sprout should be started at least 3 days before the day of preparation of this dish.
To sprout the beans, soak them overnight, drain all the water and let them sprout either using a moist cloth, sprouting container or even Instant Pot.
These sprouted beans are then cooked with sauteed onions, ginger, garlic and other spices. This curry is dry and called as Matkichi Usal in Maharastra.
HOW IS KAT OR RASSA PREPARED?
The fiery hot and spicy flavor of this dish comes from the blend of spices that goes into making this dish. The spices are roasted and blend into fine powder to make Kolhapuri Masala. This masala is cooked with sauteed onions, tomato, tamarind, a small piece jaggery and lots of water to get a soupy gravy called Kat or Rassa.
A perfectly made Kat, with the right amount of spices and sauteing, will have a red oily layer floating on top of the gravy called Tarri.
WHAT IS MISAL?
Few tablespoons of prepared Usal is taken In a bowl, Kat is then generously poured on top of it and garnished with chopped onions, coriander leaves, lemon wedges and farsaan to make Misal. This soupy, fiery hot bowl full of goodness bursting with flavors is served with buttered and pan roasted pillowy soft pavs.
To make the process less laborious, some people may opt to make usal, add freshly made kolhapuri masala and cook it in a single pot instead of making Kat separately. This is a personal choice. I prefer to make Usal and Kat separately, the traditional way.
HOW IS MISAL PAV SERVED?
Kolhapuri Misal Pav must always be served hot and spicy. Usually, pav buns are halved, buttered and roasted on a griddle until they are golden brown in color. However, some people use the regular white breads too.
You can serve Usal and Kat in separate bowls along with farsaan, chopped onion, coriander leaves etc., or serve them together as Misal in one bowl.
Rule of thumb is to serve it hot and eat it immediately after serving. If not, the farsaan topped on Misal could get soggy and ruin the consistency.
Notes:
- The first and the most important step is to sprout the beans. You should start this process 3 days ahead. Soak the beans for 7-8 hours, discard the water and let the beans sprout, it could take 1-2 days for the beans to sprout well, in a traditional way. You could follow any sprouting method that you are comfortable with. Sprouting is important.
- Using Moth beans, known as matki is a must. Though this can be substituted with green moong beans, for authentic taste use moth beans. While some people use only moth beans, I use other beans like black chickpeas, kidney beans and dried green peas.
- You could also use one boiled potato to Usal. I do not use.
- I prefer cooking Usal and Kat separately. You could prepare them together instead. Saute the freshly ground masala, add cooked beans and all other ingredients mentioned to make it a one-pot dish.
- Generally, I use less oil in cooking. This dish is one, which needs generous amount of oil. To get the authentic taste, the Kat must be sauteed and boiled well so that the red-colored oil layer called tarri floats on top to make it perfect for the tongue and eyes.
- You could use any type of farsaan, which has mixture of deep-fried gram flour snacks, flattened rice, chivda, peanuts, cornflakes, boondi etc.,
- Using kokum is optional, if it is unavailable, you can skip it totally.
- To reduce the spice and heat, you could also top Misal with little yogurt.
You may also like my other recipes using Pav Buns:
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