Missal Pav/Bread

Street food, it's the best way to experience a local culture by eating the everyday food that the common man eats and relishes. And it's usually always hot and fresh and has taste that hits the spot sending you to the ecstacy land, if you know what I mean :) Another important fact being it usually cost less avoiding making a hole in your wallet😀. Most of us try so hard to recreate that magic by cooking at home and fail miserably... I can imagine you nodding head with me:) We have our days, and it is a journey of trial and error to get the exact taste like that of a street vendor. 

My aunt is an expert (according to me) when it comes to making few chaat/street food dishes. This is her recipe and we love it at home. I did not have mix chiwda(farsan) for topping so just added plain sev on it. 

This particular Missal Pav is a famous Maharashtrian chaat food where it has a 2 part preparation. One is Matki(moth beans) usal (dry sabji) and other is thin spicy red gravy Kat (coconut based). Then you can garnish it with the toppings of your choice. It is accompanied with Pav or Bread. 

Dunk the pav in slurrpy kat with moth beans usal and toppings! You tend to soak the Kat using pav and finish eating very soon so they always provide you with extra kat in a katori on your plate.

It is very very yum dish!

Let us check out the recipe:

Ingredients:

For Matki Usal

2 cups boiled sprouted matki (moth beans)

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/4th tsp asafoetida (hing)

1/2 tsp turmeric (haldi)

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp goda masala ( or garam masala)

salt to taste

For Kat (wet gravy)

<A>

8 peppercorns

6 cloves

1 tsp jeera

1 tsp coriander seeds

4-5 dry red chillies

1/2 tsp turmeric (haldi)

1/4 inch cinnamon stick

1/2 tsp sesame seeds

1/th tsp fennel seeds

1/4th cup grated coconut

2 tsp oil

<B>

4 big garlic pods

1/2 inch ginger

1 onion chopped

2 tomatoes chopped

2 tbsp oil

<C>

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp goda masala ( or garam masala)

salt as per taste

For Toppings:

1 onion finely chopped

1 cup cilantro chopped

1 cup sev (or mix dry farsan)

2 lemon cut in wedges

Preparation:

Mataki Usal:

• In a pan heat some oil, add mustard seeds, after it splutters add all the ingredients under Mataki usal except matki (moth beans) and saute quickly. 
• Now add the cooked* sprouted matki, salt and mix everything together. Cook for about 5 minutes and switch off the gas. 
• Keep aside.

Kat (wet curry):

• In a frying pan, heat oil and ingredients under <A> except coconut. 
• Saute lightly till it starts leaving aroma for about a minute or 2. Add this to a blender. 
• Now in the same pan, roast coconut and add it to the blender as well. Make a paste and keep aside.
• In a cooking utensil, heat oil and add other ingredients under bullet <B> in the order of ginger, garlic, onions saute till brown and add tomatoes. 
• Fry everything till it becomes one mushy mixture. Switch off the gas as oil starts leaving from the sides. 
• Let this mixture cool. Add to the blender and make a paste.
• In the same pan, add some oil, add <B> paste and bring to a quick boil. Add coconut paste <A> and cook for about 10 minutes. 
• Now you can adjust the taste by adding more chilli powder and goda masala under bullet <C>. Adjust salt too. 
• Add 3-4 cups of more water and bring to a boil. 
• Simmer the Kat on low flame till you see oil floating on top! 
• Now this is how you serve, take a soup bowl, add 3-4 tbsp mataki usal, then pour the kat generously over it, add chopped onions, squeeze lemon juice, add chiwda or sev on top and dunk your pav/bread in it and savor all the goodness! 
• You can see in my plate I have kat more as I like it that way :)

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

notes*: How to cook sprouted matki (moth beans)-Soak 1 & 1/2 cups of moth beans in 5 cups of water overnight or for 6 hours. Drain all the water and keep in a warm spot for another 6 hours or so for it to generate sprouts. You can also tie it in a muslin cloth and leave overnight. Boil it in 3-4 cups of water for about 25 minutes or till done.

Health Benefits:

Moth Bean seeds are a good source of proteins and other essential minerals and vitamins.
It can make an excellent protein supplement to Vegetarian diet. Maximum benefits can be reaped when it is soaked and sprouted. The coconut base thin spicy curry has all the masala ingredients that provides adequate minerals and nutrients to our body. If we use the oil sparingly (if you are making this dish often) it will prove to be a more healthier dish.