Misal

The tarri is the heart of it, and its colour comes from the spices and nothing else.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 300 g moth beans, matki, sprouted 2 days
• 3 onions, chopped fine
• 4 tomatoes, chopped
• 3 tablespoons ginger and garlic paste
• 2 tablespoons goda masala, or kala masala
• 2 teaspoons chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 40 g fresh coconut, grated
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 6 tablespoons oil
• 400 g potatoes, boiled and diced
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 100 g sev or chivda
• 12 pav, soft square buns
• 1 lemon, in wedges
• a handful of coriander leaves

Method

1. THE TARRI IS THE HEART OF IT, AND ITS COLOUR COMES FROM THE SPICES AND NOTHING ELSE. Its article names the components and is explicit about that one: the TARRI, also called kat, sample or rassa, is a spicy gravy, and THIS IS THE HEART OF THE DISH. It comes in named colours -- KALA RASSA (BLACK), LAAL RASSA (RED), HIRWA RASSA (GREEN) -- and THE COLOUR OF THE TARRI IS IMPARTED BY THE INGREDIENTS USED AND NOT BY ARTIFICIAL EDIBLE FOOD COLOURING AGENTS. Kolhapuri misal gets its heat and its darkness from kala masala.
2. AND THE PLATE IS A STACK OF SEPARATE THINGS, WHICH IS WHY MISAL AND MISAL PAV ARE ONE DISH. The article's component list is USAL, a curry of matki, watane or mung; the tarri; BATATA BHAJI, boiled diced potatoes spiced with turmeric, chilli, ginger and mustard; curd, optional; CHIVDA or FARSAN and SEV; a garnish of onions, tomatoes, coriander and a lemon wedge; and PAV. The bread is in its own ingredient list, so the plate with the bread is not a second dish.
3. SPROUT THE MOTH BEANS AND DO NOT SKIP IT. Soaked overnight, drained, then tied in a damp cloth for two days until the tails are a centimetre long. Unsprouted matki makes a dense, flat curry.
4. COOK THE USAL PLAIN AND KEEP IT SEPARATE. Sprouts with a little turmeric and salt, in water, twenty minutes until soft. This is the base and it is not where the flavour goes.
5. THE TARRI IS MADE AS ITS OWN PAN AND IT IS THIN. Onions browned hard in a lot of oil, then ginger and garlic, then the coconut, then the masala and chilli, then the tomatoes cooked right down, then water. It should pour. A thick tarri is a curry; this is a ladleful of hot red liquid with oil standing on top.
6. THE BATATA BHAJI IS TEMPERED SEPARATELY TOO. Mustard seeds, turmeric, the diced potato, five minutes.
7. BUILD IT IN THE BOWL IN THIS ORDER. Usal at the bottom, batata bhaji on it, a ladle of tarri over, then sev or chivda, then raw onion, tomato, coriander and the lemon. Everything separate until the moment it is eaten.
8. SERVED HOT, WITH THE PAV TO TEAR AND DIP. Its article notes the dish is eaten for breakfast, as a midday snack or as a one-dish meal, that it is always served hot, and that the taste RANGES FROM MILDLY TO EXTREMELY SPICY. The Nashik version comes with curd and papad; the Puneri one has pohe in it and runs sweet to tangy.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes