The Spice Rack: Misal

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Misal is one of the most popular fast foods in the western region of Maharashtra. The name "Misal" literally translates to a "mixture". And a mixture of all the goods things it is. One serving of Misal includes -A bowl containing a mixture of crispy chivda, spicy farsan and dry potato curry topped with chopped onion,sev,cilantro served with another bowl of spicy sprouts curry. And if this does not fill you up you can certainly have some bread to be dunked in the curry.

Like most indian recipes there are a hundred different recipes for misal. Though this dish can be easily assembled at home its still is one of the restaurant favorites. In Pune (the place I come from) a couple of family owned resturants like Bedekar, Shrikrishma, Shree,Vaidya have been consistently serving misal for the last 50 years.May be more...

Source - here

Misal invokes so many memories of my hometown - the cold weather, crowded places and fiery curry.

The joints open for business at around 7AM in the morning. And its a full house by 9 AM or so. The place is small around 10X12ft may be , but the flavor is big and bold. The ambiance is provided by the aroma of spices, shaky chairs and by the guests, chomping down the misal with much appetitie.

On most weekends my sister and I would hop on to a bike to one of the misal joints.Soon we are greeted by the long queues and the aroma of spices sizzling in hot oil. Then after what seemed like a long wait our steel container would be returned with steaming hot curry and a few packets of the mixture."Kanda limbu dila aahe naa ?" (Have you given the chopped onion and the lemon slices) my sister would confirm..And then we would ride back at full speed.

Baba (dad in marathi) is a big fan of misal. Its a food very close to his heart.Everyone else too had their own favorites and strong opinions.

The best part is there is no strict recipe so depending on what you mix you make a new version each time.

Here in US I make my own version that is slightly different than the original recipe. But its sooo good. All my friends have loved it.Which is one reason why I am blogging about it. Hope you like it too.

Enough said, lets move on to the recipe :-

Misal

( My family's recipe )

To prepare the misal you need :-

Potato masala ( recipe below)

Matki usal (recipe below)

Amti/Sambar/Dal ( recipe below)

Chivda (recipe here)

Sev

2C of farsan ( I use the hot mix brand)

1 red onion finely chopped

a bunch cilantro chopped

lemon slices

Mix 2 parts of chivda to 1 part of potato masal,matki usal and farsan.

Add a handful of chopped onion and cilantro. Squeeze some lemon over it.

Mix everything nicely.

Garnish with cilantro,onion,sev and serve immediately with a bowl of steaming hot sambar.

You can use your choice of chivda, farsan and sev. What I have given is a rough proportion for the mixture. Increase or decrease the ingredients depending on how you want it to be.

I would surely advise to mix everything a few minutes before serving as it tends to lose its crunch because of the moisture. The best way to enjoy it is to pour 1/2 a bowl of sambar over the mixture and use the rest for dunking bread.

For the potato masala :-

1 large red/white potato cooked until soft ( Microwave 3 min after piercing it a few times) ,chopped

1/2 an onion sliced

1/4 tomato chopped

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric

pinch of sugar and squeeze of lemon

1 green chilly chopped

salt and oil as required

In hot oil combine the mustard seeds, turmeric, green chillies and the onion. Saute till the onion is soft.

Add the potatoes, salt,sugar,lemon juice and tomato.

Mix and cook covered for 2 min. Add cilantro and set aside.

For the Matki usal :-

1C of moth/,matki sprouted and cooked until soft

(1/2 C of unsprouted moth will yield a cup of sprouted moth. Pressure cook with salt until the whistle is just about to blow . Else they will be all mushy)

1/2 onion chopped

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp chilli powder

salt and oil as required

Over medium heat combine the onion,turmeric and the chilli powder.

When onion is soft add the cooked moth.

Mix and then taste. Add salt if required, since you already added salt while cooking the moth so not much may be required.

Add a bit of water if the mixture becomes too dry. Set aside.