Kolhapuri Misal: Moth Beans Curry

Kolhapuri Misal

Today, I want to share with you about Kolhapuri Misal. This is one of my favorite dishes and it originates from Kolhapur in Maharashtra, India. This is mostly for my male friends (female friends are welcome to read on as well but I am sure you have your own variations. Guys - Impress your wives / girlfriends!!)

The most significant feature of this dish is that it is a very spicy dish! And I love it :-)

This is a common dish in any typical Maharashtrian restaurant. For people who do not like spicy food, they have invented different versions of "Misal" where they do not add more chillies and by adding some other ingredients like pohe, chivda, farsaan and what not.

It took me years to learn this recipe but it was worth it because today when I make it, my wife loves it. That is the best compliment …because she is a Singaporean who has not eaten Misal that many times in her life … and if she likes it, it speaks highly of me! :)

Well, the major ingredients for Misal are as follows:

·  Moth Beans (Matki)

·  Onion (lal kanda)

·  Tomato

·  Ginger and Garlic

·  Fresh (or dry) coconut (khobre)

·  Curry Leaves (kadipatta)

·  Coriander (Kothambir)

·  Red chili powder (Lal mirchi powder, ekdam zanzanit!)

·  Cumin and Mustard seeds (Jeere/Mohari)

·  Turmeric powder (Halad)

 Method:

·  Moth Beans, Matki (about 250 grams or so): There are two ways to prepare moth beans. Either soak them in warm water overnight, or use pressure cooker to cook them quickly. Remember that some types of moth beans are hard to cook and take more time to cook.

·  Chop 4-5 onions. Chop them as you like! No specific techniques. If it helps, imagine that it is your manager, and chop that onion. I am sure the onion will be chopped to its smallest size!

·  Chop 3 tomatos. Again, think of your manager. haha..

·  5-6 pieces of garlic and a small portion of ginger… chop them. I normally use the "crusher" for this. Remember that if you smash the garlic by hand, you can smell it on your fingers for at least 2 days! So avoid it and use a garlic crusher!

·  Half coconut. Either fresh or dried.

·  Now put 5-6 tablespoons (or A LOT) of oil in the pot and heat it for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle some water to see if it’s hot (And don’t blame me if you get burned! Keep a safe distance!)

·  Add 1 teaspoon of cumin (jeere) and 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds (mohari) in it.

·  Add just a few curry leaves (Keep some curry leaves to add at the end). Stir them for 1 minute or so.

·  Add the chopped onions (your manager in tiny pieces) and continue stirring for 5 minutes.

·  Add the coconut and stir for 2 minutes.

·  Now add some turmeric powder (halad) and half a teaspoon of chilli powder. This is just to add flavor to the mixture inside the pot. Do not worry; we still have to add lots of chilli powder later!

·  Keep stirring… After 5 minutes or so, or whenever you feel it is the right time, add the moth beans.

·  Time to add the cut tomatoes and at least 1 glass of water or more depending on the type of consistency you desire.

·  After this, let the mixture come to a boil.

·  Optional: Add some "Garam Masala" if you wish. Note: Do not add too much Garam masala. Just a teaspoon or less. I normally add only tej patta (Bay Leaf) and dalchini (Cinnamon).

·  Add 1-2 teaspoons of red chilli powder… (You will feel the effects next morning proportional to the amount of chilli powder you put in!)

·  Add Salt to taste. Normally I add 1 teaspoon of salt.

·  Now add some oil again. It is strange to add oil at this stage but I feel it adds that nice red layer of oil at the end!

·  Let the mixture boil for 5-10 minutes. This time depends on how much the moth beans are cooked. Don’t overcook them.

·  At the end, add lots of coriander and the remaining curry leaves and stir it very well for 5 minutes.
·  That’s it. Main part is done.

You can either eat Misal with bread or "Pau". Some people eat it with chapatti as well. Your choice. I like it with bread (easy)

Before serving:

• For salad, cut 1-2 onions roughly (let your manager rest a little why don't we!), some cucumber (very useful when you put 2-3 teaspoons of chilli powder!). Cut 2-3 lemons. Cut them such that you won’t get the seeds.
• Put the misal in a wide bowl or a soup bowl. Put some shev on top of that. Now I don’t know how to describe shev! Either ask you mother/mother-in-law for this or buy the "Haldiram’s shev". But just make sure that the shev is not very strong in taste e.g. No pudina-flavoured etc.. Just buy the plain shev.
• At the end, squeeze the lemon wedges to add a lot of lemon juice to the Misal. And add some chopped coriander.

That’s it, your misal is ready. Mix it well before eating. Keep iced water ready, you will need it soon. If it is TOO spicy and you still cannot resist eating your Misal, a good tip would be to keep a glass of milk handy - the alkaline of the milk will combat the acidic effect of the chillies!

Enjoy and let me know how your Misal turned out!

(all the photos shown below are taken from my iPhone while preparting the misal)