Matkichi Usal

This is very very Marathi! Maharashtrians love sprouted beans- very good source of protein- and especially CKP's will cook these on the meatless days!
A very famous Marathi snack food is Misal Pav...basically Usal served with pao (bread) and sides like chopped tomatoes, onion etc...with amti- made with misal masala...details follow at the end of the recipe.

 

This is what matki (or moth or math) beans look like.

you need to soak the beans overnight- then pour out the water and place them- covered- in a warm place to sprout. So making this dish takes a bit of planning. 1 cup of dry beans will yield about 3 cups of sprouted beans.

This is what the sprouted beans look like. 

1 cup of matki beans (sprouted so you get 3 cups of beans)

1 cup chopped onion

8-10 curry leaves

4 TBS oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp hing

3/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp red chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin coriander powder

1 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

1 TBS gur (jaggery)

3-4 kokum

1/4 tsp garam masala

2 TBS chopped coriander leaves

Heat oil and temper with mustard seeds, hing and turmeric. Add the onion and curry leaves and saute till onion turns translucent. Add the sprouted beans, chili powder, cumin/coriander powder and salt. Add a cup of water and cover and cook till done adding more water if needed. 

When the beans are soft- NOT MUSHY- add the jaggery, kokum, garam masala and stir till the jaggery is melted. Stir in the coriander leaves. 

At this point you have the basic usal ready. Can be eaten as it is with chapati or pav- or with dal and rice- whatever takes your fancy.

If you want to serve usal pav...here you go

For the toppings

Finely chopped tomato

Finely chopped red onion

Chopped coriander leaves

Green chili chopped

Yogurt

Fresh grated coconut

Shev or farsan (only Indian will understand this ingredient- feel free to omit it :) )

Pav or dinner rolls

Serve the usal topped with whatever toppings you like....way better than a Big Mac!

Enjoy

Here is what shev looks like - seasoned chick pea flour is made into a dough and deep fried into crunchy sticks!

Street Food Mumbai - Vegetable Sandwich

Oh yes the ubiquitous vegetable sandwich. I am sure all Bombayites (aka Mumbaiites) have had this at some time or another in Mumbai. There is no escape :). Everyone had a favourite sandwich - wala... a sandwich vendor. He knew just how you liked your sandwich and that's how he made itfor you...spice level, crusts off/on, fillings...it was all perfect!

Well there are no sandwich carts here - not in California or in Toronto - so I just make my own and yes I set up my stall just like my sandwich vendor outside Ruia college in Matunga ....


Sliced White bread- YES white bread- but please do not get Wonder Bread- it falls apart. Actually sourdough works very well.

Softened butter
salt
'chaat' masala (optional)
pepper

For the chutney
2 cups of coriander leaves cleaned and washed.
3 cups of baby spinach leaves. (yes- this is not a mistake)
10-12 green chillies (depending on your spice tolerance level)
3-4 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp jeera (cumin) powder
salt
1/2 tsp sugar
lemon juice

Blend the chutney very fine- using very little water or no water if you are using a Magic Bullet.
Taste for salt level and add lemon juice.

For the Filling- everything should be cut into thin slices

English cucumber
beefsteak tomatoes
yukon gold or white potatoes - boiled and peeled
red onion
Beets - boiled and peeled

What vegetables you use in the sandwich are totally dependent on your taste- some people even like raw beetroot instead of boiled. Some (like me) do not like raw onion in this sandwich. But - you can customize it as per taste.

To Assemble

Liberally butter 2 slices of bread (Crust on/off if your choice)
Spread the chutney on both sides - more for a higher spice level and less for the weaker palate(!)
layer up your fillings- cucumber slices, tomato slices- potato slices. ....
Sprinkle salt and pepper on the veggies- chaat masala if you like.

Some Nescafe or Masala Chai - and you are back in Bombay :)

Street Food Mumbai - Batata Vada - Fried Potato dumplings

Deep fried heaven on the streets of Mumbai- This is also a staple of the people of Bombay (Mumbai). Seriously- I doubt there is even one person in Mumbai who has not succumbed to the guilty pleasure of a hot spicy batata wada or the vada pav - which is basically a fresh batata vada served between a split pav (kinda like a sourdough dinner roll) with a spicy garlic chatney.
Every time I go back to India- I head to my favourite batata vada stalls. One is in Chembur- right at the end of the lane where we lived- Nandu's vada pav. The other is Shrikrishna vada pav in Dadar BB opposite Chabilldas school - for some reason we called the place Manju che vade. The third is Joshi vadewale in Pune. I am sure there are plenty more places which make awesome vadas- but these 3 are my personal favourites.
This is a pure Maharashtrian recipe - many others have tried to adapt it- I once had the MISfortune of eating a 'Banaras' style or North Indian style batata vada which had basically some form of aloo-mutter stuffed inside and the batter was so thick that ....well you can imagine. They better not attempt to bastardise this pure Marathi dish.
Now that I have lived in US/Canada for the past 15+ years I have made many attempts to recreate that bit of culinary heaven in my kitchen. But when I go back to India I head straight to my favourite haunts- nothing compares.
But here goes -

For the filling:

250 Gms Potatoes
3 green chillies
2 springs of curry leaves
1 tsp shredded ginger (not paste)
1 tsp finely chopped garlic (again - not paste)
2 TBs chopped coriander leaves - no stalks
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing)
Salt
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp udad dal
1/2 tsp lime juice
2 TBs oil (for the tempering)

Boil, peel and mash the potatoes. Add the salt. chopped chillies and coriander leaves. Heat oil in a frying pan, add the mustard seeds, when they splutter, add the hing, udad dal, turmeric, ginger, garlic and curry leaves. Fry on a low flame till the ginger and garlic lightly cooked. Do not burn the garlic. Add this tempering to the mashed potatoes. Mix well and shape into balls about and 1.5 inches in diameter.

150 gms besan (chick pea flour)
water
salt
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp red chili powder
pinch of baking soda
Oil for deep frying

Make a thick batter - adding water a little at a time. It should be a bit thinner than pancake batter.

Heat oil in a deep fryer or a small wok (kadhai). It should not be smoking hot.

Dip the potato balls one by one in the batter and fry them in the hot oil till a lovely golden colour. Drain on paper towels.

These have to be served hot with garlic chutney and with or without the pav.

Garlic Chutney

There are again so many variations of this chutney. The dry version is a Marathi staple again. It has always been served with Batata vada or bhajias. A great side dish with dal - rice. And awesome when eaten with bhakri (rotis made with jowar or bajra flour). But more on that later. For now the basic lasun (garlic) chutney recipe.

1/2 cup peeled garlic cloves
1/2 cup desiccated dry coconut (UNsweetened)
10-12 dry red chillies or 2 tsp red chili powder
salt
pinch of sugar
1 tsp oil

In a non-stick frying pan, roast the garlic cloves with oil till golden brown. Be very careful, you do not want burnt garlic. Then roast the coconut till brown. Let everything cool. Then add all the ingredients from garlic to sugar to a food processor and blend till coarse. You can adjust the spice level by increasing or decreasing the red chilies or chili powder.

Serve this chutney with the batata vadas and close your eyes and imagine yourself in the bylanes of Mumbai. yummmm.

Street Food Mumbai - Pav Bhaji (Spicy mixed vegetables with bread)

Pav Bhaji (pav meaning bread and Bhaji meaning vegetable) is Bombay (meaning Mumbai) street food. It is basically a wonderful spicy mashup of vegetables served steaming hot with a pair of hot buttered rolls. Some finely chopped red onion, coriander leaves and a squeeze of lime- and you are set to go. Don't skimp on the butter.

It gets its taste from a unique mixture of spices - blended just in the right proportion. But thankfully you can get this spice mix all ready at any Indian store. I use the Everest brand- just a personal preference.

I do add extra chili powder (Indian - which is cayenne ) to the preparation but you can adjust the spice to your liking and tolerance.

2 cups cauliflower florets
1 cup peas
1 cup carrots
2 cups potatoes cubed
1 large red pepper
2 cups finely chopped onion (run it through the chopper)
1 cup tomato chopped
1 TBS tomato paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp garlic paste
3 TBS Pav Bhaji masala
salt
1 tsp chili powder (to taste)
butter
oil
coriander leaves (finely chopped)
red onion (finely chopped)
limes

sourdough buns (or you can get 'pav bhaji' buns from the Indian store)

Steam the potatoes, carrots, peas and cauliflower till soft. Run the red pepper through a chopper till finely chopped. Mash the steamed vegetables together. keep aside

In a large pan, heat oil add the chopped onion and saute till light brown in colour. This takes over 10 minutes, so be patient. Once the onion is done add the tomato puree, tomato paste and ginger and garlic paste, Saute for another 5-6 minutes.

Add the chopped peppers and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the mashed vegetables and mix very well. Add the salt, the pav bhaji masala and chili powder if desired and mix well.
Add about 2 TBS of butter at this stage. Add about a cup and half of water. Mix well. Cover and cook on low heat for about 15 minutes.  This will allow the masala to flavour all the vegetables.

Adjust seasoning if required, garnish with chopped coriander, chopped onions, a wedge of lime and a pat of butter. Serve with hot buttered buns.