Misal Pav (Street food)

Another  tried and tested recipe of the weekend. We had it for dinner with some cozy dinner rolls. It surely is a comfort food. Even though I am from India, I had never had it earlier nor heard of it. While reading an article recently, I happened to come across this and then after some research on it, I made it at home. It surely was a protein bombshell and I was pleased that my little one also loved it.

You might think this is just a street food dish, with a lot of noticeable protein source. Potatoes itself contain a reasonable amount of starch but the protein superstar here is the bean sprouts. Two handfuls of bean sprouts wilt down to maybe a cup or so after pressure cooking, but it packs a serious punch of protein along with an abundance of  vitamins and nutrients .All that in one serving!

The final Misal Pav

INGREDIENTS:

For the sprouts curry:

3 cups moth mean sprouts or bean sprouts or green gram sprouts 

2 small to medium potatoes, cubed

1 large or medium onion, finely chopped

1 or 2 green chilies, chopped

3 to 4 garlic/lahsun + 1 inch ginger/adrak - crushed in a mortar-pestle to a fine paste

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

10 to 12 curry leaves

1 to 1.5 tbsp goda masala

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp red chili powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1.5 tsp seedless tamarind soaked in 1/2 cup water

¾ to 1 cup water or as required

3 tbsp oil

A pinch of black salt

Salt as required

 

Dried Moth bean

For Serving:

8 to 10 dinner rolls or bread buns or bread slices

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped tomatoes (optional)

1 cup thick snack mixture

1 lemon, quartered or diced

⅓ cup coriander leaves

 

HOW TO MAKE:

 

For the Bean sprouts curry:

1) Pressure cook the sprouts, cubed potatoes, ¼ tsp turmeric powder, salt for 2 to 3 whistles only.


Moth Bean sprouts


2) Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds. Then add the chopped onions and the curry leaves and sauté till onion is translucent.

3) Add the ginger-garlic paste and the green chillies. Saute for a minute.

4) Add the remaining ¼ tsp turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder and goda masala. If you do not have goda masala, you can replace it with garam masala.

5) Add the tamarind water and sauté for 2-3 minutes.

6) Add the sprouts and the potatoes, salt and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes . Garnish with coriander leaves.
 

Serving the Misal Pav:

1)  Finely chop the onions and tomatoes.

2) Take the steaming usal in 4 to 5 bowls and in each bowl of usal, first add the chopped onions and tomatoes. Then top usal with chopped coriander leaves. Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice. Then top it with the snack mixture.

3) Serve the misal bowl in a plate with pav buns and slices of lemon, chopped onion and mixture.

 

Bhel Puri

But Salalah did not end with only the visit to Darbat. Before we entered Salalah, we travelled more than 1000 kilometers from Muscat, covering almost 700 kilometers of desert area and witnessing sweltering heat because of the peak summer month. As we were nearing the Dhofar region, we were welcomed by cool breeze even though we were still driving on the highway surrounded by sand dunes and desert on both sides and an infinite sight of only brown land with dry vegetation scattered here and there.

All through the journey, I was wondering how this heat is going to change into shivering cold as we approach Salalah. So we stopped at a famous farm called the Frankincense farm (which Salalah is famous for). This farm is huge and dry with the frankincense tress scattered here and there (hardly a farm's look it had), but it was so windy that we felt as if we will be blown away. A wonderful welcome to the paradise of Oman called Salalah.

Have a look of the pictures of the Frankincense farm. These pictures were shot at almost 4 p.m. The Frankincense is the beads like liquid found on the bark of these trees and it is in the solidified state. It is scrapped and removed and sold in the markets as it produces a beautiful odour when burned. It is widely used in Arabian homes, religious ceremonies etc.

It is more than a year since I toured this lovely place. Now we are almost at the end of the summer season here in Oman. So the heat isn't so bad .

Overall, this time summer really surprised us. We had bad days only in the month of June. The rest of the months was very tolerable and not as bad as the previous years. So we were able to spend a good amount of time outdoors watching sun sets and enjoying nature. Don’t you love the way the sky lights up with the orange-yellow glow while the sun disappears down the horizon? I thoroughly enjoyed the Friday sunsets especially because Friday is the day when the day is all yours and you enjoy the weekend idling away the time and relaxing.

To compliment this post, I should also say that the best way to spend a Friday evening is to have light street food - it can also be ridiculously easily prepared at home by throwing in a few chopped vegetables, spices and puffed rice. Put them in a paper cone and munch it to glory. We call this as the Bhel puri in India. It is a popular street food and we all love it so much. No rolling. No cut-outs. No scraping, No baking and No cooking. Whee! I can tell you this story with some carrots, onions and tomatoes with a dash of chilli - best enjoyed on a cold, rainy winter night. So walk the bar with this smashing appetizer.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups puffed rice
 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste

1/2 cup finely chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup finely chopped onions

1/2 cup grated carrots

1/2 cup finely chopped coriander leaves

1 tbsp. ground green chillis with a handful of coriander leaves(ground coarsely)

2 tbsp. sev

 

 

 

 

HOW TO MAKE:

 

1) Mix all the above ingredients and serve immediately.

 

Masala Puri

For the Puris:

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup All purpose Flour (Maida)

3tbsp Ghee / Clarified Butter
Oil for deep frying
Salt to taste

HOW TO MAKE:

1)   Rub Ghee into the Maida.  Add Salt and little water to prepare a stiff dough.  Cover with a wet cloth and leave aside for 30 minutes.  Do not knead this dough too much.  

2)   Divide into tiny balls and roll out on a floured surface into 1″ diameter roundels, make tiny cuts in between to avoid puffing.  

3)   Heat Oil in a frying pan and deep fry on low heat until done. 

For the Ragada:

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ cups Dry Peas soaked overnight in water
¼ tsp Turmeric
2tsp Red chilli powder
2 tbsp Corriander powder
¼ tsp Black pepper powder
1 large onion cubed
2-3 Big cloves Garlic
½ tsp Garam masala
1” pc Ginger

1)   Boil the soaked peas with little salt and keep aside.
2)   Place remaining ingredients in a blender with ½ cup of boiled peas. Blend to a fine paste.
3)   Add this paste to the peas and bring to a boil. Let boil for atleast 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt to taste and use as required.

For the Sweet Tamarind Chtney

INGREDIENTS:

1 portion of Tamarind juice
2-3 portions Jaggery

¼ cup Water

HOW TO MAKE:

1)  Place jaggery and tamarind juice with water in a pan. Bring to a bubbling boil. Taste and add more jaggery if required. 

2)   Chutney is ready when the mixture has thickened and is sticky. Store in an air tight container and refrigerate.

For the Masala Puri

INGREDIENTS:

The prepared puris
2 tomatoes Chopped

1 onion chopped

1 carrot grated
1/2 cup boiled peas

1 cup Fine Sev

Salt

Sweet Tamraind Chtuney 

Chopped coriander leaves

HOW TO MAKE:

1) In a bowl mix the chopped onions, tomatoes,coriander and grated carrot.

                                 



2) Take 6-7 puris in a shallow bowl or a plate. Flatten them by pressing down with the palm of your hand.

3) Pour 2-3 ladles of the ragada on top of the crushed puris. Pour 1 tsp of tamarind Chutney on top.

4) Add a pinch of salt and top with the onion mixture. Cover with fine sev. 

5)  Serve hot immedietely.

RATING NOTES:

              DIFFICULTY LEVEL    :   EASY

              RATING  POINTS         :    8/10**

**  The dough of the puris should not be knead till soft as it may result in soft puris which are not crispy. However, you can also add 2 tablespoons of Semolina along with the flour while making the dough so that you can get more crispy puris.

Pav Bhaji

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes/ground tomato
• 2 cups cauliflower, finely chopped
• 1 cup chopped cabbage
• 1 cup green peas boiled
• 1 cup grated carrots boiled
• 4 potatoes, boiled and mashed
• 3 tablespoons pav bhaji masala
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 8 (2 inch square) dinner rolls / pavs
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped green chilis
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

HOW TO MAKE: 

1) Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat. Saute garlic and green chilli for 30 seconds, then stir in onions and ginger. Cook until onions are brown.

 

2) Add tomatoes, and cook until pasty. Stir in cauliflower, cabbage, peas, carrots and potatoes. Season with pav bhaji masala. Cover, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt, and stir in lemon juice.

3)  Toast the dinner rolls, and spread lightly with butter. Serve garnished with chopped onion, green chile and cilantro.



RATING NOTES:

              DIFFICULTY LEVEL    :   EASY
              RATING  POINTS         :    8/10**

**  Do not overcook the vegetables. They need to be just rightly boiled and not too soft.