Misal Paav, a great finger licking feel good dish, lunch , snack call it by any name. Paav Bhaaji, Bhel puris, chaats, Paani puris, sev batata puris and so many other myriad combinations of street foods continue to enthrall everyone in Mumbai and Maharashtra but Misal Paav is the signature dish and most quintessentially a Maharashtrian dish .

Found in the bylanes and all major commercial areas in Mumbai , and interiors of Maharashtra especially Kolhapur anad Pune this dish has attained a gourmet like stature and rightly so as it incorporates such aromatic Indian spices , all blending well to give the final dish a great punch. The bonus is , this is about the most healthiest dish as it uses sprouts, mot or matki which is soaked overnight and pressure cooked to soft texture. Iam particularly fond of this dish as it is like a full meal and so filling and totally guilt free with no deep fried issues. Many a time my lunch used to consist of misal paav during my Mumbai days.

No wonder many a commuter in Mumbai practically survives on this spicy , tangy sweet mixture called Misal .Typically eaten with laadi paav which are popular paav buns like dinner rolls but more flatter and the staple of every popular roadside eateries. No body will come away from Mumbai without even once tasting this dish , just as the paav bhaaji, bhel has become synonymous with the street food joints of Mumbai. Misal Paav is not far behind and more humbler as it doesn't use any fancy gourmet ingredients. All you need is stock of laadi paav or the plain paav buns and it is good even with breads or as a dish with rotis.

It consists of spicy curry usually made of sprout of Mataki and chilly powder gravy called 'Kutt'. The final dish is topped with Punjabi mix, Farsan or Sev, onions, lemon and coriander. 

Misal from Kolhapur, a place in South-West India known for its high spice content and is particularly known as Kolhapuri misal.
The usal part of Misal is  made of a particular variety of sprouted lentil called "Matki" which has a sweet aroma. Misal in its original form is prepared using onion, ginger, garlic and other spices. It has two parts, a thick curry of matki called "Ussal" which has less water content and a watery and spicy "cut" or "bite". source..WIKI

Do not get intimidated by the preparation and the ingredients. Basically it is one dry curry , doused with a tangy sweet, liquid and garnished whichever way like, chopped onions, cilantro, peanuts, loads of chivda. The spicy liquid gets the unique punch by the addition of the spice mixture called the misal powder. The rest is assembling, nothing more.

The preparation of Misal paav is simple though it may look lengthy. Most ingredients are already found in our kitchens , so it can be prepared quickly.

Ingredients:

Ingredients for the spice powder. If you can get the ready Misal powder nothing like it or you can prepare the simple spice powder as given here

1. Jeera/ cumin seeds 1 tsp

2. 1 tsp white til seeds/ sesame

3. Saunf 1 tsp. ( fennel) or fennel seed powder

4. 3 Cloves 

5. 4 Pepper corns .

6. Small bit of Cinnamon stick.

7.  2 tsp Dhania seeds/ coriander seeds 

Method

To make the spice mixture

With a 1 tsp  of oil in a heated pan roast all the ingredients given in the spice mixture above  and when the aroma wafts and browns, keep aside to cool, then grind to a fine powder. If you find this cumbersome, use a good branded garam masala powder.

To make spicy paste for the KUT/KAT

2 Tbsp oil 

1 tsp ginger paste and garlic paste

1 cup chopped onion 

1 cup chopped tomato 

3/4 cup grated coconut  (optional)

1 tsp jaggery

A small piece of tamarind

Method

 Heat  1  tbsp oil in a pan. 

Add ginger paste, garlic paste and chopped onions.Saute till the onion is translucent.  add chopped tomatoes and grated coconut. 

Mix well and saute it for few minutes. Cool and grind to a paste  all the ingredients

To make gravy/sauce ('Kat' in Marathi) 

 In a pan with  2 or 3 tbsp oil , saute the Spice Paste  which we made as above.Add Salt to taste  and add 1 tsp red chilly paste  or  Kashmiri chilli powder,1 tsp garam masala ,1/2 tsp turmeric powder  1  to 2 tsp of the spice powder which we made. or 1 tsp of ready made misal powder available in the stores.

Kolhapur Misal powder is available in many stores.

Add 3 or 4  cups water (or as required to adjust the consistency) . Let the mixture or liquid boil well for 4 minutes and then remove and keep aside.It has to be a little watery consistency.