Kolhapuri Usal/Misal Recipe with Kat and Kolhapuri Masala | Popular Indian Street Foods Series

Learn how to make Kolhapuri Usal/Misal with Kat and Kolhapuri Masala ~ Sprouted Moth Beans cooked in a spicy gravy of onion, coconut and flavoured with Kolhapuri misal masala

Who likes spicy food?

I mean super spicy… Spicy as the one that turn your nose crimson red and brings tears in your eyes! Spicy as you are left with wiping your nose and eyes and yet you are smile and happily continue to devour the food! Yeah, I am talking of hot and fiery spicy food.

Ingredients for Kolhapuri Usal/Misal

If you are still reading this and nodding your head in agreement then this recipe is for you. We have hot and fiery Kolhapuri Usal or Misal in our today’s menu. Last time I had it was in Belgaum where my friend took me to this small hotel in one corner of the city. It was not a fancy hotel with crystal chandeliers and comfortable chairs. Instead it was a small, modest hotel with wooden tables and long benches in a small square room with sea green coloured walls and red roof tiles. The hotel’s owner was sitting right next to the entrance door on a beautifully carved high rosewood chair. And in front of him was the ancient rosewood table with half a dozen big glass canisters filled with coloured peppermints and shortcrust cookies studded with colourful tutti-frutti. The wall behind him was adorned with frames of colourful pictures of Goddess Lakshmi (goddess of wealth), Lord Ganesha (elephant faced Hindu god) and Goddess Saraswati (goddess of knowledge). The owner himself was a pleasant looking guy with kumkum on his forehead and wore pristine white cotton kurta and dhoti.

The aroma drifting from the small kitchen was enough to make me dizzy with hunger. But the hotel was packed with people occupying every possible table. Still my friend rushed inside almost dragging me along to a table occupied by two strangers. Before I could say anything, she was sitting on a bench where a middle-aged guy was eating Ragi Mudde Oota. She signalled with her eyes asking me to sit in front bench where another college student was devouring some delicious lentil gravy with pav. Within few minutes I realised that the people who had occupied that table also were total strangers and didn’t know each other but they seemed to be enjoying their meal in total silence without any awkwardness!

Ingredients for Kolhapuri Masala

Kolhapuri Masala ~ A special spice blend of roasted spices, coconut and onion

Soon my friend ordered for two plates of Kolhapuri Misal and within few minutes we were served a plateful of sprouted lentils in gravy topped with chopped onions, tomatoes and crisp farsan along with two pav buns and a small katori of fiery red curry called Kat. The server also left a tall glass of water and a big steel jar filled with water to the brim. My friend looked at me and smiled and asked me to pour some red gravy on top of sprouted lentils. She showed me how to eat it by breaking her pav into small pieces and dipping it in gravy and scooping little lentils along with chopped veggies and crunchy farsan. And what happened after that left me speechless!

I was experiencing the explosion of different flavours all at once but the predominant flavour being fiery hot. There we were sitting right next to total strangers and devouring one of the spiciest food on this planet. The fiery spicy food made my eyes water and I needed my handkerchief to wipe my nose and eyes at same time! Small drops of sweat started forming on my forehead and nose and my nose matched that of circus buffoon. But still I couldn’t help but think that it was one of the best foods I have had in my life.

That was my first encounter with Matki or Moth Beans and the earthy taste of it made a big impact on my taste buds. Sprouted moth beans cooked in spicy gravy along with potato was wholesome and simply delicious. And the taste of Kat, fiery spicy red gravy, served along with Misal is something that I had never experienced in my life before! By the time we both licked cleaned our plates, we had also finished drinking last drop of water from that big steel jar and were asking for more water!!!

Since then it had kind of slipped from my mind until few weeks back when I received a mail from my friend reminding our wonderful days spent in hostel and the food we gorged during weekends or weekdays when we couldn’t stand the thought of chewing bullet proof chapatti with watery dal in hostel mess. Suddenly I remembered eating Kolhapuri Misal and there was nothing that could stop me from eating it except I had to Google for the recipe and cook it all by myself. While searching Google for the recipe I stumbled upon Nupur’s One Hot Stove and Vaidehi’s Chakali and I decided to cook it on weekend.

A day before the cooking, I made fresh batch of Kolhapuri Masala/Chutney following Nupur’s recipe. Since then I have been using this spice powder in stir fries and curries in place of garam masala and experiencing the goodness of homemade spice powder. I cooked Usal following Nupur’s recipe and made the spicy curry Kat following Vaidehi’s recipe for Kat. Since then I have cooked this delicious Kolhapuri Misal twice in last month and next time I am thinking of combining moong sprouts with matki sprouts. Kolhapuri Usal is a wholesome, delicious, humble food and is a must for every Marathi and spicy food lovers. Without much delay let me give you step by step instruction on how to make this fiery hot bowl of Kolhapuri Misal.

Day 1: Wash and then soak 1 cup of Matki/Moth beans in 2 cups of water in the morning. Let it soak for at least 8-10 hours. Then drain water from the beans and place them in a colander lined with damp muslin cloth. Cover the beans with the muslin cloth (like money bag) and place the colander in a dark place overnight. Make sure that the cloth is damp enough and sprinkle little water in between so that the beans don’t dry out. It usually takes 2 days (16-24 hrs) here for the beans to sprout well. So if I am planning to cook anything with sprouted beans I make sure that I prepare for it two days well in advance.

You can also prepare the Kolhapuri Masala/Chutney on day one itself and store it in an air tight jar. And make sure that you have got all the ingredients needed for making Misal. You can also make the spice powder for Kat this day or simply use Kolhapuri Masala/Chutney in its place.

Day 2: This is the day you prepare Usal and Kat. Preparing Usal and Kat is very simple and straightforward since we have already prepared the Kolhapuri chutney on previous day. Over all it took me around one hour to cook and serve spicy Kolhapuri Misal with help from TH.

Roasted spices, coconut and ingredients for Kolhapuri Masala Powder

Kolhapuri Masala Powder

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Kolhapuri Masala/Chutney Powder (A special spice blend of roasted spices, coconut and onion)
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 5-10 mins
Makes: About ½ cup
Recipe Level: Easy/Beginner to Intermdeiary
Spice Level: Medium to High
Recipe Source: One Hot Stove
Shelf Life: About 1 month

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Ingredients:
½ cup Red Chilli Powder
¼ cup Coriander Seeds
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
2 tbsp Dry Coconut. Shredded (unsweetened variety)
1 tsp Sesame Seeds
1 tsp Black Peppercorns
¼ inch Cinnamon Stick
2-3 Cloves
¼ tsp Fennel Seeds
½ medium Onion, thinly sliced
2-3 Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced
¼ cup Coriander Leaves, patted dry and finely chopped
½ tbsp Oil

Method:

1. Dry roast coriander seeds, jeera, sesame seeds, black peppercorns, cinnamon stick, cloves and fennel seeds in a skillet till they are fragrant and roasted fine, about 1-2 mins. Set it aside to cool.
2. Heat oil in a same pan and roast finely sliced onion, garlic and coriander leaves till they are nicely browned and crisp. Set them aside to cool completely.
3. Now grind all these ingredients to fine powder. Add red chilli powder to the ground spice powder and mix them well.
4. Cool and store this spice powder in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

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Sia’s Note:

• Since the spice powder is made using fresh ingredients like onion, garlic and coriander leaves, make sure that they are nicely browned (but not burnt) and dry. Or else the spice powder will have shorter shelf life.
• Store it in clean and dry air tight jar and keep it in refrigerator to extend its shelf life.

Ingredients for Kat

Kat

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Kat (Spicy Gravy served with Misal)
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Recipe Level: Easy/Beginner
Spice Level: Super HOT!
Makes: 1¼ cup
Recipe Source: Chakli
Makes: About 1½ - 2 cups
Serving Suggestion: With Usal

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Ingredients:
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
½ tsp Hing/Asafoetida
4-5 tsp Red Chilli Powder
2-3 pieces of Kokum or 1 tsp Tamarind Paste
Salt to taste
2-3 tbsp Oil (Original recipe calls for 5-6 tbsp)

For Kat Paste:
1 small Onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp grated Coconut, fresh/frozen
2 tbsp Oil

Grind to Fine Powder:
3-4 Garlic Cloves
1 inch Ginger, peeled
1 inch Cinnamon Stick
2-3 cloves
1 Bay Leaf
2-3 Black Peppercorns
1 tbsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1 tbsp Coriander Powder
-OR-
Simply use 2 tbsp Kolhapuri Masala in place of the above spice powder

Method:
For Kat Paste:

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and ground masala powder or Kolhapuri masala and sauté for couple of seconds till the raw smell disappears from spice base. Make sure that you don’t burn it.
2. Next add finely chopped onion and tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes. Mix in grated coconut and cook till the mixture starts to leave oil, about 3 minutes.
3. Cool the mixture completely and grind to smooth paste adding little water at time.

For Kat:

1. Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil in a pan and add turmeric powder, chilli powder and hing. 
2. Immediately add the Kat paste and about ¾-1 cup of water and mix well. 
3. Mix in kokum/tamarind paste and salt to taste and bring the whole mixture to boil. Turn off the heat and keep it aside till needed.

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Kolhapuri Misal/Usal (Sprouted Moth Beans cooked in a spicy gravy of onion, coconut and flavoured with Kolhapuri misal masala)
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 25-30 mins
Recipe Level: Easy/Basic to Intermediary
Spice Level: Medium to hot
Serves: 5-6 people
Recipe Source: One Hot Stove
Shelf Life: Best served fresh but can be refrigerated for 2-3 days
Serving Suggestion: With Pav Bun or white bread garnished with crispy farsan, chopped onions, tomato and a lime wedge or in its own as a spicy, hearty meal

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Ingredients:
1 cup Dry Matki/Moth Beans, soaked overnight and sprouted
1 large Potato, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes
1 large Onion, finely chopped
½ cup raw/roasted Peanuts
1 tsp Tamarind Paste
1-2 tbsp Jaggery/Brown Sugar
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
Salt to taste

For Kolhapuri Masala/Chutney Paste:
1 large Onion, finely chopped
½ cup grated coconut, fresh/frozen
1 heaped tbsp Kolhapuri Masala/Chutney (Adjust as per taste)
½-1 tbsp Oil

For Tadka:
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
Few Curry Leaves
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida (Optional)
1-2 tbsp Oil

Ingredients needed to assemble/serve the Misal:
Kat
Usal
Yogurt (Optional. Skip for vegan diet)
Finely chopped onion, tomato and coriander leaves
Lime/Lemon Wedges
Farsan or any Spicy Mixture or Crisps
Pav or White Bread Slices

Method:
Preparation:

1. First prepare Kolhapuri Masala/Chutney paste. Heat oil in a pan and add finely chopped onion. Sauté the onion till it turn golden brown. Then add grated coconut and Kolhapuri masala and sauté till the coconut turns golden brown. Cool this mixture and then grind to smooth paste adding little water at time. Keep it aside until needed.
2. Peel and dice the potato into 1 cm cubes and keep them immersed in a bowl of water to prevent them from decolouring.

Proceed to cook:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When it starts to pop and splutter, add cumin seeds, hing and curry leaves. Sauté till cumin turns golden and then add chopped onions to it.
2. When onions turn translucent, add peanuts, sprouts, potato, turmeric powder, ground Kolhapuri masala paste and salt. Keep stirring for couple of minutes till the masala is evenly spread.
3. Now add 5-6 cups of water and cook in medium flame. When curry starts to boil, simmer the heat and cook till the sprouts turn tender and potatoes are cooked thoroughly.
4. Mix in tamarind paste and jaggery and simmer for few more minutes for all the flavours to blend well. Adjust the seasonings before serving this delicious Misal.

To Assemble Misal:

1. Take an individual bowl/plate and add 2 ladles full of Usal. 
2. Drizzle Kat depending on how spicy you like, yogurt, finely chopped onion, tomato and coriander leaves on top of Usal. 
3. Then add little bit of farsan/spicy mixture/crushed potato chips and serve this along lime/lemon wedges and slices of white bread/Pav.

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Sia’s Notes:

• Use dry desiccated coconut if fresh/frozen coconut is not available.
• Use Green Moong Beans if Matki/Moth beans are not available. Make sure that you use the sprouted beans.
• For delicious, fulfilling meal/diet idea, serve simple Usal with a cup of cold Yogurt.
• You can use combination of garlic paste + coriander powder + cumin powder + red chilli powder + garam masala in place of Kolhapuri Masala.