Misal Pav Recipe
My authentic recipe for misal pav, a delicious Mumbai street food comprising a bean sprouts curry served with fluffy bread rolls called pav. Misal is meant to be fiery hot but with my recipe you can tweak the spice level to your liking.
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 517kcal
Ingredients
For misal masala paste
- 1 teaspoon oil (use any neutral oil, including avocado oil, peanut oil or sunflower oil)
- 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 5 green cardamom pods
- 5 cloves
- 1 star anise
- 2 bay leaves
- 1-inch piece cinnamon stick
- 5 black peppercorns
- 1 large onion (thinly sliced)
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1-inch piece ginger (cut into smaller pieces)
- ½ cup grated coconut
For misal curry
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1-2 teaspoons cayenne (or Kashmiri chili powder. Use less or more depending on your preference. Misal is supposed to be very spicy but you can tweak it to your taste)
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika (I add this for color. You can skip it)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 2 cups sprouted mung beans (from ½ cup dried mung beans)
- 2 cups sprouted moth beans (from ½ cup dried moth beans or matki beans)
- 3-4 cups water (start with two cups and add more as needed)
- Salt to taste
Toppings for misal
- 1 red onion (finely chopped)
- ½ cup cilantro (chopped)
- 1 cup farsan
- 2 lemons (cut into wedges)
For pav to serve with misal
- 12 pav
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
Instructions
Make the misal masala paste
- Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan. Add coriander seeds, cumin seeds, green cardamom pods, cloves, star anise, bay leaves, cinnamon and black peppercorns. Saute for a coupe of minutes over medium heat until the spices are very aromatic and slightly darker.
- Add the sliced onion to the spices along with ginger and garlic. Saute until the onions begin to brown.
- Add shredded coconut to the pan and saute until the coconut has browned lightly. Turn off heat and remove the spices and coconut mix to a bowl or plate. Set aside to cool. Once the spices have cooled, place them in a blender with ½ cup water. Blend into a smooth paste. Set aside.
Make the misal curry
- To the same pan add a tablespoon of oil. Add the chopped onions along with a pinch of salt. Saute over medium heat until the onions begin to brown, then add in the cilantro.
- Add the blended masala to the pan along with cayenne, paprika and turmeric. Mix well.
- Add the mung sprouts and matki sprouts to the pan. Add three cups water and mix well.
- Let the misal come to a boil, then lower heat, cover and simmer about 20-25 minutes or until the beans are tender and you see specks of oil float on top, as in the picture below. You can add more water to the misal as needed to make it saucier. Add salt before turning off heat.
Prepare pav
- Prepare the pav by slicing it down the middle, leaving one side attached, like a book.
- Heat a griddle or skillet over medium high heat. Add a dab of vegan butter to the skillet, then place the pav, cut side down, over the butter. Toast the bread for a minute or so until reddish-gold spots appear.
Serve misal pav
- To serve misal pav, pour some misal curry into a bowl. Top it with chopped red onions, cilantro, and a handful of farsan. You can squeeze lemon juice over the onions and cilantro, or serve the misal with wedges of lemon on the side.
- Serve the misal with the pav and additional bowls of the toppings- cilantro, onions, lemons and farsan.
Notes
- Nutrition information is for a one-sixth serving of misal with two pav, onions, cilantro and lemon.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving (2 pav each) | Calories: 517kcal | Carbohydrates: 75g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Potassium: 776mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 431IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 272mg | Iron: 8mg