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thebluemango.in @thebluemango.in · 22/02/2026

Made misal pao for dinner tonight :D While I've been having it since 2005/2008 (cheap meal when I was in school, and our canteen made a really good version), this is the first time I made it myself. Love it! 💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽 🍜

A steel plate with 3 compartments is kept on black stone kitchen counter.

In the biggest compartment you can see a brown rassa (usal) topped with yellow and orange farsan of various sizes, and a little diced onion.

In another compartment you can see a fluffy white pachi and a wedge of lime.

In the background you can see another human hand taking usal from the bigger silver steel kadai, into his own plate.

A silver steel kadai full of brownish usal with a thin film or reddish oil floating on top, with a steel ladle one end of which is resting in the thin gravy.

Kadai is kept on a black stove top a little of which is visible.

MISAL
(Sprouts and Fried Savouries in a Spicy Broth)
Serves: 4

A book on Marathi cuisine can hardly be complete without a recipe for now can it? The word 'misal' means mix, and so this dish is the sum of various parts. Commercial eateries have popularized the pao as a primary accompaniment, but a Marathi manoos will eat misal on its own or with thick Essentially a street snack, misal cannot really be counted as a traditional yogurt. Essentially home-style dish, although it has now entered home kitchens for its one-pot appeal.
A commercial misal contains very little usal (curried sprouts), a potato bhaaji, a generous helping of chiwda and farsaan and copious amounts of the tarri (spiced broth), each of these prepared separately. This recipe is my unapologetic shortcut and yes, it is as delicious as what you'd find on a street in Mumbai!

For the usal
11⁄2 cups sprouted moth beans (matki)
1 large onion, peeled
1/4 cup dried coconut, grated
1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
2 medium-sized potatoes, cubed
1 large tomato, finely chopped
1 tbsp coriander stem, finely chopped
3 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
8-10 curry leaves
1⁄4 tsp asafoetida powder
1⁄2 tsp turmeric powder
11⁄2 tbsp kaanda-lasun masala (p. 60)
1⁄2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli
powder
2 tsp coriander seed powder 11⁄2 tsp jaggery Salt, to taste

1. Prick the peeled onion on a fork and roast it on
a naked flame until it is charred black. When
it is cool enough to handle, chop the onion roughly and place in a blender jar along with the grated coconut. Grind to a coarse paste. Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed the mustard seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida and turmeric powder, and tip in the coriander stem and chopped onion. Sauté until the onion turns translucent. Tip in the coconut and onion paste and cook over a medium flame until the paste turns pinkish brown and fat begins to separate from the sides.

Brown usal ladled into the highest compartment of a steel plate. You can see sprouted matki, cooked tomato chunks and a couple of pieces of boiled potato.

In the background you can see another steel plate with a compartment in which leftover poha and farsan is kept. Both farsan and poha are different shades of yellow.

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thebluemango.in @thebluemango.in · 22/02/2026

Alt text for the recipe: 3. Add the potatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then, add the tomatoes and cook until they soften. Add the kaanda-lasun masala, red chilli powder, coriander seed powder and salt. Cook until the raw smell of the spices disappears. Add the sprouts and about 4 cups of water.

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