Puneri Misal

I have lived in Pune, Maharashtra for 8 years. I started my married life there. Pune is a beautiful cultural city and is considered as “Oxford of East” as it has several well known educational institutions. Besides, it also has many automobile industries and IT industries. It has the National Defence of Academy (NDA) quarters and therefore the majority of the population consists of Army, Students and IT professionals. There are many beautiful and scenic places to visit in and around Pune.

Being a cultural city, Pune has cultural food such as pithala bhakar, bharleli vangi, thecha, batata vada, kothimbirvadi, aamrakhand, kande pohe, sabudana khichdi, mastani, puneri misal.

When I first came to Pune in 2005, the city was not multicultural and the IT industries had just started. It had food joints serving these popular Maharashtrian dishes.

Puneri Misal is a popular street food of Pune. It is often eaten as breakfast or a mid-day snack. It is easy to make, economical and the sprout pulses used for making it makes it healthy and nutritional. It is spicy but not as hot and spicy as Kolhapuri Misal.

The basic ingredients of the Misal are Sprout usal, poha, boiled and diced potato, chopped onion, chopped coriander, farsan and tari/kat/rasa. The flavor and texture of the usal is enhanced with tari/rasa/kat. These all ingredients are assembled in layers and served hot with pav. Adding date and tamarind chutney is optional. I have used the date and tamarind chutney as I like to balance my misal with the sweet and sour taste. If you want to make Dahi Misal, just add curd to the misal while serving.

We, at our home, usually make this misal during winters. The hot and spicy misal is the best meal to have in the cold winter.

You can avoid pav and can just have it plain.

Every time I make misal, the memories of Pune are revived.

This dish is dedicated to the lovely time spent in Pune.

Print

Puneri Misal

Puneri Misal is a popular street food from Pune, Maharashtra. The ingredients of the misal include - usal, poha, diced potato, chopped onions, chopped coriander, farsan and spicy tari/kat/rasa. The ingredients are assembled in multiple layers in the bowl and served with bun or pav.

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine Indian, Maharastrian, Street Food

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 844kcal

Ingredients

Usal

• 1 cup moong sprout (here you can use combination of moong, matki, vatana, chana sprouts
• 0.5 cup dry green peas sukha vatana
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 small tomato finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tbsp oil
• curry leaves
• salt to taste
• 1 cup water

dry masala for rasa/tari/kat/gravy

• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup dessicated coconut
• 5 cloves
• 1.5 inch cinnamon stick
• 2 tbsp red chili powder

wet masala for rasa/tari/kat/gravy

• 1 small onion chopped roughly for grinding to paste
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1/2 cup coriander chopped
• 2 green chili or as per spice level required
• salt to taste
• 4 tbsp oil
• 1.5 litre water
• 4 tsp sugar
• 1 lemon juice

poha

• 1 cup poha soaked
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida hing
• 2 tbsp oil
• salt as per taste

Assembling misal

• 2 potatoes boiled and cubed
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1/4 cup coriander finely chopped
• 1 cup Date chutney
• 1 cup farsan mixture to sprinkle on top
• 6 pav/bun to serve with

Instructions

Usal

• Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add curry leaves.
  
• Add chopped onion and saute till translucent.
  
• Add ginger garlic paste to it. and saute more.
  
• Add chopped tomatoes and salt and cook till they are soft. Then add turmeric powder, red chili powder and garam masala to it and saute for two minutes.
  
• Add the mixed sprouts and add water to it. Add the rest of salt and pressure cook for 2-3 whistles.
  
• The usal is ready.
  

Dry masala for rasa/tari/kat/gravy

• Dry roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, cloves, cinnamon sticks on low heat.
  
• After the spices start releasing aroma and get little brown add the desiccated coconut.
  
• Mix well and roast for 2 more minutes. Keep it aside and let it cool.
  
• Grind the masala to fine powder. This masala can be used for making brinjal rice, stuffed brinjal curry, masale bhat.
  

wet masala for rasa/tari/kat/gravy

• Heat oil in a pan. Add onion and fry till translucent.
  
• Now add the dry ground masala and roast for 4-5 minutes.
  
• Add the wet paste (grind together onion, ginger garlic, green chili, coriander to a fine paste). Mix well and saute for 2-3 minutes.
  
• Add red chili powder, salt and sugar. Mix well.
  
• Add water and let it boil and cook for 12-15 minutes.
  
• Add lemon to it after the water starts boiling.
  
• The oil layer will be seen floating on top. Our kat/tari/rasa is ready.
  

Poha

• Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves and turmeric powder.
  
• Add the washed and soaked poha. Add salt and mix well . Cover and cook for few minutes. Poha are ready.
  

Assembling Misal

• Arrange all the prepared ingredients for assembling the usal - prepared usal, poha, boiled and diced potato, chopped onions, chopped corainder, sweet date and tamarind chutney , farsan and tari/kat/rasa (shown in next pic). The kat/tari/rasa should be hot.
  
• Tari/kat/rasa.
  
• Assembling the usal - in a deep bowl add two tablespoon of prepared usal.
  
• Add two tablespoon of poha and some diced potatoes.
  
• Pour 4-5 laddle full of tari/rasa/kat. Add 2 tbsp of sweet date and tamarind chutney
  
• Garnish with chopped onions, corainder and farsan. Puneri Misal is ready to serve. Similarly prepare the remaining usal bowl.
  
• Serve hot with pav.
  

Nutrition

Calories: 844kcal | Carbohydrates: 135g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Sodium: 567mg | Potassium: 1175mg | Fiber: 27g | Sugar: 54g | Vitamin A: 1650IU | Vitamin C: 74.3mg | Calcium: 340mg | Iron: 32.6mg