Matki Usal - Moth Beans Curry
Matki Usal is a traditional Maharashrian dish prepared with sprouted moth beans and goda masala. This lightly spicy and delicious matki usal tastes the best on its own or with some chapati, bread, or rice.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Moth beans
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp Asafoetida/hing
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
- 3/4 tsp Red chili powder
- 1.5 tsp Goda masala *see notes
- 1 1/4 tsp Salt or as required
- 1.5 tsp Jaggery/Gur
- 2 tbsp Coriander leaves chopped, for garnishing
- 2 tbsp Oil
Instructions
Soaking And Sprouting
- In a medium bowl, triple wash the moth beans with ample water. Next, soak the beans with enough water for 7-8 hours or overnight.
- Place a muslin cloth in a colander, transfer the soaked moth beans, and wash them well.
- Keep a plate underneath the colander, gather all the sides of a cloth, and tie a knot. Place the colander in a warm place to let them sprout for 15-18 hours or more depending on the climate.
- Next, wash the sprouts very well to avoid any odor in the usal. Set aside to drain out the water completely.
Making Usal
- Heat around 4 cups of water in a pot or in an electric kettle.
- Heat some oil in the pan on medium heat. Add some mustard seeds and let them crackle.
- Keep the heat on medium low. Add asafoetida, turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, and next transfer the moth sprouts. Mix everything, cover the pan with a lid, and cook for about 10 minutes.
- Remove the lid and let the air release for about 30 seconds. Next, add ¼ cup hot water, mix it well, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
- Follow the same step by releasing the air, add 1.5 cups hot water, mix, cover, and cook for about 12 minutes.
- Take out the lid, add some salt, red chili powder, goda masala, and mix well. Add 1 cup hot water, mix, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.
- Add another cup of hot water, mix, cover, and cook for another 15 minutes.
- Next, add jaggery, ¼ cup hot water, cover, and cook for 5-7 minutes.
- Garnish matki usal with some coriander leaves and serve.
Notes
- Do not over sprout the moth beans or they will taste a bit bitter and will take more time to cook.
- After sprouting the beans, washing them is a very important step - do not skip this step.
- Store the sprouts in a refrigerator for up to 2 days to make them ahead of time. Sprouts can be stored in the freezer safe container for a month in the freezer. Make sure to thaw them completely in a refrigerator for 7-8 hours and wash them with some water before making the curry.
- Using hot water while making the matki usal decreases some cooking time and helps the usal to cook very soft from inside as well.
- When you are cooking the beans, adding a little hot water at a time is very important to make it very tasty. If you add a lot of water at once, the matki usal will taste a little watery.
- After removing the lid from the pan, it is very important to wait for 30 seconds before adding water or any other ingredient to remove the odor from the beans.
- Goda masala is a very important ingredient to make Maharashtrian style matki usal. You can add 2 tsp coriander powder, ¼ tsp cumin powder, and ¼ tsp garam masala instead of adding goda masala.
- You can add 2 tsp Kolhapuri kanda lasun masala in the recipe as well and skip adding goda masala.