Instant Pot Misal

Vegan Matki Misal is a one-pot meal made with sprouts and misal masala. It's often served as breakfast along with bread, is spicy, and is extremely delicious. Making it in the Instant pot makes the recipe so much simpler and convenient.

My childhood friend lost his mom couple of months back. She was an amazing lady, always smiling, strong with a modern outlook. Her other best quality was that she loved to cook and would always be ready to cook something for all of us. Her dishes were famous in our building. I remember, when I got married, she invited me and KR to their house for lunch. BTW, this is a tradition in India. All newly wed couples get invited to homes of loved ones for lunches/dinners. When inviting us, she had asked me what should she make for us. Without battling an eyelid, I replied - Misal Pav. She really prepared the best Misal Pav ever and no restaurant could match that taste. I was very fond of her recipe as I had the privilege of eating it on many occasions. When I would host potlucks in my house, aunty would always send her famous misal with pav for us. Since I knew KR loves all these items, I requested her to make Misal Pav for lunch. She happily obliged and by the time we left their house, KR was raving about this dish already. He told me to get her recipe which I then did. I still remember, while writing down the recipe for me, she told me that the secret to a good marriage is to feed the husband well! I laughed back at her being the feminist I am.

I told her, why not change this statement to - The secret to a good marriage is that both should always be well fed! Why should only the husbands get good food? Don't you agree with me on this one! I met her only once after that when I had gone to Bombay for the birth of my niece. Her health was deteriorating and I couldn't bear to see her confined to a chair/bed. Yet, she was all smiles when we met and even told to drop by next time for a meal. As I left her house, I cried outside their door as I just sensed that this may be the last time I ever saw her. Sadly, this turned out to be true. In a few months, I heard of her sad demise. My heart reached out to my friend who was very close to her. Me being miles away did not help either. I was equally devastated. I decided to offer my prayers here and then began going through my memory box. I have a small box where I have kept gifts/tokens from all the aunties of my building. They all had given me something when I got married and I have preserved all of that. There was her handwritten Misal recipe which bough me to tears. I held on to that paper and decided to make her recipe and feature it on the blog. It was my way of bidding her goodbye and letting her know that she will always be remembered. I wanted to preserve her recipe in the virtual world forever. 

The main ingredient for Misal is Moong Bean Sprouts/Moth Beans. These sprouts are extensively cultivated and consumed in East Asia. Misal is a Maharashtrian dish made with brown sprouts which is cooked in a spicy gravy with a special masala. It is served with chiwda/farsan on top which gives the dish a different flavor plus the required crunch. Sprouts are known to be protein rich making it an ideal ingredient for vegetarians and vegans. They can be used in a variety of recipes. In fact, just boiled/raw sprouts can be eating like a salad. However, my mom would always say that one must always soak and then cook the moth beans before consumption because this helps to break down anti-nutritional factors and makes the protein more digestible. I usually buy dried moth beans and soak then overnight. In the morning, I drain out the water and transfer them into a big strainer. I leave it on the kitchen counter for a day or two. I keep mixing it using my hands once or twice a day. This process will make it sprout. Once the shoots are long enough, I know they are ready to be used. I follow this same process for the green sprouts as well. I recently read that the Instant Pot yogurt mode works great to sprout beans. You can try it out. I am yet to try it. 

Now that we have established the fact that almost all of us own an Instant Pot, I thought why not make this dish in it. Let me walk you through the recipe. The cook-top version will be very similar to the pressure cooker version. You can either get sprouted moth beans from the grocery store or sprout them at home using the technique I shared above. Turn on the IP in 'saute' mode. Add oil and add roughly chopped onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and coconut. Saute them till they are cooked. This could take around 5 minutes. Turn off the Instant Pot. Remove the mix onto a plate and let it cool a bit. Now transfer it to a blender, add water and make a smooth creamy puree. Again turn on the IP and add oil in it. You need not wash the pot. Temper mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add curry leaves and asafoetida. Fry for 10 seconds, then add the ground paste along with misal masala, chilly powder, chopped cilantro and salt. Cook for a minute and then add the sprouts and give it all a good mix. Add water, press 'Cancel' and close the lid with vent in sealing position. Cook in manual or pressure cook mode for 12 minutes. When the pressure cooker beeps, let the pressure release naturally. Open lid and stir in the lemon juice and garnish with some more cilantro. 

Making this vegan dish in an Instant Pot was so easy and hassle free. A one-pot meal than can be enjoyed for breakfast, snack or as a meal. Thank you aunty for this recipe. Here is how you serve Misal Pav. In a serving bowl, add the cooked misal, throw in some chiwda/farsan, chopped onions and serve it with Bread/Pav. It also tastes great with steamed rice. This is a spicy gravy dish but is extremely flavorful. No wonder this is a popular street food from India! [textendpost]

Fan of sprouts? Then give these recipes a try - Vegan Matki Usal | Indian Sprouts Salad Dish, Easy Sprouts Salad, Sprouts Cutlet/Tikki and Sprouts & Egg Bhurji. Some other popular street food snacks from India are Black Chana Chaat, Pav Bhaji, Vegan Crispy Onion Pakoda | Fried Kanda Bhajiya, Bombay Special Vada Pav, Sev Puri Grill Sandwich, Mushroom Kalan Masala/ Mushroom Stir Fry, Bombay Style Veg Masala Toast Sandwich, Ragda Pattice, Potato Paneer Kathi Roll/Wrap and Potato Chilly Garlic Masala Toast.

Recipe 📖

Vegan Matki Misal In An Instant Pot

Priya Lakshminarayan

Vegan Matki Misal is a one-pot meal made with sprouts & misal masala. It's often served as breakfast along with bread, is spicy & is extremely delicious.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Asian, Indian, Maharashtrian

Servings 4 people

Calories 119 kcal

Equipment

• Instnat Pot

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 teaspoon oil
• ▢ 1 onion
• ▢ ¼ cup fresh/desiccated coconut
• ▢ 4-5 cloves garlic
• ▢ 1 inch ginger
• ▢ 2 tomatoes
• ▢ ½ cup water
• ▢ 1 tablespoon oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• ▢ 5-6 curry leaves
• ▢ Pinch of asafoetida
• ▢ 1 packet Rasoi Magic Misal Masala or use 2 -3 tablespoon of Misal Masala
• ▢ 1 teaspoon chilly powder
• ▢ ⅓ cup chopped cialntro
• ▢ 3 cups sprouts
• ▢ 6 cups water
• ▢ salt as required
• ▢ 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• ▢ cilantro and chopped onions for garnish
• ▢ 1 cup chiwda/farsan

Instructions 

• Turn on the IP in 'saute' mode. Add oil and add roughly chopped onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and coconut. Saute them till they are cooked. This could take around 5 minutes. Turn off the Instant Pot. Remove the mix onto a plate and let it cool a bit. Now transfer it to a blender, add water and make a smooth creamy puree. Again turn on the IP and add oil in it. You need not wash the pot. Temper mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add curry leaves and asafoetida. Fry for 10 seconds, then add the ground paste along with misal masala, chilly powder, chopped cilantro and salt. Cook for a minute and then add the sprouts and give it all a good mix. Add water, press 'Cancel' and close the lid with vent in sealing position. Cook in manual or pressure cook mode for 12 minutes. When the pressure cooker beeps, let the pressure release naturally. Open lid and stir in the lemon juice and garnish with some more cilantro.
• Here is how you serve Misal Pav. In a serving bowl, add the cooked misal, throw in some chiwda/farsan, chopped onions and serve it with Bread/Pav. It also tastes great with steamed rice.

Nutrition

Calories: 119kcal | Carbohydrates: 9.49g | Protein: 2.9g | Fat: 8.79g | Saturated Fat: 3.46g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3.29g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Sodium: 37.55mg | Potassium: 292.5mg | Fiber: 3.09g | Sugar: 3.58g | Vitamin A: 843.98IU | Vitamin C: 41.95mg | Calcium: 53.85mg | Iron: 1.22mg

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