Usal is a Maharashtrian curried dish made with legumes/sprouted legumes or mixed sprouted beans and is had with pav (dinner rolls), chapati or rice. This Usal recipe comes from the Konkan region of the Maharashtra state in India.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 35 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 60 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Maharashtrian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Mixed Sprouts ((legumes) or Moong Bean Sprouts or moth bean sprouts (matki sprouts))
  • 1.5 cups water (- for cooking sprouts)
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
  • ½ tablespoon fennel seeds
  • ¼ cup chopped onion (- chopped)
  • 4 to 5 medium garlic cloves (- chopped)
  • 1 inch ginger (- chopped)
  • ½ cup desiccated coconut ((unsweetened) or ½ cup fresh coconut)
  • ½ to ⅔ cup water (or as needed to make the usal masala paste)
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • ¼ cup onion (- chopped or 1 medium-sized)
  • ⅓ cup tomatoes (- chopped or 1 medium-sized)
  • ½ teaspoon red chili powder (or cayenne pepper)
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoon malvani masala
  • 1 cup water (or 1 cup of broth/stock got from boiling the sprouts or water)
  • salt (as required)
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons coriander leaves (- for garnish)

Method

Cooking mixed bean sprouts

  1. Prep by making homemade sprouts. Sprout ⅓ of dried mixed beans a couple of days earlier. You will need 1 cup of mixed bean sprouts.
  2. Pressure cook or steam the sprouted beans till they are tender. If pressure cooking, then cook the mixed sprouts in 1.5 cups water.
  3. When the bean sprouts are softened and tender, keep the cooked mixed sprouts aside.

Making usal masala

  1. On a frying pan or skillet heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add the chopped onions.
  2. Fry stirring often until the onions soften and look translucent.
  3. Add the fennel seeds and coriander seeds to the onions. Sauté till they smell fragrant.
  4. Add chopped ginger and garlic and sauté these too for 1 to 2 minutes.
  5. Add the desiccated coconut.
  6. Stir and mix it well with the rest of the mixture.
  7. Fry the coconut till golden. But remember not to burn the coconut and to fry the masala on a low heat.
  8. Let the roasted spices and coconut mixture cool. Then make a fine and smooth paste of the masala ingredients in a mixer-grinder or blender with ½ to ⅔ cup water or as needed.

Making usal

  1. In another pot or pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the chopped onions.
  2. Sauté the onions till they turn translucent and are softened.
  3. Next add the chopped tomatoes.
  4. Saute the tomatoes for 2 to 3 mins or till they soften.
  5. Pour the ground masala paste. Since we have already browned the paste, we have less work to do. Simply sauté the paste for 1 to 2 minutes stirring often.
  6. Add the turmeric powder, malvani masala and red chili powder.
  7. Mix the above ground spice powders evenly with the coconut paste.
  8. Add the boiled sprouts to the paste.
  9. Add 1 cup water or the broth or stock (in which the bean sprouts were cooked) or add more, as per the consistency desired by you.
  10. Add salt and stir. Lastly let the entire curry simmer for 10 to 12 minutes or till you see some oil floating on top.
  11. Lastly add chopped coriander leaves.
  12. Serve Usal with steamed rice or bhakri or pav or chapati or poori. You can also make misal pav with this malvani usal recipe.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.