Matki Usal or Matki Chi Usal – this traditional Maharashtrian dish is a spicy stew prepared with sprouted moth beans. It is loaded with a lot of nutrients. Thanks to the moth beans sprouts. There are different ways to make this usal. Check my version of preparing the usal with Maharashtra’s signature spice – the goda masala, and of course in Instant Pot. :-)
The usal forms the base for misal, which I posted last year. We prepare this usal and add some boiled potatoes and farsan mix to make it misal, and it is usually served with pav buns.
For my misal pav, I used a combination of moth beans and white peas, but today for this usal, I am going to use only moth beans. I would like to thank my friend P’s mom for sharing the recipe with me. This usal is such a versatile dish, and you can just have it like a stew or with chapati/rice and with pav buns too.
Sprouting:
I explained about the sprouting process on my misal pav post, but I didn’t take the step by step pictures then. So here it is. But before that, let me explain what is sprouting. To put it in simple words, it is the process where we germinate the seeds/beans.
According to healthy eating, sprouting whole grains reduces the amount of starch they contain and boosts their nutritional value. Also, sprouting makes it easier for our body to absorb all the nutrients.
Here is the sprouting process, and you can follow the same for other beans/legumes.
- Soak the beans for at least 8 hours or overnight.
- Drain the water and pat it dry. (This avoids bacterial formation)
- You can either let it sit in the colander covered for 24 to 48 hours in a dark place or tie them in a cotton cloth or muslin cloth, like below and leave them for 24 to 48 hours.
- If using cloth, wash it clean and drain all the water. The cloth should be moist but not too wet.
- Spread the sprouts in the cloth and bring them together in the center and tie a knot like below and let it sit in the colander. I prefer this method in the summer to prevent the beans from drying out.
- After a day or two, remove the beans from the cloth, and you can store them in an airtight container and refrigerate them.
Now here comes the simple Matki usal recipe and the recap,
Recap:
- 2015 | Day 11 – Bevu Bella
- 2016 | Day 11 – Khandvi
- 2017 | Day 11 – Instant Pot Matki Usal | Matki Chi Usal
Instant Pot Matki Usal | Matki Chi Usal
A traditional Maharashtrian spicy stew prepared with sprouted moth beans and spiced up with the goda masala.
Ingredients:
- Moth Beans – ½ cup
- Oil – 2 tsps
- Medium Size Onion – 1
- Tomatoes – 3
- Goda Masala – 2 tsps
- Red chili powder – 1 tsp
- Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp
- Water – 1.5 cups
- Mustard Seeds – ¼ tsp
- Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
- Salt – 1.5 tsp
- Hing – ¼ tsp
- Curry leaves – 1 strand
- Cilantro – few
- Lemon juice – 2 tsps (optional)
Prep – Work:
- Prepare the sprouts as mentioned above.
- Chop the onion and tomatoes.
Steps:
Instant Pot Method:
- Set the IP in sauté mode and add the oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and hing.
- As the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the curry leaves and chopped onion and cook until the onions turn translucent.
- Then add the chopped tomatoes and the spice powders. (Red chili powder, goda masala, and turmeric powder) Include the salt and let it cook for two minutes.
- Then add the sprouted moth beans, cilantro, and 1.5 cups of water and mix well.
- Set the IP in manual mode and cook for 2 minutes and let the pressure release naturally.
- Carefully open the lid and serve it hot with rice or roti or pav buns.
- If required, squeeze some lemon juice before serving.
Also…
Pressure Cooker Method:
- Heat the pressure pan/cooker and add the oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and hing.
- As the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the curry leaves and chopped onion and cook until the onions turn translucent.
- Then add the chopped tomatoes and the spice powders. (Red chili powder, goda masala, and turmeric powder) Include the salt and let it cook for two minutes.
- Then add the sprouted moth beans, cilantro, and 1.5 cups of water and mix well.
- Now pressure cook this mix for just one whistle.
- After the pressure drops, mix all the ingredients and serve it hot with rice or roti or pav buns.
- If required, squeeze some lemon juice before serving.
Notes:
- Instead of Goda masala, you can use one tsp of coriander powder, one tsp of cumin powder, and ½ tsp of garam masala or replace goda masala just with garam masala.
- If using Instant pot, do not cook for more than 3 minutes in manual mode. Sprouted beans cook faster than the regular ones, and also, we don’t want the beans to be mushy. Same with pressure cooker, do not cook for more than one whistle.
- Adjust the salt and spice as per your preference.
- You can add freshly grated coconut too. But I did not add to this recipe.
- You can serve the usal with farsan drizzled on top as we do for misal.
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Matki Usal | Matki Chi Usal
Ingredients
- ½ cup Moth Beans
- 2 tsp Oil
- 1 Onion medium-sized, chopped
- 3 3 Tomatoes chopped
- 2 tsp Goda Masala
- 1 tsp Red chili powder
- ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1.5 cups Water
- ¼ tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1.5 tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Hing
- 10 Curry leaves
- 1 tbsp Cilantro chopped
- 2 tsp Lemon juice optional
Instructions
Prep – Work
- Prepare the sprouts as mentioned in the post.
- Chop the onion and tomatoes.
Steps
Instant Pot Method
- Set the IP in sauté mode and add the oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and hing.
- As the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the curry leaves and chopped onion and cook until the onions turn translucent.
- Then add the chopped tomatoes and the spice powders. (Red chili powder, goda masala and turmeric powder) Include the salt and let it cook for two minutes.
- Then add the sprouted moth beans, cilantro and 1.5 cups of water and mix well.
- Set the IP in manual mode and cook for 2 minutes and let the pressure release naturally.
- Carefully open the lid and serve it hot with rice or roti or pav buns.
- If required, squeeze some lemon juice before serving.
Pressure Cooker Method
- Heat the pressure pan/cooker and add the oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and hing.
- As the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the curry leaves and chopped onion and cook until the onions turn translucent.
- Then add the chopped tomatoes and the spice powders. (Red chili powder, goda masala and turmeric powder) Include the salt and let it cook for two minutes.
- Then add the sprouted moth beans, cilantro and 1.5 cups of water and mix well.
- Now pressure cook this mix for just one whistle.
- After the pressure drops, mix all the ingredients and serve it hot with rice or roti or pav buns.
- If required, squeeze some lemon juice before serving.
Notes
- Instead of Goda masala, you can use one tsp of coriander powder, one tsp of cumin powder and ½ tsp of garam masala or replace goda masala just with garam masala.
- If using Instant pot, do not cook more than 3 minutes in manual mode.
- Sprouted beans cook faster than the regular ones, and also we don’t want the beans to be mushy. Same with pressure cooker do not cook for more than one whistle.
- Adjust the salt and spice as per your preference.
- You can add freshly grated coconut too. But I did not add for this recipe.
- You can serve the usal with farsan drizzled on top as we do for misal.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Very protein rich recipe. Ideal with paav i say
Yes Ruchi. :-) Thanks
It’s been ages since I have tried sprouting at home. Your post is nudging me to start doing again. The usal looks like wholesome by itself!!
Thanks a lot Rajani.
This is only protein. This is only nutrition and nothing else.
:-) Thanks Anlet.
Easy breezy usal with instant pot na, you guys are tempting me to get an instant pot, though am delaying to get it. Nutritious matki usal tempts me a lot.
Thanks a lot Priya. IP is worth the money. Now I can’t even imagine my kitchen without it.
My comment is not going through. Usal and misal are regular in my place so regular that the girls have sworn off it. You have made it beautifully and I am hoping instapot makes an appearance in Indian Markets soon.
:-) Hope so too. Thanks a lot. Will look into comment issue.
I’m hungry and missing my moth! I remember whenever my mum used to soak them and then tie them up in a cloth, we’d want to touch them and would get slapped on our hands as she believed that the more you handle the moth it would get sticky and not sprout.
he he.. yeah I think the main reason is to prevent it from fungal and bacterial infection. Thanks Mayuri
Yet to try my hands on moth beans,had this usal in my friends place.A complete and healthy wholesome meal with buns.
Yes, it is. Thanks, Nalini.
Srividhya, when I made the Misal pav, it was such a delicious meal and I enjoyed making the whole stuff…since then I have been thinking I must make the Usal again…yours easy breezy in the Instant pot is amazing!
Thanks a lot, Valli. I am making then after a long time too. Should make it more often.
I do remember when I was doing the misal post, I was too confused with misal and usal. And it is one of my favourtie recipes I have done so far. Yours looks so yum. Love to have it topped with farsaan.
Oh yeah, I love this with farsan too. I too got confused with misal and usal and finally, my friend helped. :-) Thanks, Gayathri.
I make missal regularly , and serve with Pav or eat a big bowl without any accompaniments . I must try this version with matki , it looks and sounds fantastic .
Thank you Vaishali.
This usal brings back childhood memories in Bombay. Yours has turned out exactly as I remember it. Looks delicious
Oh wow… Thanks a lot Sowmya.
Matki usal is my favourite and your instant pit version looks so amazing. Bookmarking to try later.
Thank you, Sapana
Loving all your instant pot recipes!! Maharashtrian cuisine is always uniqe with its spice powders to ingredients.. Matki usal is just yummy!!
Thanks a lot Sharmila.
This looks amazing and delicious! As luck would have it, I just bought a packet of matki and this usal is the perfect dish to start with it! Of course, I will make it in the pressure cooker but have to share this with my son and daughter in law who have an instant pot! Thanks for sharing Vidya :)
Oh wow…. Please do try and let me know how you liked it. :-) Thanks a lot.