January 4, 2022

Matki Usal – Moth Beans Curry

Name: Matki Usal - Moth Beans Curry
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 1145 min
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

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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. Matki usal makes a perfect vegetarian or vegan dish for a daily dose of protein.

Matki or moth beans are very nutritious and loaded with protein. Sprouting the whole grains reduces the amount of starch they contain, amps up their nutritional value, and makes them easy to digest. Sprouting grains and legumes decreases their phytic acid content, which improves iron absorption by up to 50%

There are various ways of making matki chi usal. You can make this curry in a pressure cooker or in an instant pot but I feel it tastes the best when made on a stovetop. It is definitely more time consuming than cooking in the pressure cooker but it tastes simply amazing. Give it a try and I bet you won’t be disappointed.

My mother-in-law makes one of the best matki usal. Many of our friends and relatives demand to make this curry whenever they are visiting her place. She makes this usal for Ganesh Chaturthi with ukadiche modak, varan bhaat, batata bhaji, palak patal bhaji, and poli every year.

I have learnt so many tricks and tips from her to make it very tasty. I am sharing my mother-in-law’s recipe in this post. It surely takes some time and patience while cooking the matki usal but it’s totally worth it and satisfying.

Ingredients

Moth beans
Mustard seeds
Asafoetida
Turmeric powder
Kashmiri red chili powder
Red chili powder
Goda masala
Salt
Jaggery
Coriander leaves
Oil

Matki Usal Step By Step Recipe

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.

Tips For Making Matki Usal

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.

Variations

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.
Adding jaggery gives an amazing taste to the dish but you may skip it and add brown or regular sugar in the recipe.
You can make this usal by adding some onion, ginger, garlic, and tomatoes in the recipe before adding the moth beans.

How To Store Matki Usal?

Matki usal can be stored in an airtight container for 4-5 days in a refrigerator.

Store the usal in a freezer safe container for up to 4 months in the freezer.

Thaw the curry overnight in a refrigerator. Heat it in a pot until piping hot and serve.

How To Serve Matki Usal?

Garnish the dish with some freshly grated coconut and coriander leaves. Serve it on it’s own as a healthy snack or breakfast.

It can be served with some Indian mixture, diced red onions, and coriander leaves with some bread.

Serve the matki usal with some roti, koshimbir, shrikhand, and masale bhaat as a complete meal.

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