Kolhapuri Usal is a traditional Maharashtrian spicy soup made with beans, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, coconut, and lots of hot spices. It is not only delicious but super delicious. I am making the traditional dish low caloric, even more, healthier by using sprouted 16 beans & skipping the potatoes and cooking in a pressure cooker.
Those of you who have been following the blog for a while know that both Soniya & myself, and both our hubbies are from Mumbai, India. Although we are currently based out of the US, our love for the food of Mumbai is endless. The whole of Maharashtra is crazy about food. We Mumbaikars pride ourselves in having the best, most exclusive restaurants of the country as well as the cheapest and yet mouth-watering tapdis for their street food. Some healthy drool-worthy roadside recipes from Mumbai that you can find on the blog are Sabudana Vada, Kothimbir Vadi, Khandvi, Modak, Shrikhand.
Our taste buds have evolved and adapted new foods, but comfort food always takes us back home. Usal is a very popular street food of Maharashtra. Typically it is made from Matki / Moth / Turkish Gram. These beans could be sprouted or un sprouted, however sprouting aids digestions & definitely reduces the amount of starch they contain and boosts their nutritional value. There are so many variations of Usal, different folks make it differently however, my favorite is the Kolhapuri Usal, which is not only spicy but the flavors of coastal ingredients like coconut totally enhance the flavors. Usal is an awesome source of proteins for the vegetarians & vegans.
So last week the weather in NC got a little cooler. We had a cloud cover for almost 3-4 days, gray skies, cool breeze, and a slight drizzle. Pretty much like the monsoon of Mumbai. All we wanted to have was some hot spicy food that would take us back home. So I couldn’t think of anything but Usal. Honestly, I had never made it before, but I reached out to my friend N who is an expert at cooking Usal and tried to replicate her recipe. It’s not like I am blowing my own horn (sorry if it comes across like that), but the recipe turned out to be better than I had expected. The entire soup turned out to be mouth watering with the fiery blast from the spices and the tropical taste of coconut. I have to admit it was an awesome combination of mild and fiery flavors.
As per N’s original recipe, she used Turkish Gram or Matki and apart from the main soup she also makes a spicy sauce with onion, tomatoes and Usal masala to be added from the top. However, in my situation, I already had soaked my 16 beans (if you would like to know which 16 beans I used, click here) so I thought I will put them to good use. Obviously, it was getting close to lunch time, so I wanted to make something quick yet delicious so I thought of trying to cook in the pressure cooker. Honestly, it turned out to be a good idea and going forward I think I might just adapt cooking in the pressure cooker rather than using so many pots and utensils. Ofcourse I would like to try a slow cooker version of this too, may be in the winters some time.
So hope you enjoy preparation as much as we did. I would love to hear what do you have to say about this new way of cooking Usal in a pressure cooker using 16 beans. If you try this recipe, don’t forget to take some pictures and tag us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Soak the beans overnight in 6 cups of water. In the morning rinse thoroughly and let them sprout for about 6 hours minimum to 24 hours. You can either tie the beans in a cheese / muslin cloth or put them in a sieve and cover them.
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