It comprises a spicy curry of sprouted moth beans, topped with onions, raw green chillies, potatoes and chivda, dipped and eaten with the baker’s pav (small bread loaf)…reports Asian Lite News
The all-time favourite snack of Maharashtra, ‘Misal Pav’, has entered the TasteAtlas’ 100 Best Rated Snacks in the World, as per the rankings for 2023 released recently.
It rubs shoulders with another Maharashtra light food, the yummy ‘Vada Pav’, ‘Pav Bhaji’ and other Indian favourites like ‘Pani Puri’ and ‘Chaat’.
Standing at No. 95, ‘Misal Pav’ is a traditional dish of the state, quick to prepare, easy to digest and can be eaten practically 24X7, and savoured by one and all.
It comprises a spicy curry of sprouted moth beans, topped with onions, raw green chillies, potatoes and chivda, dipped and eaten with the baker’s pav (small bread loaf).
“Its available in practically every eatery across the state, as a breakfast, mid-morning filler, lunch, afternoon bite, dinner or even a midnight snack,” said a Mumbai Marathi housewife Priyanka K. G., who makes it for her family at least twice a week, or on lazy Sundays.
TasteAtlas describes ‘Misal’ – literally translated as aa mixture of everything’, so the ingredients vary as per the cook, and apart from the ingredients, it must be spicy while the base must be crunchy and the overall look should be like a colourful work of art, and essentially not hard on the domestic budgets.
Another featuring at No. 74 is ‘Vada Pav’ on which Mumbai and other parts of the state virtually survive, even while on the go, and is a common feature at every street corner stalls, eaters and even topnotch eateries in recent years.
Featuring in the category of ‘sandwiches’, the dish comprises ‘Vada’ made of mashed potatoes garnished with spices and deep-fried in chickpea batter, and stuffed with red, green and dry chilli powder-garlic chutney in a sliced loaf of bread.
TasteAtlas attributes its origins to a Dadar street-vendor Ashok Vaidya who used to whip up piping hot vada-pavs that started a rage in the 1960s and is now a household staple, especially favourite during monsoons.
Later, the Shiv Sena founded by the late Balasaheb Thackeray promoted and patronised the traditional Mumbai working-class snack through portable stalls and as a means of easy, low-investment self-employment mode for youth.