Namkin Usad Pav
Namkin Usad Pav, dry yellow peas curry topped with assorted chutneys, crunchy numkin and served with buttery buns. An ultimate Indian street food right in your kitchen!
As soon as colder months hit my mom used to put this simple yet flavor loaded and extremely comforting dish on rotation. Sev Usad is very well known Gujarati dish that is made with dry yellow peas. It is soupy, spicy, tangy, savory with just a little hint of sweetness. My mom learned it from her mother, my ajji-baa. I am sure you must be thinking why I call my maternal grand mother ajji while I am Gujarati?!?! Well both sides of my grand parents were from Mumbai. Both my parents were also born in Mumbai. Which reflects a lot in the type of cooking my family does.
This recipe also reflects the effects of Mumbaikar I grew up with and their style of cooking! Misal Pav is one of the very know Mumbai street food. Misal Pav is sprouted math spicy garlicky curry with hint of coconut. It is garnished with crunchy numkin instead of just Sev, onions, tomatoes, cilantro with side of buttery buns. While Gujarati Sev Usad is dry yellow peas curry. It is spicy, tangy, savory with just a little hint of sweetness. It is simply topped with thin sev and some people like to add sweet and spicy chutney to it.
This Namkin Usad Pav is a combination of both Gujarati Sev Usad and Mahastrian Misal Pav. My family uses dry yellow peas to make this Usad with simple ingredients like onions, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, chili and dry spices with hint of lime and jaggery. My family simply eat it with topped sev, onions and tomatoes while husband always seeks for chutneys and I love adding numkin instead of sev as well as pair it with buttery buns. I am sure it is all getting very confusing as there are so many factors added by my different family members LOL.
Long story short, this version of Usad is made like Gujarati Usad with Mahastrian touch, topped with spicy crunchy namkin, onions, tomatoes, cilantro and the best part is assorted chutneys. We love drizzling refreshing cilantro mint chutney, sweet and tangy date tamarind chutney, and spicy garlicky chutney. The combination of flavors and texture are just next level. You pair it with buttery bun to make it more filling.
If you have tried and liked my Ragda Pattice recipe, you are in treat with this one for sure! This is one of those dishes that is great to meal prep and surely to bring you that much needed comfort with ultimate flavor and texture palette! I hope you give this a try, if you like it please leave me a comment below or reach out to me on my Instagram @myvegetarianroots. I would love to read your feedback!
Happy & Healthy Eating!
Namkin Usad Pav
Ingredients
To soak and boil peas
- 1½ cup Dry Yellow Peas/Vatana
- 3 cup Water
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Oil
Peas Curry/Usad
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 1½ tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 pinch Asafetida
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 4 Cloves
- 5 Whole Black Peppercorn
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 1¼ cup Finely Chopped Onions
- 1¼ cup Finely Chopped Tomatoes
- 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 3 Thai Green Chili, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Minced Garlic (hipping tbsp)
- 1 tbsp Grated Ginger (hipping tbsp)
- 1½ tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
- 1¾ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Garam Masala 2 tsp if NOT using shreeji sev usad masala
- 1 tbsp Cumin Coriander Powder 2 tbsp if NOT using shreeji sev usad masala
- 1 tbsp Usal Masala Preferred shreeji sev usad masala, available at Indian grocery stores
- 2 tsp Jaggery use 1 tsp at a time, taste it and add more
- 1 tbsp Fresh Lime Juice
- 1½ cup Water
- ¼ cup Finely Chopped Cilantro
Toppings and Sides
- 1 cup Choice of spicy namkin or thin sev
- 1 cup Finely Chopped Onions
- 1 cup Finely Chopped Tomatoes
- ¼ cup Finely Chopped Cilantro
- 10 Ladi Pav OR Savory Hawaiin Buns
Instructions
Soaking and Boiling of Yellow Peas
- Wash dry yellow peas for 2-3 times, soak them in plenty of water over night or at least 8 hours
- Once soaked for 8 hours, remove all the water. Either place them in Indian style pressure cooker or an Instant Pot.
- Add in 3 cups of water, ½ tsp salt and 2 tsp of oil. Bring the water to boil, either by keeping Indian pressure cooker on medium/high heat or keeping Instant Pot on saute mode.
- Once water comes to a boil, place the lid on with either whistle on Indian style pressure cooker or seal the valve on Instant Pot.
- Do 8 whistles on medium heat then turn the heat off if using Indian style pressure cooker, let pressure release naturally all way. Cook on high pressure for 20 min with 10 min NPR if using Instant Pot.
Making of Peas Curry/Usad
- Heat up 2 tbsp of oil in deep wide pot. Add in whole spice, cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Wait until fragrant and seeds are papping.
- Add in asafetida, then add finely chopped onions, thai green chili, ginger and garlic along with ½ tsp of salt. Cook it on medium heat until onions are translucent. Do not brown/burn them.
- Add in tomatoes and tomato paste. Mix well. Then add all the other dry spices listed above under "Peas Curry". Mix well, cook on medium heat for 2-4 minutes of until oil starts to separate.
- Add in boiled peas with 1½ cup of water, 1 tsp of jaggery and 1 tbsp of lime juice. Mix well, bring it to simmer. Cover the pot and let it cook for 3-5 minutes on low-medium heat.
- Uncover and add in chopped cilantro, Mix well and turn the heat off.
Assembling Namkin Usal Pav
- Place generous amount of usal/curries peas in a wide bowl.
- Drizzle date tamarind, cilantro mint and garlic chutney on top.
- Layer it with choice of numkin or sev, finely chopped onions and tomatoes, garnish it with cilantro and serve it with side of toasted buttery buns and lime wedges.