If you are even remotely privy to Maharashtrian cuisine, you must have heard about misal pav. Misal is a spicy flavourful curry made of moth beans, with a whole lot of eclectic spices, onion, garlic, ginger and chillies. It is then topped with boiled potatoes, sev, chopped onions, coriander, green chillies, lemon juice and served with butter-toasted pav. Misal pav makes for a popular breakfast food in the region. In fact, it won't be an exaggeration to say that misal pav defines comfort for almost every Maharashtrian. So, when the 'comfort' was criticised recently, several people came together to react to it strongly. Let us tell you the story from the beginning.
A person, identified as Bodhisattwa Majumder, recently took to Twitter to share a post expressing his feelings towards the Maharashtrian staple - misal pav. He wrote, "How is misal pav even a dish. It's just namkeen which has fallen accidentally on a very oily ghooghni."
How is misal pav even a dish. Its just namkeen which has fallen accidentally on a very oily ghooghni.— Bodhisattwa Majumder (@thebrodhitree) January 30, 2023
In no time, the post grabbed attention on the internet and people started criticising him in the comments section. "You're committing blasphemy in Mumbai," a comment read. Another person stated, "You should try misal at any of these two restaurants - 1. Aaswad - Dadar (Shivaji Park) 2. Aamantran- Thane (West) (Do not try the mamledar franchisee that you might find everywhere)." A third comment read, "Wait till you have usal pav." A person further wrote, "But it is so yum."
Some people, however, echoed Bodhisattwa and said, "It's also badly made ghooghni." Another person stated, "Yes exactly!!! I loved Bhajji Pav here but what even is Misal Pav!!??"
If all the discussion has left you confused, then we have the perfect solution to it. Here, we bring the recipes of misal pav and ghooghni that you can replicate at home and decide for yourself.
Click here for misal pav recipe.
Click here for ghoogni recipe.
Try both the dishes and do let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
About Somdatta SahaExplorer- this is what Somdatta likes to call herself. Be it in terms of food, people or places, all she craves for is to know the unknown. A simple aglio olio pasta or daal-chawal and a good movie can make her day.