Metkut

 

Its been so long I blogged anything here... a dear friend reminded me saying she misses reading it. She also described the page and it’s layout with those birdies on the page... it was such a sweet thing to hear .. 

I felt ..I should write now...

It so happened that  I made this very traditional and close to every Maharashtrian's heart prep called Metkut ! so I thought what better than this to break my blogging fast :) 

I can call it a condiment may be?  

It is a flavorful powder eaten with hot steaming rice with dollop of Ghee and salt added as per your taste. 

Metkut is an emotion.. full stop! 

Am sure there is a fond memory in your mind attached to Metkut - Bhaat.

May be our Ajji's prep when we visited her in the summer vacation... or may be as a comfort food when we need something simple and nostalgic.. 

Fortunately my 10 yo is loving it and he actually asked me to make it when it got finished... 

Growing up away from homeland - it means a lot to an Indian mum :-)

So.. please comment your fond memory about Metkut - I would love to read it :)

there are 4 ways that we eat Metkut - 

First and most common - with steaming hot rice and ghee.

second -  Add little tamarind and jaggery chutney to it and mix well. Add enough water for a chutney consistency. Add finely chopped onion and coriander leaves, salt to taste.Add a nice oil tadaka on top - only mustard , Cumin , Hing.

Third - Add yoghurt to Metkut and little water - again to get a chutney consistency. Add onion and coriander leaves and salt. Top it up with a tadaka, 

Fourth and my favorite again - soak Poha - medium thickness rice flakes with very little water and set aside for 10 min for them to soak the water. Add red chilli powder , salt, roasted peanuts powder , sugar, turmeric, Metkut.Add chopped coriander leaves and optional - onion. 

Tadaka is must ;) 

So without further ado - here is the recipe of  dear Metkut :-)

Ingredients:

1.25 cup Chana daal 

0.25 cup Urid daal  ( washed and air dried previous night )

0.25 cup Rice ( washed and air dried previous night )

2 tbsp. Wheat

2 red whole chilies 

10 cardamoms

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds / Jeera

1 tsp Methi seeds

15 whole black pepper

3 Cloves ( lawang)

1 tsp Nutmeg powder ( jayfal)

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp Dry ginger powder ( suntha)

Note: This powder doesnt have slat in it - whenever you use it salt gets added to the dish separately.

Procedure:

1. Dry roast all ingredients separately one by one.(except the powders mentioned in the ingredients )
2. While roasting Wheat - you will see they will be almost ready to get popped up. That is the sign to stop. 
3. Once all ingredients are cooled down after roasting, add turmeric, Ginger powder, Nutmeg powder to the mixture. 

Suggestion :  Grind red chilies first in your blender then grind rest of the ingredients together.

This makes sure the chilies get grounded well and mixed well. 

Blend to a smooth fine powder as much possible with your blender. 

Once ready, sieve it through a flour sieve and store it in air tight container. 

The left over coarse powder can be mixed with yoghurt and made into a prep like the third prep mentioned above. 

Metkut can also be relished just on its own by adding a little salt , cold oil of your choice and mixed well to a semi fluidly consistency and enjoy with Chapati / Jowar Bhakari. 

Enjoy !!! Please do share your special memories about Metkut in comments.

#vegan #rice #comfortfood #metkut #marathifood #maharashtrianrecipes #metkutbhaat