Metkoot, A Comforting Spice Blend From Maharashtrian Kitchen

Metkoot serves as more than just a superfood in Maharashtra, much like sattu does in North and Central India. A mixture of toasted grains, legumes, and spices are ground to create metkoot, a fragrant yellow powder. It goes best with freshly cooked rice, but it can also be added to salads and chiwdas to make them more flavorful. 

Most of the Maharashtrian children grow up eating metkoot and gurgutya bhat, which is made of metkoot, ghee, and soft, sticky rice. A powdery mixture of roasted grains, lentils, and spices is called metkoot, and it is a traditional comfort dish from Maharashtra. It is most frequently consumed by combining it with a generous amount of ghee, a dash of salt, and freshly cooked rice. Another fantastic traditional combination is rice, curd, and metkoot. However, rice isn't the only food that can be served with metkoot. For enhanced flavour, it is frequently added to salads, pohe, and chiwda. When only bhaji is made at home that day is an unappealing padwal (gourd), some moms will often combine metkoot with chilli powder, salt, and dahi to liven up the dish a little. 

It can be consumed daily and is very simple to digest. It is consumed with ghee or clarified butter and hot, cooked rice. Little kids are also given this powder along with soft cooked rice. When you are ill or have an upset stomach, it is especially beneficial. The recipe is really straightforward and forgiving. Even if you leave out a few of the spices or one of the lentils, metkoot still tastes delicious. Never skip on the turmeric and always toast all ingredients until fragrant! 

Ingredients:  

1 cup split bengal gram (chana dal) 

½ cup slit black gram (urad dal) 

½ cup rice 

2 tbsp wheat  

1 tsp mustard seeds 

1 tsp cumin seeds  

2 tsp coriander seeds  

½ tsp fenugreek seeds 

3 dry red chilli 

1 dried turmeric root  

1 tsp dry ginger powder 

1 tsp asafoetida 

¼ tsp nutmeg powder 

¼ tsp cardamom powder 

Method: 

Have all the ingredients on hand. Dry roast rice, wheat, urad dal, and chana dal. Separately, on low heat, toast the following ingredients: fenugreek seeds, dry red chilies, cumin seeds, and coriander seeds. To make a fine powder, combine all the ingredients listed above with the asafoetida, cardamom, dry ginger, dry turmeric root, and dry ginger powder. Remove any gritty particles by running through the sieve. It should be kept in an airtight container.