Bharli Mirchi

Mom selects nice and firm baby bell peppers for making this bhaaji. We don't get baby bell peppers here. Even the regular bell peppers are so huge that probably the stuffing below is needed for one bell pepper! :-D I tried chopping those humongous bell pepper in wedges or even halves, but baat kucch jami nahi.

So last summer, I planted my own bell peppers to get the baby bell peppers.


Bharli Mirchi
Stuffed Baby Bell Peppers
Ingredients
8 baby bell peppers/capsicum

For the stuffing
1 onion, chopped finely, about 1/2 cup
2 tbsp fresh coconut
1 tbsp goda masala
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 cup besan/chickpea flour, roasted
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp sugar
salt to taste
2 tsp oil


Tempering
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Garnish
1 tbsp oil (Optional)
1 tbsp chopped cilantro/coriander leaves

Method
1. Rinse the baby bell peppers. Pat them dry. Make a slit around the stem and remove the stem and inside seeds. Now the bell peppers are ready for stuffing.
2. Roast the besan/chickpea flour for 2-3 minutes without adding oil. Mix all the ingredients for the stuffing except oil. Now add oil to bind the stuffing.
3. Stuff it inside the bell peppers. After stuffing all the bell peppers, more stuffing should remain.
4. Heat oil in a wide saucepan or kadai. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder.
5. As they sizzle, place stuffed bell peppers in a single layer. Sprinkle the remaining stuffing around them.
6. Let it cooked on a low flame by keep a lid on the pan. Keep some water on top of the lid. Do not add water inside the pan. Check from time to time to make sure it's not burning.
7. Let it cook for about 20 minutes or till the bell peppers appear soft but they should not totally collapse. Add another spoonful of oil if using.
8. Switch off the gas. Keep covered for 5 minutes.
9. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with lemon wedges on side.


Note -
1. This subzi tastes even better if you add lots of oil. But I have tried to minimize the oil content.