Hyderabadi Mirchi Ka Salan Recipe

Mirchi Ka Salan is a Hyderabadi special recipe which is usually paired with Hyderbadi Dum Biriyani and gets featured in most of the weddings and functions in Andhra.The spiciness of green chillies is slightly neutralized with the slight sweet and creamy rich gravy made up of groundnuts,sesame seeds and fried onions.I have mentioned few pointers to reduce the spicyness of chillies in the notes and recipe,please do follow them.

Bagara Baingan is another recipe which is prepared in a similar manner and is absolutely our family favorite.You can check out my recipe for lip smacking Bagara Baingan here,I suggest you to try it once and I am sure you would definitely thank me as you tried it.Trust me it is really delicious and a perfect party recipe.

Mirchi Ka Salan Recipe :

(Serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

12-15 big light Green peppers(bajji variety/poblano)

2 big Onions sliced

1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste

2-3 tbsp Tamarind pulp

a pinch of Turmeric powder

a pinch of Sugar

1 tsp powdered Jaggery(optional)

1 tbsp chopped fresh Coriander
5-6 Curry leaves
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

3 tbsp Oil

salt

To roast and grind:

1/4 cup Groundnuts(roasted and peeled)

2 tsp white Sesame seeds

2 tbsp grated dry Coconut

1 tsp Roasted gram(optional)

5-6 Red chillies(or red chilli powder)

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

3-4 Cloves

1" Cinnamon

1-2 green Cardamom pods

Method:

• Wash and slit the green chillies(poblano peppers) and remove the veins and seeds of it.
• Bring water to a boil with some salt and add the green chillies and blanch for a minute and drain them.I really can't judge the spiciness of chillies even though they are light green in variety,some times they turn out very spicy for me.So I do blanch my green chillies to reduce the heat from chillies,if you like spicy food you can avoid this step.This process not only reduces the heat it also helps in consuming less oil while shallow frying.
• Heat oil,fry half the portion of sliced onions(add a pinch of sugar while frying) and fry until they turn pink.
• Add ginger-garlic paste to it and fry for a minute and cool the mixture.
• Dry roast sesame seeds,dry grated coconut and ground nuts separately.Peel the skin of the groundnuts and keep them aside.
• Dry roast all the spices cloves,cinnamon,cardamom,coriander seeds,cumin seeds and red chillies separately until light brown in color and cool them and then grind it to a fine powder.
• Add roasted ground nuts,sesame seeds and grated dry coconut and grind again.
• Add the fried onion mixture, jaggery,tamarind pulp and grind it again to a smooth mixture.Add water if needed while grinding to get a smooth velvety paste.
• Heat 1tbsp oil in a wide bottomed pan and add the slit poblano peppers and fry for 2 minutes,cover it with a plate and pour water over it and cook for 5-6 minutes until the peppers are slightly soft,remove the peppers and keep them aside.
• In the same pan add the remaining 2 tbsp oil and crackle mustard seeds and cumin seeds and then add the remaining sliced onions(1 onion) and fry until they turn pink.Add curry leaves to it and fry again.
• Add the ground spice mixture,turmeric powder and salt and fry until the mixture leaves the oil,add 1 cup of water(adjust the water according to the required consistency) and let it come to a boil.The gravy thickens as it sits for a while so make the gravy slightly thin.
• Add fried peppers and mix and cover it and cook for 7-8 mins until thick.
• Garnish with chopped coriander.

Serve Mirchi ka Salan with Veg Biryani / Jeera Rice/ Steamed Rice or Roti/Naan/Kulcha.

Notes:

1. Use light colored chillies which are used for preparing mirch bajjis as they are not spicy.
2. Remove the seeds from the peppers which will reduce the spicyness of chillies and I also prefer to blanch them which removes any extra spicyness in the chillies.
3. You can even use wide strips of capsicum or colored bell peppers instead of poblano peppers in the recipe and follow the same recipe.
4. The gravy thickens a bit when it sits for long.If it becomes very thick add some water and boil it again during serving.
5. You can add 1 tsp poppy seeds along with the sesame seeds in the recipe.
6. Another famous Hyderabadi recipe Bagara Baingan is also prepared in a similar way.You can just replace peppers with the small slit brinjals in the recipe.