Wednesday, August 01, 2007

JFI-CHILLIES.. Mirchi Ka Salan .. sort of!!!!

Chillies.. a necessary ingredient in Indian Cooking... and so thinking of a dish that uses chillies was not really difficult, but selecting A particular dish.. was difficult. Finally I, zeroed in on MIRCHI KA SALAN.. a dish where MIRCHI was the focus, and more importantly, it was a dish I had not tried earlier. I had seen some ready to cook pack 'Kitchens of India' brand I guess.. intrigued by the name, I almost picked it up, but later hesitatingly put it back.. I was not into blogging at that point of time and well, the mind was not as open to experiments as now!
The idea however lingered, and then I started collecting recipes.. and so pulling out my SUPER heavy file, I flipped pages over pages (of recipes collected, but not tried) till I came to a bunch , neatly stapled and labeled "MIRCHI KA SALAN"- Hyderabad Special. I had about 10 different versions, so I finally picked out one,and decided to make this with slight variations to suit my taste.
Ideally Mirchi Ka Salan is served with Biryani, but I like it just as well with plain Rice , Paratha and ...~sheepish grin~ sliced bread as well!
My variation to the standard salan was I added Green and Red Bell Pepper to the Serrano chillies. I simply love the slightly sweet and smoky flavour of the red bell pepper and it blended well with the salan.
Here is my adaption of Mirchi Ka Salan:
3 Serrano Chillies
1/2 (each) Green and Red Bell Pepper, cut in chunks
1 Med. size Onion
1/2 tsp Tamarind Concentrate
Small lump Jaggery (optional, I like sweet-sour taste and so I added it- NOT a part of the original recipe)
1/4 tsp Mustard seeds/ Rai
Few Curry Leaves
Oil
1-2 cloves
For the Paste:
3Tbsp Dessicated Coconut
3 Tbsp. Roasted Peanuts
~2 Tbsp Sesame/ Til
2 Tbsp. Corriander seeds/ Dhania seeds
4 Peppercorns
3-4 Dry Red chillies
Do the Prep:
Slit the green chilli (do not cut into 2), deseed
Chop the bell pepper into chunks
Roast the ingredients for the Paste in just a drop or 2 of oil.. let it cool before grinding
Chop the Onion and saute till golden brown, cool and grind to a paste.
Shallow fry the green chilli and the pepper chunks till you see blisters on it.
Heat 1 tsp oil, add the mustard seeds. After they pop, add the curry leaves and cloves.
Add the onion paste and stir well. Add the Salan Paste, mix thoroughly and cook for 2 mins, stirring continuously on a medium flame.If the paste sticks to the pan, add some water and cook well.
Add the tamarind concentrate, jaggery and cook for about 3-4 mins, till the gravy thickens.
Add salt, chillies & pepper chunks. Mix well and cook for a minute.
Serve with Biryani, Paratha, plain Rice... Yummy
* I chickened out at the last moment and removed the dry red chillies before grinding the paste, thinking that the Serrano chillies would make my hair stand on the end!! but made a mistake there. My adaptation of the salan was VERY tasty, but not fiery! But those who want to enjoy this side dish without smoking at the ears, all I have to say is, go right ahead!
This is my entry for JFI CHILLIES, hosted by our own Nandita !! Thank U Nandita for a wonderful choice of ingredient!
Pin It

23 comments:

FH said...

I love the "sort" of Mirchi ka Salan! Looks fabulous and so colorful.I love those darn cute red bell peppers! Great entry!:))

Poonam said...

Good one, Manasi!

Suganya said...

Are you that organised? Great! I have a file too, to file and forget :D

Sharmi said...

like Asha said I too loved the sort of mirchi ka salan. now I have to try it as I am seeing this in lot many blogs. is it very spicy?

Tee said...

Tondala paani sutalay baghun! Loved the addition of red bell peppers.

marriedtoadesi.com said...

Manasi,

What a great recipe. I have never tasted anything like this, but I have a feeling the taste will be amazing, just from the sound of your recipe.

Glad you pulled out your big file of recipes! Good one for the JFI chillies.

Kanchana

SeeC said...

I add chilli in most of my dishes.
Looks very inviting.

BTW I have given a link to your blog from mine. Hope it is fine with you.

Viji said...

I am a big fan of this delicious dish Manasi. Very nice. Viji

Kajal said...

Wah....Mirchi ka salan.....I also make one recipe from green chilli but forgot to post for JFI-chillies....Love your cute red bell peppers. With red and green color looks very fine.:)

Priyanka said...

Looks awesome Manasi.... i made something quite similar.... Baingan Mirchi ka Salan:)

Manasi said...

Hi Asha!! thank U!! The fab. taste of red bell pepper was a recent discovery! I love them too!

Hi Poonam!! Thank U!!

Hi Suganya!! Yep I do file and label (only recipes) but unfortunately, I file and forget!!

Hi Sharmi!! My guess is it is supposed to be real hot, but if u deseed the chillies, that brings down the fire. and ideally the recipe calls for approx 10 chillies, I chickened and used 3+ bell pepper!The quantity I have used is good for 2 hungry people and mildly spicy, but enjoyable.
Hi Tee!! Mala kadhi taste karte asa jhala hota! nashib, jasti tikhat kela nahi, mast hota salan!

Hi Kanchana!! Thank U so much, I am goimng to pull out that file a bit more now! so many recipes to try !!

Padma said...

hey Manasi, thats looking so colorful and yummy, I love chillies and hot food, very much so this JFI-Chillies is like a treat to me
thanks for sharing
padma

SeeC said...

Manasi,
You can try with Brinjal or Okra instead of Drumstick for Kaara Kuzhambu.

[Response for your query in my blog ;)

Coffee said...

Cool! I like it this way.... so next time its gonna be this recipe! :)

Suma Gandlur said...

Good one for JFI. I have blogged this recipe with Jalapeno peppers, which was hot. I ate the masala leaving the chillies aside.

Cynthia said...

I like this recipe!

archana said...

This dish is looking nice Manasi :)It must be tasting gr8 with bread. I too like to team anything with bread like potato wafers and sauce :D
Nice of you to stop by my blog and congrats for hitting a century and completing one year of blogging:) Your meme was fun to read. Btw I too accompanied my mom to shopping so that she would treat me to chaat when we stayed in Lucknow.My aim to accompany her would be only to eat chaat :D)))

Chef Jeena said...

Hi there nice recipe the pictures make it look delicious. :)

Unknown said...

Lovely entry Manasi, thanks for this....just working on round up - really liked this so stopped by to say so!
Cya around in some (??) hours
:D

Manasi said...

Hi Padma, i am a fan of chillies too, but nowadays am rather careful , too much spice = acidity :((

Hi Seec, Thank u so much for ur prompt response!!

Hi Cynthia, Thank u dear!!

Hi Archana, Gr8 minds think alike!!! hehehe!!

Hi Jeena, Thank u so much!!

Hi Nandita, thank u dear! I saw the round up... gosh, u had ur work cut out! u did a wonderful job!!

KK said...

wow I am visitng your blog for the first time and it looks so yummy..:)

Manasi said...

Hi Buggy! Thank U so much!! Keep visiting!!

Anonymous said...

great !!! i tried it it was great

Share

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape