Recipes | Curried Green Pepper and Brinjal aka Mirchi and Baingan ka Salan
There is nothing that heals the soul quite like, a hearty meal, vacation with family and time spent in the company of good friends.
We had a small get-together at our home some time back for which ‘traditional Indian dishes’ was unanimously picked by all families for dinner menu.
We selected some of the popular dishes from Indian cuisine and wrote down the main ingredients used to make those recipes. Tomato gravy, coconut milk, cashew paste, brown onion, yogurt, tamarind paste, no-onion and no-garlic and so on.
One of the members from each family picked a slip and was asked to prepare and bring the same dish for the evening.
‘No tomato, no coconut’ was written on my slip and my mind started wandering around some the Rajasthani recipes which are devoid of coconut and tomato. Ker Sangari, Papad subji, Methi dana…well, I was happy that I had so many options to choose.
“These recipes may not qualify for party dishes, not many will like the taste of fenugreek or Ker” suggested another friend of mine.
And I finally decided to prepare two different Salan recipes for the night, one with green pepper which is fiery hot and another a mild version of salan with baby brinjal.
Salan is a very popular Hyderabadi spicy curry which is normally served as a side dish for Biryani and Parottas (Indian flat breads). Generally a spicy Salan is served with bland Parotta and a mild Brinjal salan with spicy Biryani.
The pan-fried green peppers is slowly simmered in the paste of groundnuts and sesame which adds a wonderful flavor the recipe.
This dish may seem complicated at a first glance but it really isn’t, all it takes is to roast and grind the paste and you are done. So don’t let your preconceived notion deter you from making this mouth-watering Indian delicacy.
On a normal day even I would not prefer to cook recipes which require roasting and grinding the ingredients, but this recipe stays good for almost a week when refrigerated. And the spices seep better after a day or two in refrigerator. And it makes a wonderful accompaniment with any parathas or roti.
And what a timely gift I received from Tecnora, a blender/mixer/grinder. The blender is sleek and occupies less space in my kitchen. It also has a safety lock system which means the machine will work only if the dome is secured on the jar.
The blades are sharp and works wonder while grinding the dried spices and chutney.
The best thing I like about the grinder is the stirrer attached to the jar, which allows me to stir my ingredients even while grinding, without stopping and opening the jar.
1. Curried Green Peppers aka Mirch Ka Salan
Ingredients;
(serve 3)
- 5-6 large Green Peppers
- 2 tbsp. Peanuts
- 1 tbsp. Sesame
- 1 large Onion
- 1 tbsp.Tamarind paste
- 1 tsp. Ginger-garlic paste
- 2 tbsp. Oil
- Salt to taste
Spices;
- 1 tbsp. Coriander powder
- 1 tsp. Cumin powder
- 1 tsp. kashmiri red chilly powder
- 1/2 tsp. Turmeric powder
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- Few curry leaves
Method; Dry roast the peanuts (moong phalli) in a pan till they are perfectly roasted. Remove the roasted peanuts from the pan, add sesame seeds and roast for a few minutes.
Grind roasted peanuts and sesame into fine powder and mix it with 2-3 tbsp of water.
Peel and grate the onion.
Heat oil in the same pan and add the cinnamon stick and curry leaves in it.
Add grated onion, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, salt and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
Add peanut and sesame paste in the pan and sauté on low heat till the oil starts oozing out from the sides. Make sure that the paste does not burn by adding a few teaspoons of water if required.
Wash and slit the green peppers, use large and mild variety of peppers such as Athana mirchi from Rajasthan or the one which is used to make pakoras for this recipe. Remove all the seeds from the peppers to reduce the heat and keep the stalk (stem) intact.
I chop a few peppers into small cubes which make it much easier to eat the curry with rotis or parathas.
Heat about 1 tsp. of oil in a pan and roast the peppers on medium heat till they turn brown and become slightly soft. Do not overcook the peppers.
Add tamarind paste mixed with about half a cup of water into the pan and let the gravy simmer on low heat for 5-6 minutes.
Add the roasted peppers carefully into the gravy and continue to simmer the gravy for 3-4 minutes on low heat.
Serve the curry with Biryani, plain rice or any Indian flat bread.
2. Curried Brinjal aka Baingan ka Salan
Ingredients;
(serve 3)
- 12-15 small Brinjal
- 12-15 Shallots
- 2 tbsp. Peanuts
- 1 tbsp. Poppy seeds
- 1 tbsp. Tamarinds paste
- 3 tbsp. Oil
- Salt to taste
Spices;
- 1 tbsp Coriander seeds
- 1 tsp. Cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp. Turmeric powder
- 3 dried Red chilies
- 3-4 garlic pearls
- 1 small pieces ginger
- 1/2 tsp. Garam masala powder
- 2 cloves
- 1 small cinnamon stick
Method; Wash and make two slits in each brinjal from center keeping the stalk intact.
Dry roast the peanuts in a pan till they turn golden brown in colour.
Dry roast the coriander seeds and cumin seeds for a few seconds.
Grind roasted peanuts, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, dried red chilies, poppy seeds with garlic pearls and ginger piece.
Pour about one cup of water into the paste and combine well.
Heat about 2 tsp. of oil in a large pan and roast the slit brinjals for a few minutes till the skin become brown in colour and the brinjals are cooked well.
Take out the roasted brinjals and keep them in a separate plate.
Heat rest of the oil in a wok or kadai and add cloves and cinnamon stick in it.
Add peeled shallots and cook for 3-4 minutes on medium heat.
Add the peanut and spice paste into the wok and suate for 3-4 minutes on low heat.
Add roasted brinjals, garam masala powder, tamarind paste dissolved in 2-3 tablespoons of water, cover the wok and let the gravy simmer on low heat for 5-6 minutes.
Serve this Brinjal Salan with plain rice, Biryani or any Indian flat bread.
Notes;
- Add a few teaspoons of whisked yogurt to the gravy if you feel it is too spicy or hot to taste.
- A pinch of sugar or jaggery added to the recipe enhances the flavors.
- Adjust the consistency of the gravy by adding or reducing water in the recipe.
- I do not remove the skin from the roasted peanuts, you can de-skin the peanuts if you wish, before grinding them into powder.
- Powdered peanuts and sesame stays good for many days when refrigerated and can be used to make the gravy for salan or other Indian recipes.
I have never tried mirch ka salan. Now I am marking it in my to try list and I am hopeful that the peppers here stand the task. I do not get those baby brinjals here so that will have to wait for sometime when i am in India next.
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