In India it is fairly common to stuff all sorts of vegetables. Peppers are easy to stuff and the long green ones are my favourite. They are not hot but slightly sweet in taste which perfectly pairs with all the spices it is stuffed with in this recipe. Strangely enough, when mom made ‘Capsicum (pepper/paprika) Aloo’, some of the peppers sometimes would be hot, like a chili. That was always a nasty surprise! Also, we never got the red, orange and yellow variety like in the West. I just grew up with the delicious, sometimes evil š green variety.
I love the simple act of stuffing a vegetable. I have always loved working with my hands and the preparation part of a meal is always my favourite. My mom painstakingly stuffing the vegetables is a very fond memory. I remember how it would color her fingers for days just like mine are. I do tend to find or create recipes that are labor intensive, though eventually easy to make. Indian food in general has a reputation for being hard and take hours to make in a kitchen. This is not always true.
This recipe is ready pretty quickly. The main ingredient in it is chickpea flour which is widely used in the Indian cooking. In North India, we use it mainly to coat a vegetable to deep fry or use it in a batter to make savoury pancakes (chilas), among its many uses. I love the nutty flavour in this dish. Its not a dish I would’ve easily tried in India because of how fussy and unadventurous I used to be. Now that I want to increase the variety and use the vegetables available to their max, its exciting to try flavours I would’ve otherwise not tried.
I’ve been making this particular dish for a while. And have been wanting to share it here forever. So here it is!
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- 6-8 long green peppers
- 1 cup chickpea flour
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsps coriander powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp kashmiri mirch (red chili powder)
- ½ tsp fennel seeds
- ¼ tsp asofetida
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 2-3 tsps water
- salt to taste
- 2 tbsps oil, divided (for cooking the peppers)
- Wash the green peppers and slit each one down the length making sure not pierce it through and through. You don't need to remove the seeds. I just leave them be. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tbsp of the oil, in a non-stick pan and add mustard seeds. Once they sputter add the rest of the ingredients (except the water) and roast on medium heat, till the chickpea mix turns a golden yellow and releases a nutty fragrance. Set aside and allow the mix to cool.
- Once cool, add the water to the chickpea flour mixture and stir to combine. Stuff the peppers generously with the mix.
- Now heat the rest of the oil, on medium heat, in a shallow wide pan and add the stuffed peppers in a row, making sure not to overlap. Cover the pan and let the peppers brown for about 5-8 minutes. Turn over and again cover the pan and let the peppers brown on the other side.
- Serve hot with some fresh bread and dal!
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