Mirchi Vada (with a twist)

          These Mirchi Vadas are stuffed green chili peppers that are batter fried. It has its origin in Rajasthan, where it is a very popular street food. It is a great tea time snack and also goes well as an appetizer with some green chutney, tamarind chutney or sauce. Generally the stuffing is that of boiled and mashed potato and it is almost similar to the Andhra style mirchi bajji, except for the stuffing.

           But I gave a slight twist to the original recipe by adding some boiled and grated eggs to the potato mix to dish out this non-veg. version of mirchi vada. They turned out simply yummy. Moreover, any leftover ones can be served as chaat or can be added to your kadhi. So check out the step by step pictorial recipe to prepare it.

Ingredients - 

• 7-8 fresh green chilies
• oil to deep fry
• chaat masala to sprinkle

Stuffing-

• 1 medium potato, boiled & grated
• 2 boiled eggs, grated
• 2-3 tbsp. coriander leaves, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. red chili flakes
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp. roasted cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp. amchur powder (dry mango powder)

Batter-

• 1 cup besan (Bengal Gram / Chickpea flour)
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. red chili powder 
• 1/4 tsp. asafoetida
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda 

            Slit the chilies and apply some salt to it and keep aside for 15 minutes. Wash well and pat dry. 

           For the stuffing, in a bowl, combine all the mentioned ingredients. Stuff the chilies with this potato-egg mix and keep aside. 

          Make a batter with all the mentioned ingredients and keep aside for 10 minutes. 

          Heat oil in a pan. Dip each of the stuffed chilies in the prepared batter and deep fry them on a med. flame to a golden colour. 

           Drain on a kitchen towel. Sprinkle some chaat masala and serve them hot with green chutney or sauce.

                  Slit chilies & apply some salt to it. Keep aside for 15 minutes. Wash well 
                  and pat dry. 

                                Combine all the ingredients for the stuffing. 

                                Stuff chilies with this potato-egg mix & keep aside. 

                        Make a batter with all the ingredients & keep aside for 10 minutes. 

                     Heat oil. Dip stuffed chilies in the batter & deep fry on a med. flame to
                     a golden colour. 

                                Drain on a kitchen towel.

                      Sprinkle some chaat masala & serve hot with green chutney or sauce.

Mirchi Bajji ki Kadhi

             I had some Hyderabadi mirchi bajji home delivered from a nearby restaurant for our evening snack. As usual there were some leftovers and I decided to make something out of it. So here goes a kadhi recipe which turned out yummy as kadhi being my favourite. I enjoyed it with some jeera rice. 

• 1-2 Mirchi bajji / bhajia / batter fried green chili fritters, sliced
• 1/2 cup yoghurt
• 3 cups water
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. ginger paste
• 1/4 tsp. asafoetida
• 1 tsp. red chili powder
• 1 tsp. coriander-cumin powder
• 1 tbsp. oil
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
• coriander leaves to garnish

          In a bowl, whisk together yoghurt, water, salt, turmeric powder, ginger paste, asafoetida, red chili powder and coriander-cumin powder.

          Heat oil in a pan and temper with mustard seeds and cumin seeds. After it stops spluttering, add the yoghurt mix and simmer on a medium flame till it thickens to a desired consistency.

         While serving, arrange the chopped mirchi bhajias on a serving bowl and then pour the kadhi over it. 

          Garnish with coriander leaves and relish with steamed rice, jeera rice, pulao, plain Biryani or any form of Indian bread.

Mirchi Ka Salan (Green Chilies in Peanut-Sesame-Coconut Gravy - Hyderabadi style )

          This is a popular Hyderabadi delicacy usually served with Dum Biryani. It is a spicy and a tangy Chili Curry in a sesame seeds-coconut-peanut gravy called 'Salan' in the local lingo which means curry / gravy. No Biryani is complete without this accompaniment. 

          A larger variety of chilies are preferred for this particular recipe as they are less spicy. I sometimes prepare with the normal chilies, after discarding the seeds to make it more palatable. It can also be relished with plain steamed rice or chapatis. So check out the step by step pictorial recipe to prepare it.
         

• 6-7 big fresh green chilies
• 2 tbsp. peanuts
• 1 tbsp. white sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp. fresh grated coconut
• 1 tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1" ginger, chopped
• 2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tsp. tamarind paste mixed with 1 cup water
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. red chili powder or to taste
• salt to taste
• 3 tbsp. oil
• 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 sprig curry leaves

          Dry roast the peanuts, sesame seeds, coconut, coriander seeds and cumin seeds for 1-2 minutes or till you get a nice aroma coming through. 

          Switch off the flame and set aside to cool down. Then grind into a paste by adding some water

          Grind the onion, ginger & garlic to a fine paste and keep aside. Make slits in the chilies and deseed them.  

          Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry them till light brown. Drain and keep aside. 

           Temper the same oil with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Allow it to splutter. Add onion-ginger-garlic paste and sauté till oil separates.

          Add the ground paste, turmeric powder and red chili powder and fry.  Add tamarind water, salt and some extra water if required. Bring it to a boil and add the fried chilies and simmer.

          Cover and cook till the gravy thickens. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve as a side dish with pulao, biryani, plain steamed rice or chapatis.
                                       

                    Dry roast peanuts, sesame seeds, coconut, coriander seeds & cumin seeds. 
                    Then grind into a paste.

                                  Make a slit and deseed them.

                                   Shallow fry till light brown.

                                  Temper the oil with mustard leaves and curry leaves.

                                 Add onion-ginger-garlic paste & sauté till oil separates.

                           

                             Add ground paste, turmeric powder & red chili powder & fry.

                                Add water, tamarind water, salt & fried chilies & simmer.

                  Garnish with coriander leaves & with Dum Biryani, Pulao, plain steamed 
                  rice or chapattis.
                                       

Mirchi Vada ( Batter Coated & Stuffed Red / Green Chilies Fry - Rajasthani Style)

          These Mirchi Vadas are a great tea-time snacks. It has its origin in the regions of Rajasthan as a popular street food. It is a hot favorite with everyone and tastes awesome when had with some green chutney. 

           Any leftover ones can be dished out as chaat. There are many versions to this recipe where the stuffing differs from one region to the other. So check out the step by step pictorial recipe to prepare it.

• 6-7 fresh red / green chilies

Stuffing-

• 2 potatoes, boiled & mashed
• 3 tbsp. coriander leaves, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. pepper powder
• salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp. asafoetida
• 1/2 tsp. amchur powder (dry mango powder)

Batter-

• 1 cup besan (Bengal Gram / Chickpea flour)
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. red chili powder / flakes
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda 

Deep fry-

• oil to deep fry

          Slit the chilies and apply some salt to it and keep aside for 30 minutes. Wash well and pat dry. 

           In a bowl, combine the mashed potatoes, salt, coriander leaves, pepper powder and amchur.

          Stuff the chilies with this potato mix and keep aside. Make a batter with the besan, salt, turmeric powder, baking soda and red chili flakes. 

          Heat oil and dip each of the stuffed chilies in the prepared batter and deep fry them to a golden colour. Drain on a kitchen towel and serve them hot with green chutney or sauce.

                     Slit chilies & apply some salt. keep aside for 30 min. Wash well & pat dry. 

                   Combine mashed potatoes, salt, coriander leaves, pepper powder & amchur.

                                Stuff the chilies with this potato mix & keep aside. 

                   Make a batter with besan, salt, turmeric powder, baking soda & chili flakes. 

                      Heat oil & dip each stuffed chili in batter & deep fry them to a golden 
                      colour. Drain on a kitchen towel.

                                Serve hot with green chutney or sauce.