Serves 4 as a snack or starter
Bharwan Mircha (Pan-Fried Stuffed Chillies) are ideal street snacks as the banana chillies are perfect ‘plates-that-you-eat’. From Uttar Pradesh in north India, this tasty snack provides a nice kick.
What you need…
• 4 red banana chillies (very large chillies for stuffing)
For the stuffing
• 3 potatoes, boiled and very finely diced
• 4 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 2.5-cm piece ginger, peeled and chopped
• 2 green chillies, chopped
• few curry leaves, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and very finely diced
• 60g peas, defrosted if frozen
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• salt, to taste
• 0.5 teaspoon garam masala
• juice of 1 lemon
• 30g Cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 Tablespoons mint and coriander chutney
How you make it…
1. Cut the potato into small chunks and boil in water until cooked.
2. Cut the chillies in half lengthwise, deseed and set aside.
3. To make the stuffing: Heat 3 Tablespoons oil in a pan to a high heat. Add the mustard seeds and allow them to crackle for 15 seconds. Turn down the heat and add the ginger, green chillies and curry leaves and sauté for 1 minute. You may need to remove the pan from the heat initially to stop them burning.
3. Add the carrot and green peas and cook until soft.
4. Add the potatoes, turmeric, chilli powder and salt and cook for 2–3 minutes. Sprinkle over the garam masala and lemon juice and salt, and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool.
5. Heat a non-stick pan, add the other 1 Tablespoon oil and cook the chillies for 1–2 minutes on each side over a low heat, turning regularly until golden.
4. Stuff the chillies with the carrot, peas and potato mixture plus the grated cheese and mint and coriander chutney.
• Recipe from Food of the Grand Trunk Road by Anirudh Arora and Hardeep Singh Kohli, courtesy of New Holland Publishing.
If you like this you should try our…
Fans of Christmas lunch love this dish… because it’s full of stuffing.
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