Mirchi Ka Salan - 200th Post

Food cooked, Photos taken, Recipes written - And most importantly Food Enjoyed!! It has been an interesting journey so far. Today I post my 200th post!! I have been blogging for around 250 days. I was split between posting this dish vs a sweet dish that I made. This is by far the best dish that I have ever prepared. Hubby dear agrees that this is one of the best. So he suggested that I post this one... So here you go

A milestone post will not be complete without a special thanks to all those who support me - husband and kid who enjoy the meal that I make (irrespective of how it tastes) and say 'thank you amma' every single time, my friends who try my recipe and give me feedback (I love that bit a lot), my friends in the blogging world without whom this journey would have been quite boring and all those who love me :-)

Mirchi Ka Salan is a popular Hyderabadi dish. It is basically Green Chillies roasted and then cooked in a sauce. I had this dish for the first time in a restaurant Rani Bistro in Brooklyn, MA a few years ago. When Kaveri announced the theme for this month's EP - Herbs and Spices event as Fenugreek Leaves and Green Chillies, I really wanted to post some dishes with Methi Leaves (you know my love for Methi by the array of dishes in my blog). But I could not get hold of methi... I suddenly remembered this dish and wanted to try it.



I cannot recommend this dish enough. This is a spicy dish. But will not be as spicy as you think. The chillies are all roasted and so mellow down. But if that is not for you, you can still make this dish by using peppers (green, red, yellow or orange) and also reduce the chilli powder in the gravy.



Ingredients

Thin Hot Green Chillies 10
Thick (Medium spicy) Green Chillies 9 (60gm)
Thick (Medium spicy) Red Chillies 5 (60gm)
Cumin 1 tsp
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves few
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tbsp
Cumin powder 1/2 tbsp
Chilli powder 2 tsp
Tamarind paste 1 tsp
Coriander leaves to garnish

Oil and Salt to taste

To be ground to dry powder 
Roasted peanuts 2 tbsp
Roasted sesame seeds 2 tbsp
Roasted cumin 1 tbsp

To be ground to a paste
Garlic 6
Ginger 1 inch piece
Onions 1
Tomatoes 2
Coconut 3 tbsp



Method of Preparation

1. Heat a pan. Add the peanuts and roast. When they are almost roasted, add the sesame and cumin. Roast till a nice aroma comes. Powder them. Keep aside.

2. Make a paste of garlic, ginger, onions, tomatoes and coconut. Keep aside.

3. Heat oil in the pan. Add the chillies. I used the small thin chillies as is. I sliced the thicker medium spiced chillies vertically to two. Leave the stems on on both chillies. Fry them till  white patches appear. Please be very careful at this step. The moment chillies start roasting it will sputter. Oil and chillies will go every which way. So partially cover the pan (kind of like a shield). Remove from oil and keep aside.

4. In the same oil, add mustard seeds. When it sputters, add cumin, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.

5. When it sizzles, add the ground onion-tomato paste. Saute till the colour starts to change.

6. Add coriander powder, cumin powder, chilli powder, turmeric and the sesame-peanut powder. Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes.

7. Add tamarind paste and 2 cups of water. Bring it to a boil.

8. Add the chillies and salt. Simmer till the sauce thickens. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis. It tasted great with rice as well.




Linking this to EP - Herbs and spices - Fenugreek Leaves and Green Chilli Event by Julie, hosted by Kaveri

Linking this to Walk thru Memory Lane - Gayathri's event hosted by Kalyani
Linking this to Celebrate - Olympic games Event by Jagruti, hosted by Priya