Mirchi Ka Salan
Long chilies in gravy is what mirchi ka salan stands for. It is prepared with gravy of peanuts, sesame seeds, coconut that provides creaminess, tamarind paste adds tanginess, jaggery adds slight sweetness, and spices round up all the other flavors to make this aromatic subji.
Ingredients
Masala/Paste
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 1-2 whole dry red chilies
- ¼ cup freshly shredded coconut I use frozen fresh coconut
- 1/3 cup peanuts
- 1 tbsp white sesame seeds
- ½ onion, chopped
- 1 green chili optional
- ½ inch ginger
- 2 garlic cloves
Peppers
- 6 long peppers not spicy, see notes
- 3 tbsp oil
Assembly/Tempering
- 3-4 curry leaves
- 1/8 tsp asafetida
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ chopped onion
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp garam masala
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste/pulp
- ½ tbsp jaggery brown sugar can be substituted
- Garnish - Chopped cilantro, coconut, sesame seeds
Instructions
- Take all the ingredients in a pan on medium heat and saute it until it turns lightly brown. Once browned, specially the onions need to turn brown as it will add so much flavor, turn off the heat. Let it cool slightly. Grind it in a blender with ¼ cup water to make smooth paste.
- Heat some oil in pan. Keep peppers whole. Make slits in the peppers and saute them for few minutes on both sides until they look slightly soft and cooked. It won’t take more than 5-7 minutes for this step. Remove peppers on the side in a plate.
- In same oil left out after frying peppers, heat it up. Once hot, add mustard seeds and cumind seeds, let them sizzle. Once it sizzles, add the curry leaves, asafetida, bay leaf and onions.
- Saute until onion softens up and becomes translucent.
- Add the ground paste we made earlier.
- Start adding spices one by one followed by salt, tamarind paste, jaggery. Mix it well.
- Add some water about ¼ cup to make some gravy.
- Let it simmer for few minutes and add the peppers. Once the gravy has thickened up a little bit, turn off the heat.
- Garnish with cilantro, freshly shredded coconut, sesame seeds. Serve it hot/warm with rice, biryani or rotis.
Notes
- Use any mild peppers. Make sure make slits in peppers.
- I prefer fresh coconut, that I buy frozen from Indian grocery stores. But dry can be a good substitute. Make sure to use unsweetened.
- Tamarind gives a very unique flavor, there is not real substitute for it.
- Jaggery is used in very small quantity, so it can be substituted by brown sugar.
- Spiciness can be adjusted to personal preference.