Mirchi Ka Salan/Green Chillies in Spicy Tangy Sesame Peanut Sauce

 
es you read it right. A curry of green chillies! If you take my word for it, this curry is utterly lip-smacking and delicious besides of course being... yes... hot! Mirchi, in hindi, means chillies/peppers and salan is hyderabadi lingo for a creamy curry or sauce. This curry is not just something I made up on a day I was overzealous. It in-fact is a very popular curry from the hyderbadi cuisine. So much so that this curry was popular as a favorite of the royalty of the yesteryears.
Hyderabadi cuisine, the cuisine from a region in the south-eastern part of India is highly inspired by the Mughlai cuisine. The word "Nawabi" is as synonymous with the Hyderabadi cuisine as "Shahi" is with Lucknowi. Hyderabadi recipes are famous for their rich taste and unique use of ingredients, roasted spices and aromatic flavors. This  dish has all these components and more... chillies simmered in roasted peanuts, sesame, coconut sauce with lots of indigenous spices cooked to perfection give this curry its unique spicy, sweet and tangy taste. It is very easy to put together and has a very rich creamy taste that will compel you to make it over and over again.It is nutty with peanuts, has a distinct taste of sesame seeds and the  bite and heat from the chillies... ahh.

Now that you have dared to read this far, let me tell you that you can adjust the amount of heat in this curry with your  choice of chillies or peppers. If you use sweet peppers, this dish can be made to be not hot at all. Here I have used anaheim peppers (hubs is not big on very hot food) to make this curry but you can also use jalapeno or if you really want to feel the heat use some hot Indian chillies. The only drawback is that while the thick gravy boils it makes a mess with a lot of splutter so you may want to have splutter lid handy.  Personally I love the gravy so much that I can eat only the gravy without any side and sometime with everything possible, bread, chips, carrots (like a dip) lol :))

Ingredients:

Sweet peppers, Jalepeno Peppers or anaheim peppers or any chilli of your choice 8-10 medium sized

Onion ...................................................... 1 large chopped

Peanuts ....................................................  1/2 cup

White Sesame seeds ..................................... 1/4 cup
Coconut powder .......................................... 2 tbsp

Ginger-garlic paste ...................................... 1 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder ........................................ 1 tsp

Cumin powder ............................................. 1 tsp

Cinnamon ................................................... 1" stick

Tamarind concentrate .................................... 2 -3tsp

Turmeric powder .......................................... 1/2 tsp

Jaggery ..................................................... 1 tbsp

Oil ........................................................... 2 tbsp + 2 tsp

Red chilli powder ......................................... 1/4 tsp or to taste

Garam masala powder ................................... 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds .............................................. 1/2 tsp

Salt .......................................................... to taste

Water ....................................................... 2 - 3 cup

Method:

1. In a heavy bottomed skillet dry roast the peanuts and set aside. In the same pan add the sesame and roast till they get light golden, set aside. Add in the coconut powder and stir and immediately switch off the flame. Set aside.

2. Wash the chillies, slit them length-wise in both directions, without breaking them (you can take out the seeds if you wish). If they are too long, you can cut them in half as well. Put them in a microwave safe plate and sprinkle 1-2 tsp of oil on them and cook in the microwave for 4-5 minutes or until they get almost 3/4th cooked and set aside. Alternatively you can cook them in a pan with little oil till they get tender.( make sure not to overcook as you want to maintain the crunch of peppers)

3. In a non stick pan add 2 tbsp oil add in the cinnamon, stir for a minute and add in the onion, turmeric and salt and cook till they get light brown. Add in the coriander, cumin powder and ginger garlic paste and cook while stirring for 3-4 minutes.

4. Add in the roasted peanuts, sesame, coconut. Mix and take off the flame. Add the tamarind and 2 cup of water and blend to a smooth paste.

5. In the same pan add the remaining oil and add mustard and let it splutter. Add in the chilli/pepper and the ground paste, mix and add in the red chilli and garam masala. Cook for a minute.

6. Add in the fried chillies, jaggery and 1 - 1 1/2 cup of water and cover and let it cook for 20-25 minutes on medium to medium low heat while stirring in between. Be careful it splutters violently..check for the consistency n add some water if desired.

7. Takeoff the flame and serve hot with paratha or rice. It goes best with any kind of biryani. ENJOY!!

Pin It