Stuffed Green Peppers in Tomato gravy

Cooking Time: 45 mins                                                   Servings: 6

Preparation Time: 20 mins                                             Category: Maincourse, Veg

 

Stuffed Bell Peppers is one of several stuffed vegetable dishes in Indian cuisine. It consists of bell peppers stuffed with cooked mashed potatoes and seasoned with chili, turmeric, coriander, cilantro, salt and lemon juice (optional). The peppers are then either browned in a Tawa (frying pan) or baked in an oven until the peppers are soft.

 

The recipe does not call for a gravy, but surely you can get creative and use a tomato based gravy to serve it with rice or any Indian bread. I also used little bit of kaju and khus khus to give the gravy the smoothness and rich texture. Here is the recipe:-

 

Ingredients:

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Capsicum/Bell peppers - 6

Alu/Potatoes - 2

Stuffed Green Peppers in Tomato gravy

Slit Green Chillys - 6

Khus Khus/Poppy seeds - 1 Tbsp

Kaju/Cashew nuts - 1 Tbsp

Tomatoes - 3

Onions - 2 small

Finely Chopped Mint leaves  - 1/2 cup

Finely Chopped Cilantro/Coriander - 1 cup

Finely chopped green chillies - 2

Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 Tbsp

Red chilly powder - 1 tsps

Kasuri Methi - 2 tsp

Saunf powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Chat masala - 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Salt - as per taste

Cooking oil - 2 Tbsps

Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp (you can add more if you need the dish to be more spicy)

 

Preparation Method:

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Stuffing and cooking bell peppers:
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• Cut the top of the bell peppers and remove all the seeds inside and keep them aside.
• Boil potatoes and when done peel off its skin.
• Mash them and add 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 1/2 tsp turmeric, chopped green chillies, chat masala, salt to taste and 1/2 tsp coriander powder.
• Mix well and now stuff the bell peppers with this potato mix.
• Heat 2 tsps of oil in a pan and place the stuffed bell peppers gently in it. Roast it well, close the pan and simmer it for few mins.
• Make sure the peppers are not over cooked. This can be done using a fork/tooth pick. Pierce and see if the fork is easily passing through the bell peppers which means they are cooked properly. If over cooked, they become very soft and the peppers tend to fall aside.
• Once done, take them out of the pan and keep them aside.

For the gravy/curry:

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• Dry roast khus-khus, kaju for few mins. Blend them along with tomatoes and mint leaves to a fine paste.
• Dice onions into very small pieces,heat oil in a vessel and saute them until they turn golden brown.
• Add ginger garlic paste and crush kasuri methi into a thick powder and add it too. Stir and cook for couple of mins.
• Now add the paste and mix well. Keep stirring at regular intervals so that the gravy doesnt stick to the bottom of the vessel.
• Once the gravy comes to boil add chilli powder, salt to taste, a pinch of turmeric, saunf powder.
• Mix well and let the gravy simmer for about 15-20 mins. We need to make sure that the khus khus smell is completely gone and the gravy is properly cooked.
• Then add the stuffed bell peppers gently to the gravy and cooked for 5 more mins.
• Turn off the stove and take the bell peppers into a servering vessel and pour the gravy on top of it.
• Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with phulkas/rotis/chapathis or ghee rice, peas pulav, veg biryani, jeera rice etc