Capsicum Masala

The advantage of staying with roomies is learning new recipes all the time. One such dish that I learned on my first week here was this Capsicum Masala. We started off to make Alu Kurma, but ended up making Capsicum Masala. One of my roomies then had brought fresh home made powder that her mom had packed, and we instantly fell in love with it. Capsicum masala then became quite common at our room since then. Here's the recipe:


Ingredients: (Serves 4-6)

Bell Peppers - 4 chopped (the ones sold at US are HUGE, this would be equivalent to 6-7 capsicums in India)
Onion - 1 medium - finely chopped
Peanuts - 1 cup (roasted and deskinned)
Sesame Seeds - 1/2 cup (roasted)
Dry Coconut Powder - 1/2 cup (lightly roasted)
Red Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil
Cumin Seeds
Corriander - to garnish
Green chillies - 4 finely chopped (Optional)

Recipe:

* Dry roast peanuts, sesame seeds, dry coconut powder seperately and set aside to cool. Grind to a fine paste by adding water. Don't make it too watery.

* In a pan, heat oil and add cumin seeds. Throw in some green chillies and onions. Fry until onions are golden brown.

* Add capsicum and salt to help cook faster. When the capsicum is half done, add the ground paste and add salt and chilli powder.

* Add water (if required) and cook covered on a low flame for another 10 mins. Adjust seasoning if required.

* Garnish with Cilantro and serve hot with rice or rotis.

I've noticed that the peppers sold here have a higher water content and are not quite suitable for any kind of fry. They tend to give out lot of water and the curry gets mushy :-(

This capsicum masala is off to

* "AFAM - Bell Peppers" guest hosted by Priya, and originally started by Maheshwari
* "JFI - Chillies" a brain child of Mahanandi, currenty hosted at Cardamom and to
* "Think Spice-Think Sesame Seeds" guest hosted by Pj of Seduce your tastebuds, event started by Sunita.

This is on its way to Viki's "Side Dish for Chapati" Event.