“Work it harder make it better, do it faster makes us stronger”

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Now that that don't kill me
Can only make me stronger
I need you to hurry up now
Cause I can't wait much longer
I know I got to be right now
Cause I can't get much wronger
Man I been waitin' all night now
That's how long I've been on ya
I need ya right now

I am sitting in my jammies all day and working from home! I am in NJ with Bhatji since my work from home finally came through. I have to be in DC every other week but this is still better nothing. So this whole week I have been working away and getting some much cleaning done around the apt. I have also been cooking up a storm because Bhatji has been pretty much fending for himself the last 2 months and I knew he would love to come home to some real home cooking :o) Obviously this means that I have some new recipes to share with you guys.
Growing up in Mysore, India I was very used to my mom preparing authentic Indian meals that wowed us. One such dish was Stuffed Bell peppers, which is typically a very Marathi dish but I know many other Indian communities make their own, as did my mom. After I married Bhatji, I learned his likes and dislikes in cooking and one day while I was reading some recipes for Marathi dishes I saw Nupur’s recipe for Bharli Mirchi which is stuffed bell pepper. I asked Bhatji if he liked stuffed bell pepper and he immediately responded with a big yes and that he hadn’t eaten it a long time. So of course I took it on as a challenge and looked up my mom’s recipe. I was very nervous since I have never made anything stuffed…..and it looked complicated; but to my surprise it was actually easy and it came out quite well and Bhatji liked it a lot. So I think I will be making it more often now. Here is my recipe for Stuffed bell peppers:

Ingredients:
3 large green bell peppers
1 medium onion chopped
4 tbl spn of besan
½ tspn of sugar
½ tspn of turmeric powder
½ tspn of chilli powder
1 tspn of cumin powder
1 tspn of coriander powder
A pinch of hing
2 tbl spn of olive oil
Water as needed
Salt

To Make:
Cut each large bell pepper in 2 equal halves so it shapes like a cup for the stuffing and keep aside. In a saucepan add the besan and “roast” it on low heat for about 5 mins to get rid of the rawness…do not add oil or water. In another pan, add a 1 tbls spn of oil and cook the onions for a few mins add the roasted besan to this and mix well. Add the sugar, turmeric powder, chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, hing and salt and make sure all ingredients are mixed in well. Add a little less than ¼ cup of water and make sure that the mixture is not too liquidy (if it is add more besan). Mix well so it would make a good stuffing. Add lime juice to the mix and set aside. Take a big spoon full of the stuffing and stuff into each half of the bell pepper. Do not over stuff as the bell pepper when cooked is going to soften and break. Just one table spoon full should do. In a deep pan add one tblspn of oil and add the 6 half pieces of the stuffed bell pepper and cook them on medium heat with the lid on for about 15 mins. If the bell pepper browns and softens, then the dish is done!

Needless to say Bhatji will be asking for more. Now that I have mastered bell peppers I think I am going to try eggplants, okra etc. and of course I am going to share those recipes as well…..but for now definitely try this recipe out. Until the next blog entry….enjoy the almost holiday season ;o)