Stuffed Bell Pepper / Capsicum / Bharwan Shimla Mirch

Capsicum / Bell Peppers / Shimla Mirch stuffing has a lot of options - potatoes, besan, paneer etc. I love paneer, so I use that almost always. You can try new stuffings based on your liking.

Ingredients:

2-3 Green Pepper / Capsicum
1 tsp Jeera
1 Onion, chopped fine
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Amchur / Dry Mango powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
4 tblsp Tomato Sauce
Salt to taste

For Stuffing
1 tsp Jeera
1 tsp Dhaniya Powder
2 tsp Sof / Fennel Powder
1 tsp Amchur / Dry Mango powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
2 tsp Roasted Besan / Gram Flour
2-3 medium Potatoes, boiled and mashed coarsly
1 cup Paneer, grated Salt to taste

Method:

Make Stuffing

1. Heat oil in a pan, add jeera and let it splutter. Saute onions till transluscent.

2. Add dhaniya powder, sof, amchur, garam masala and besan. Fry till besan turns golden.

3. Add salt, potatoes and grated paneer. Mix well. This is the stuffing.

For Peppers 1. Cut the tops of the peppers in circle to remove it as a cap. Remove any seeds from inside. 2. Stuff them with the stuffing made earlier. You can cover them with their caps and make them whole. I normally stuff tightly and then cut them in half so serving is easy. 3. Heat oil in a pan, add jeera and let it splutter. Saute onions till transluscent.

4. Add turmeric, amchur and garam masala. Fry for 30-40 sec.

5. Add Tomato Sauce and 2 tblsp water.

6. Put the stuffed peppers carefully in the pan and roll them a little to coat with the masala prepared.

7. Transfer the stuffed peppers to a bowl that will fit inside a pressure cooker. Put this inside the cooker and cover with a lid. Pressure cook for 5-7 min on slow.

or

7. You can transfer the stuffed peppers to an oven-safe baking dish and bake at 375 F for about 40-50 min till the pepper softens. When baking cover the dish with an aluminium foil so that the heat remains instead and they cook faster.

Tips

• If you don't want to pressure cook, you can cook in the pan itself on heat. But you need to keep turning the peppers so that they cook evenly.

• Whenever I make Stuffed peppers, I add a couple of Stuffed tomatoes along with them as it adds color. The stuffing is the same. Bake them to ensure that the tomatoes don't get mushy.