Saffron Trail Food Times Edition 02

It's turning out to be quite a task to keep track of the food scene in Bangalore. New restaurants are opening almost every week. Restaurants are coming up with the idea of food festivals and new menus to introduce their patrons to new flavours. Here are some of them being featured in the second edition of my food news post.

Some of foodbloggers were invited to a chef's table at Saffron, Park Plaza, famous for its kababs & cuisine from the NWF Province for a tasting from their new menu.

Bhunee chaat, palak shorba, chutneys & condiments, raw papaya launji

 The menu for was planned meticulously by Chef Mohd. Ishtiyak, who is fondly known as Master Chef – India of the restaurant. Right from the condiments platter which had pickled shallots, raw papaya launji, mint chutney, hung curd chutney among other mouthwatering items, his deep Indian traditions and attention to food preparation was evident.

Panchrattan seekh kabab, Blueberry cocktail, Mutter aur corn ki shammi

 The aim of the menu was to showcase Indian spices- a few preparations had over two dozen spices ground for the marinade. The simple style of preparation, whether meat, seafood or vegetables marinated and cooked in the clay tandoor at high temperatures was the hallmark of the menu. This focus on rustic cuisine preserving the flavours and ingredients can be experienced at this restaurant. The Bhunee chaat (using a mix of fruits & veggies) and the panchrattan seekh were my favourites!

Bread basket-Bhutte tamatar ki subzi-Subzi Abir

Saffron, Park Plaza, 90-4 Outer Ring Road, Marathahalli, Bangalore.

Meal for two - INR 2000 plus taxes

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 And 100 ft Rd Indira Nagar gets one more restaurant. This is La Tagliatella, an Italian restaurant chain from Spain which opened its first Indian outlet in Ambience Mall, Delhi. Their focus is on cuisines from the regions of Piamonte, Liguria, and Reggio Emilia of Italy.

 Their portions are quite large (serves groups of 4 well) and their salad is actually a 'big' salad too. While the pricing seems somewhat steep at first, one look at their portions and quality ingredients used, they seem to be justified. Almost all ingredients such as flour, cheese, tomatoes etc are imported to maintain the same quality across restaurants in all countries. We tried this place pre-opening and I can say it has a lot of scope. Their pizzas are made in Morello Forni pizza oven which simulates the wood-fired oven & is very eco friendly as compared to the wood-fired oven. The decor totally transports you from a high street shopping place in Bangalore to a quaint cafe in Italy. A word of caution-make sure you leave sufficient space in your tummies for dessert-their tiramisu & Mascarpone-cream are truly sublime.

766, Amrest Bunglow, HAL 2nd Stage, 100 feet road, Indiranagar, Bangalore

Meal for two-Around 1800 plus taxes | Valet parking | Only wine served

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A couple of ongoing food festivals are the Beer & Burger festival at Windmills Craftworks, a microbrewery-restaurant and a jazz theatre with live performances on weekends. You'll find a range of vegetarian, beef, pork, chicken and seafood burgers paired with beer of which you get a complimentary 1/2 pint glass. 331, Road No. 5 B, EPIP zone, Whitefield, Bangalore, India 560048, (80) 2569-2012, +917259024652

St.Marks hotel is celebrating a Maharashtrian Food Festival, vegetarian food buffet at 499 per person. It's on until 5th May, so hurry if you are a fan of regional cuisines. My friends tried this yesterday and have given it a big thumbs up. They are open for lunch and dinner. 
Curry with a 'K', St. Mark's Hotel, Lobby Level, Plot No. 4/1, St.Marks Road, Bangalore.
+919019150966

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Chai Spiced Mini Pumpkin Mini Bundts with glaze - #bundtamonth

This Diwali, I didn't get down to making any of the traditional goodies. And I managed to find a valid excuse. Being down with the worst cough episode of the year during the festive season is such a dampener. But when loving neighbours get you home-made goodies, you can't help but muster some enthusiasm and make some stuff that you can share with them. 

Since I've been eyeing these pumpkin-spice loaves for quite sometime, I decided to make them into mini-Bundts with a glaze that will go with these flavours. The Wilton Mini-Bundt tray is the cutest baking accessory, generously given to me by my friend, Preethi, and it always makes the prettiest little cakes. 

Pumpkin and the spices that go into making Chai Masala make a lovely pair. The fragrance and heat from the spices like ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon add a lovely dimension to the bland sweetness of pumpkin. Use the darkest golden colour pumpkin you can find for this recipe. Remove skin, dice into small cubes and boil in some water till soft. Drain and blend in a mixer till you get a fine puree. This can be refrigerated until use. Use in cakes, muffins for moist cakes with minimal use of oil / butter. This recipe uses just 2 tbsp of oil and yet the cakes are extremely moist.

Recipe for Chai Spiced Pumpkin Mini Bundts

Makes 12 - 16 mini bundt cakes

Adapted from : An Edible Mosaic 

Ingredients

3/4 Cup pumpkin puree (explained above)

3/4 Cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp oil

1 1/4 C all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp dried ginger powder

For glaze

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp milk plus some more if required

1/2 tsp cardamom essence or vanilla extract or orange extract

1 tsp Cointreau (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 175 C.
2. Using oil, grease the cavities of a mini-bundt pan or two mini loaf pans or a 7" round tin.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, eggs and oil.
4. In another bowl, with a whisk mix together all dry ingredients.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in two batches. Incorporate well to make a smooth batter.
6. Fill 2 heaped teaspoonfuls per cavity or 3/4 filling each.
7. Bake mini bundts for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
8. Mini loaf pans may take around 30 minutes and round cake tin around 45-50 minutes. Once golden brown on the top and a tester comes out clean, they are ready to come out of the oven.
9. Mix all ingredients for glaze with a spoon until it is of drizzling consistency. Add a few drops more milk if required.
10. When the cakes are still warm, drizzle over them.
11. Serve warm.

Wishing you and your dear ones a very Happy Diwali

I'm sharing this with Lora and Anuradha for their #BundtAMonth challenge Spicy November.

You can check the other lovely Bundts on their blogs.

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With love from the Calcutta Cookbook

5th March,2008
As a part of my love for regional Indian cuisine, I've decided that once a week, dinner will be from any region other than our own. This week, we are enjoying some homely vegetarian Bengali meals from the chapter Bangla Ranna of The Calcutta Cookbook



Bengali menu for tonight
Piaj koli, alu piaj o tomator tarkari (Onion sprouts with potatoes, onions and tomatoes)
Masoor Dal

Both these recipes are from The Calcutta Cookbook - A Treasury of recipes from pavement to palace, written by Minakshi Das Gupta, Bunny Gupta and Jaya Chaliha. And the special part about both these recipes, is that they have no masalas, spice powders letting the inherent taste of the ingredients come through strongly. More details on The Calcutta Cookbook, here.

For once, I followed both recipes to the T and was very happy with the result. As I type this, DH is relishing every little morsel. I ate up earlier to stick to my 8.30 pm deadline for dinner. I hope it is alright to reproduce the recipes from the book here...

The tarkari (vegetable) recipe is one of the rare ones that feature spring onions in a starring role. I have blogged about this spring onion curry earlier on, which is a modified version of a maharashtrian zunka. I have also tried the spring onion zunka inspried by the cabbage zunka from Nupur's One Hot Stove. In the markets here, we get 3-4 thick bunches of spring onions for Rs.10 which makes it difficult to just use them as a garnish. Such recipes that feature spring onion as one of the main ingredients, make sure they can be put to good use.



From The Calcutta Cookbook
Piaj Koli, Alu Piaj O Tomator Tarkari
[Spring onions with potatoes, onions and tomatoes in a dry curry]

Serves 4

Ingredients:
500 gms onion sprouts (spring onions 3-4 bunches)
200 gms potatoes
200 gms tomatoes
2 tbsp mustard oil
1 tso panch phoron
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste

Directions:
1.Cut onion sprouts into 1 1/2 inch pieces. (I sliced the white bits thinly)
2.Peel and cut the potatoes, tomatoes and onions into thin rounds.
3. Heat the oil to smoking in a wok, reduce heat and add panch phoron. As soon as oil stops spluttering, add the potatoes and onions. Stir fry for 2 minutes and add the tomatoes.
4. Stir fry over medium heat for 5 minutes, then add the turmeric, salt and sugar. Reduce heat and cook covered for 7-10 minutes until the potatoes are nearly cooked, the onions soft and tomatoes pulpy.
5. Add the onion sprouts, mixing well. Increase heat and cook for another 5 minutes until they are soft. No water must be added to this dish.


Masoor Dal
From the variation no.1 given in the book.
Pressure cook 1/2 cup masoor dal with 2 cups water and pinch of turmeric powder until soft. Remove from cooker into a saucepan. Thin with water as per your liking. Simmer once with some salt.
In a tadka ladle or a wok, heat 1 tsp mustard oil. Add 1-2 chopped green chillies, 1/2 tsp nigella seeds to the hot oil. Let the seeds splutter and add it to the dal. Serve hot with rotis and vegetable.

Update 14th April, 2008
I was waiting to remake this dish to be able to post a decent picture....but did not get the chance, hence posting it today anyway, so as not to miss the bus on RCI Bengal.
The tarkari and masoor dal are my entries for the event hosted by Sandeepa at Bong Mom's Cookbook

Tags: bengali recipe, bengali vegetarian food, the calcutta cookbook, potato curry, spring onions, scallions, orange lentils, masoor dal, Saffron Trail, Recipe, Food, Indian food blog, Healthy eating, Healthy living, Mumbai, India

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Savoury multigrain yeast pancakes

When yeast is used in pancake batter, it does away with the need for eggs, milk or baking powder. Kerala cuisine regularly uses yeast to make a variety of aapams.

These pancakes made from a mix of flours, can be made savoury or sweet. Since we are more the savoury breakfast kinds, I have used onions, green chillies and salt. You could easily replace this with brown sugar or jaggery and serve the pancakes with fruit compote or maple syrup.

Feel free to use up any flour you have. Sometimes, we have a little bit of a variety of flours left over. This is a great way to clean up the flours in your pantry. I would like to try this out with ragi and buckwheat flour along with the rice and whole wheat flour.

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Savoury multigrain yeast pancakes
Category: Breakfast
Time taken: Around 20 minutes plus 1 hour standing time
Serves 2-3 people, number of pancakes depends on the thickness and size

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Ingredients
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup chick pea flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups water plus some more to adjust consistency
1 1/2 tsp instant dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 onion sliced thin
2 green chillies
Oil to cook pancakes

Directions

1. Mix all the flours and salt in a large bowl with a fitting lit.
2. In a smaller bowl place the yeast with 1/2 cup hand-hot water and 1 tsp sugar. Cover and keep aside for 10 minutes until frothy and bubbling.
3. Pour this activated yeast with another cup of water in the bowl with dry ingredients.
4. Add the finely chopped chillies and sliced onions. Mix well and cover with a fitting lid. Keep aside for upto 1 hour, till the batter is risen and bubbly.
5. Heat a greased non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium flame. Before the skillet gets very hot, pour a ladle full of batter and let it spread naturally. Do not spread out thinly with the ladle. Use a few drops of oil around the edges if necessary. Wait for 30 seconds to a minute until there are holes around the edges. Flip over and cook for another 30 seconds to a minute until the pancake is well cooked and golden brown.
6. Serve hot with coriander-mint chutney or as it is.
   

Tasting notes
The pancakes were absolutely spongy and soft, and melted in the mouth, despite no butter, eggs or milk in the batter. That is the magic of yeast. I would love to try out a sweeter version of them with some chopped dried fruits, when I have friends for breakfast.

These pancakes are my entry for Srivalli's Dosa Mela
More pancakes, crepes and dosas on Saffron Trail

Mango pancakes
Breakfast pancakes
Onion Rava Dosai
Savoury pancakes with mushrooms and onions
Four lentil pancake (Adai)
Healthy date pancakes

The cornmeal and chickpea flour give these pancakes a golden yellow colour and this is my entry for LiveSTRONG with A Taste of Yellow at Winos and Foodies.

Tags: yeast pancakes, pancakes, vegan pancakes, savoury pancakes, breakfast, Indian, low-fat, vegetarian, yeast, Saffron Trail, Recipe, Food, Indian food blog, Healthy eating, Healthy living, Mumbai, India

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Shaved carrot and pear salad with curry vinaigrette

To pick a pear recipe for AFAM Pears, I tried food blog search, Epicurious, the USA pears website and finally settled on Food Network's simple salad recipe from Giada's treasure of recipes. As much as I was tempted on making a coffee cake, or muffins or pears poached in wine and served with ice cream, keeping in mind the summer attack in Bombay, an easy salad (easy on the waist) and that tastes good cold, was very much top of mind, which is what made me choose this.

I have written several times about my love for fruits in a salad. The give a sweetness and a change in texture that makes a salad even more satisfying. So here's another vegetable-fruit combo salad with an interesting vinaigrette. Curry powder in a vinaigrette? The French may turn their pretty noses at this one, but the taste is completely new and wonderful. If the world loves our curry, they will surely love this unusual flavour in a dressing!

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Shaved carrot and pear salad in curry vinaigrette
Time taken - Under 10 minutes
Serves 2
Adapted from Giada Laurentis's recipe.

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Ingredients and Directions

1 Red anjou pear, halved and sliced very thin (use any pears you have on hand)
2 large carrots, shaved with a vegetable peeler into ribbons
2 tbsp fresh parsley or 1 tbsp dried parsley
2 tbsp pine nuts or walnuts or sunflower seeds

For dressing - whisk together

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder (sambhar powder in my case)
1 tbsp olive oil

Place the shaved carrots, sliced pears and parsley in a large bowl. Pour dressing over salad, add nuts, toss and serve chilled


Other salads from the summer of 2007

Chilled mango salad
Yellow lentil and raw mango salad
Herby tomato salad with pine nuts and cheese
Fattoush
Cucumber sesame salad
Indian carrot peanut salad

And while humming ' I will survive' I am sending this off to my dear friend Raaga who is hosting the event A Fruit a Month, started off by Maheshwari

Tags: salad, summer recipes, fibre rich recipe, carrots, pears, Saffron Trail, Recipe, Food, Indian food blog, Healthy eating, Healthy living, Mumbai, India

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JFI Chillies - Round Up

An abnormally twisted pair of chillies

When I asked Indira a couple of months ago, what she thought of 'Chillies' as a theme for JFI amongst some others, she gave a double thumbs up! After all which person from Andhra worth his / her salt will not light up with excitement at the thought of chillies...

Dried Kashmiri Red Chillies

For detailed information on varieties of chillies in India with pictures, read this post from the cook's cottage and my write-up on India's pride - Bhut Jolokia.

Bloggers used a variety of chillies ranging from fresh green and red, Thai, Bedgi, Kashmiri, Poblano, Chipotle, Anaheim, Yellow banana peppers, bell peppers, chilli powder, chilli sauces, etc. in total 62 63 64 65 entries. Thankfully no one used the Bhut Jholokia, or else they'd me cursing me for using 'Chillies' as a theme!

I hope the round up has managed to cover all the participants as almost half of them kept landing in spam, and guess I have managed to fish all of them out. Just in case you find your entry isn't featuring here, please mail me and I shall include it promptly.

SNACKS

Mirchi Bajji - Cinnamon from Cinnamon Trail
Long green chillies stuffed with peanut – tamarind mix, dipped in batter and deep fried to make a spicy, crispy snack.

Mirchi Bajji – Rajini, Swagruha
The all time favourite snack in Hyderabad in which long green chilllies are stuffed with either a tamarind-sesame paste or peanut powder or potatoes, dipped in batter and deep fried – served with tomato ketchup or coconut chutney

Stuffed Chilli Bajjis - Prema, Prema's Cookbook
Green chillies stuffed with spiced potatoes, dipped in batter and deep fried

Jalapeño popper – Roops from Delectable Delights
Jalapeño peppers stuffed with cheddar cheese and wrapped in prosciutto or zucchini slices, grilled instead of deep fried, making them a healthy alternative indeed.

Grilled Jalapeño poppers - Sig, Live to Eat
A simple party starter using only three ingredients is originally a Mexican recipe. You can't go wrong with this one! Cheese complements chillies perfectly, right?

Beer Battered Aachaar stuffed Peppers - Zlamushka, Sweden
This self proclaimed chilli addict has a blog all about spices and spicy food. No wonder her recipe rates all five stars on the 'spicometer' - the name says it all!! But if you are a spice lover, you must try it out.


PICKLES, CHUTNEYS & OTHER ACCOMPANIMENTS

Pandu Mirapakaya Pachchadi – Suma Gundlur from Veggie Platter
Fresh red chillies ground with tamarind and salt, seasoned with mustard seeds and asafoetida to make an easy traditional Andhra pickle, a perfect accompaniment to rice.

Pandu Mirapakaya Pachchadi - Priya , Akshayapatram
Fresh Fresno peppers pickled using same ingredients as above but made made the rustic way aka hand pounded

Mirchi in ajwain - Raji, Talimpu
Vaamu Lo Mirapakayalu - Tender mild green chillies slit and seasoned with coarsely ground ajwain and salt, preserved in oil

Phodnichya Mirchya -Tee, Bhaatukli
A traditional Maharashtrian recipe passed on by Tee’s grand mom, this has green chillies and potatoes sautéed in seasoned oil. A coarse peanut powder gives it the crunch and the grated coconut a boost a flavour. This is to be had in small quantities along with the main course.

Mirchi cha Thecha - Madhuli, My Foodcourt
Dark green ‘lavangi’ fiery hot chillies grilled on a flame, coarsely ground with cumin seeds and mixed into yogurt, seasoned with sugar and salt- to be served with sago khichdi or bhakri, surely not for the faint hearted

Zhanzhanit Thecha – Aarti, Aarti’s Corner
In Aarti’s words- “Zhanzhanit- meaning extra spicy in Marathi is an exclusive word used for chilli preparations , mostly the ones that are so hot that it makes one cry while eating.” Thecha is a traditional Maharashtrian chutney prepared from fresh green chillies. This one has peanuts and garlic too, goes perfectly well with bhakris.

Zhanzhanit Kolhapuri Thecha - GV Barve, Add Flavour
A Kolhapuri version of Thecha made with red chilli powder and garlic pounded together the traditional way.

Chilli Chutney - Pravs, Simply Spicy
A spicy accompaniment for idlis, dosais and even chapatis, this is made using Serrano peppers and sesame seeds and a traditional tadka to top it.

Milagai Chutney – Pearlin, Purl up and Crochet
A spicy chutney made using pacchai milagai ie. Fresh green chillies ground with tamarind, asafoetida and salt, and a traditional South Indian tempering – perfect with curd rice.

Chipotle Chilli Chutney - Indira, Mahanandi
A simple spicy chutney made using Chipotle chillies, cherry tomatoes and garlic cloves. This one with a smoky flavour goes well with chapatis as well as fries, says Indira.

Chilli garlic - Coffee, Spice Café
This is an interesting mix to stock in the refrigerator. A simple coarse mix of fresh red chillies and garlic pods that can be used in Chinese and Italian cooking alike. Nice tip, coffee!

Milagai Podi – Kanchana, Married to a Desi
This hot chilli lentil powder is a staple in all Tamil homes where it is available at all times to dip idlis and dosais into, without going into the rigors of making freshly ground chutney at tiffin time. At meal time this powder is mixed with gingelly oil on the plate itself. The spice quotient can range from mild to really fiery depending on the preference of each household.

Puli Milagai – Suganya, Tasty Palettes
A traditional pickle / chutney made using fresh green chillies and tamarind as the name suggests (in Tamil), with a bit of jaggery to take the edge off – goes best with dosais or even curd rice.
In Suganya’s words – “Spicy green chillies are simmered in tamarind with, surprisingly, very few spices. Don’t be alarmed by the amount of chilli in the recipe, after all, it is the star of the recipe. The recipe is put together with ingredients that takes care of the spiciness leaving you with mildly spicy and tangy sauce with a hint of sweetness from the jaggery.”

Puli Milagai - GV Barve, Add Flavour
Gayatri ji makes the South Indian pickle with green chillies in an instant tamarind-jaggery gravy.


Pickled green chillies - Dee, Ammalu's Kitchen
A tangy green chilli pickle seasoned with pickling spices and cooked on the stove top after which it is ready to be served with ghee rice.

Madhur Jaffrey's green chilli pickle - Pelicano, Elaichi Etcetera
Sliced green chillies seasoned with mustard seeds, red chilli powder, ginger and lemon juice made over a few days under a sunny spot.

Instant green chilli pickle (Mirchi ka achaar) -Anita, A Mad tea party
This pickle is made with medium hot green chillies seasoned with mustard seed and fenugreek seed powders and lime juice, best had in small quantities while the chillies are still crispy.

Pickled green chillies - Madhavi, My Veggie World
A very simple technique using vinegar and salt to pickle deseeded green chillies. These chillies can then be used to spice up any bland meal.

Chilli Thokku - Sheela, Delectable Victuals
This is no ordinary thokku. Creative as she is, Sheela adds her own touch by using dried hibiscus flowers for colour and unusual flavour along with ancho-pasilla chillies and green chillies to make this delicious pickle.

Molagu Thottu Kootan (Green chilli chutney) - Shaheen, Malabar Spices
The name implies that "a curry to be tasted (not poured)" - explains Shaheen. This chutney has the flavours of onions, garlic, ginger, tamarind and green chillies mainly and is best served with ghee rice or rotis.

Thayir Molagai - Ammupatti, Ammupatti's Thoughts
These are green chilies marinated in curds and sun dried. In Ammupatti's words - "Curd rice garnished with fried thayir molagai tastes heavenly." and I'm sure the well marinated home made chillies are any day better than the store bought ones.

Kanthari Mulagu Chammanthy - Green chillies, Curry Bytes
The blogger tells an interesting tale about chillies and childhood and shares the recipe for a chammanthy made with Thai chillies, shallots, coconut oil and salt.

Red chillies and cilantro pickle - (Kothimeera, Pandu mirapa Pacchadi) - Vani, Batasari
A traditional Andhra pickle recipe using fresh red chillies, coriander leaves and tamarind with tadka. This pickle needs no refrigeration.

Chilli Potato Pepper Salad – Padmaja, Spicy Andhra
New potatoes and peppers baked and seasoned with red chilli flakes, green chillies and black pepper to can a spicy start to any lazy weekend.


MAIN COURSE

Mirchi Ka Saalan – Viji from Vcuisine
Banana peppers or mild large green chillies and kidney beans in a tangy tomato gravy thickened using groundnut and sesame seed powder, this is a traditional Hyderabadi recipe served hot with rotis.

Mirchi Ka Saalan – Rajini, Swagruha
A Hyderabadi curry made with whole large green chillies sauteed and cooked in a tangy creamy gravy best served with a Hyderabadi biriyani, when chillies are in season in winters.

Manasi's Mirchi Ka Saalan - Manasi, A Cook @ Heart
The very fact that Manasi pulled this recipe out of the ten she had for this Hyderabadi curry makes me feel that it is surely worth a try. Serrano peppers and red & green bell peppers in tangy creamy sauce sure sounds good!

Priyanka's Mirchi ka Saalan - Priyanka, Lajawaab Aahaar
Another version of the saalan, this one including eggplant.

Mirchi Besan bhaji – Asha, Foodie’s Hope
Banana peppers and large green chillies in a tangy creamy gravy made using chickpea flour, served as an accompaniment to rotis / Indian breads along with a cool yoghurt raita
Also check out her version of Mirchi ka saalan

Peppers Stuffed with Potatoes and Peanuts – Jai & Bee, Jugalbandi
As the name suggests, steamed Anaheim peppers are stuffed with a mix of mashed potatoes, peanuts and freshly ground spices, and grilled. This can be served with rotis or rice and kadhi.

Chilli Paneer – Vanamala, Nalapaka
An Indo-Chinese Paneer recipe made with green and yellow bell peppers, spice up with green chillies and green chilli sauce – great as a snack or as a party starter!

Chilli Gojju - Lakshmi, Taste of Mysore
Green chillies, coconut and onions in a spicy gravy to go with rice pooris

Stuffed Capsicum - Ammupatti, Ammupatti's Thoughts
Green bell peppers stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes and steamed or baked

Capsicum Paruppusili- Sheela, Delectable Victuals
Sliced bell peppers sauteed with steamed spicy lentil paste to make a traditional Tam Bram vegetable dish.


OTHERS

Poached eggs in spicy tomato and chilli sauce (All day breakfast) – Sajeda from Chachi’s Kitchen
Green chillies and red peppers sautéed with spring onions and tomatoes onto which eggs are broken and half cooked – served on toasted ciabatta bread

Chilli pepper wraps – Swaha Miller, The Miller Melting Pot
Poblano peppers and yellow banana peppers stuffed with two cheeses into soft flour tortillas to make spicy cheesy wraps.

Jalapeño pie – Lisa, Food and Spice
Made from jalapeños fresh out of Lisa’s garden and just four ingredients in all, this pie is a great idea for an light dinner, and of course spicy too!

Zucchini and green chilli soup - Chocolate Lady, Inmolaraan
A most exotic and beautiful soup made using the most unique combination of ingredients viz. Zucchini, beet greens, cashews, hemp seeds, herbs and ofcourse chillies.




Yelimicha Sevai - Raaga's was one of the first entries I'd received and sadly it got left out. Here it is - a lemony, spicy Indian rice noodles that can be had for a light dinner or at tiffin time!

Chilli and rosemary smashed potatoes – Sajeda from Chachi’s kitchen
Whole potatoes boiled and smashed with their skins, seasoned with chilli-garlic-rosemary oil and baked until crispy.

Endimirapakaya Pappu (Red Chilli Dal) – Srivalli, Cooking for all seasons
A traditional Rayallaseema recipe made using yellow lentils (tur dal). Cooked dal is made tangy using tomatoes and tamarind, the dozen dried red chillies give it the fire. This one surely needs some company such as bland rice, only the brave-hearts can have it as it is.

Fish curry – Shn, Mishmash!
Fish curry with a Kuttanadan touch prepared Kerala style, is spiced using both fresh green chillies and red chilli powder. In Shn’s own words – “Also known as Meen Mulakittathu, Meen Vattichathu, Red Fish curry, this fish curry is made without coconut milk and it’s actually poetry in red chilly powder and Kudam-Puli / Gamboge infused with the intense and unique flavour of coconut oil and the wonderful aroma of curry leaves.”

Kerala Fish Fry - Nagalakshmi, For the Cook in Me
Fish pieces marinated in a spicy chilli paste and deep fried in coconut oil to crispy perfection

Chidambaram Gothsu – Lavannya, Cookery Corner
Eggplant and onions cooked in a tangy tamarind gravy spiced with both red and green chillies, best served with a Tamil style Ven Pongal or even dosais / idlis

Homemade citron pickle (Naarthangai Oorugai) – Bharathy, Spicy Chilly
A delicious homemade South Indian pickle made with the citron fruit spied up with fresh green chillies as well as red chilli powder, using very little oil.

Mushroom curry – Prajusha, Magic Kitchen
Mushrooms marinated in a spicy red-chilli and shallot paste, seasoned with spices and served with Indian bread like chapati

Spicy bottlegourd fritters (Sorakaya Boorelu) – Jyothi, Andhra Spicy
Grated bottle gourd spiced up with green chillies and other condiments, mixed with rice flour, flattened into pooris and deep fried. Makes an excellent spicy snack, especially in rainy weather over hot cup of Indian spiced tea.

Spicy Sunday meal – Hima, Snackorama
A variety of spicy pizzas, made with various toppings such as pickled jalapeños, bell peppers, tomatoes and pineapples along with a yummy pasta dish made with Indian spices and of course plenty of green chillies

Jalapeño deviled eggs - Chandrika, Akshaya Patra
These deviled eggs are truly devilish as in hot, because the yolks are spiced with jalapeño paste amongst other ingredients. The yolks turn a brilliant green colour under the influence of chillies.

Chatpatta Bhel - Anu-Sachin, A pinch of this & A dash of that
A popular Indian street food made using puffed rice as a base with onions, tomatoes, potatoes and a variety of chutneys. Here it is made super spicy using both chopped green chillies and some red chilli powder.

Paneer Do Piazza - Meeta, What's for lunch honey?
A roti accompaniment with paneer as the main ingredient, cooked with two types of onions and subtly spiced with dried red chillies.

Mirchi-pudhina-cheese Parathas - Musical, Musical's Kitchen
Musical's special paratha combination where the dough is spiced with green chillies and stuffed with grated mozzarella cheese.

Masoor Dal with Mirchi - Musical, Musical's Kitchen
A Bengali recipe for dal which is spiced with green chillies and of course seasoned with paach phoron.

Batata Song (Spicy potato curry) - Ashwini, Food for Thought
A traditional Konkani recipe for a potato curry spiced with a red chilli-tamarind paste. The secret of this recipe is Byadagi chillies that impart more colour and less fire.

Bean Chilli Enchiladas - Nupur, One Hot Stove
Flour tortillas spread with salsa verde and stuffed with roasted Poblano peppers, beans and cheese makes a gooey filling dinner and tastes great when accompanied by your favourite chilled beer.

Lemon Pickle - Elle & Chikki, Lemon and Chillies
A simple lemon pickle spiced with red chilli powder and allowed to mature in the sun for about 5 days, can be stored in refrigerator and used when needed.

Gobhi Manchurian - Rajitha, Hunger Pangs
Cauliflower florets dipped in batter, deep fried and rolled in a spicy chilly gravy to make this popular Indo-Chinese dish.

Bibim Guksu - Mathy, Virundhu
Mathy prepares this dish using soba noodles, loads of veggies and a spicy sauce to go with it.

Peach lassi with cayenne pepper – Pintoo, Zaayka
A popular Indian yogurt drink made exotic by blending in peaches and some cayenne pepper for an extra kick.

Chilli hot chocolate - Savithri, Savithri's Spot
Savithri has combined some Mayan, Parisian and Indian elements into her hot chocolate that's extra rich with melted dark chocolate and cocoa powder. Spices like cloves and cardamom give it the exotic taste and finally the pinch of chilli powder to 'kick it up another notch' as Emeril would say!!

And from yours' truly - Pavakkai Pitla, a traditional Tam Bram bitter gourd in gravy made with freshly ground spices

Other hot reads:
Ancient Mexicans ate spicy food
Capsicain's health benefits
Growing chillies in containers or grow bags

The cover of Me, DNA's Sunday Magazine Supplement surprised me by featuring Chillies on their cover page on 5th August! Did they know of our 'hot' little secret??

Leaving you with a great song from the band - Red Hot Chilli Peppers- who else?



Over to Sharmi at Neivedyam for JFI - Rice.

Tags: Chillies, jalapenos, anaheim peppers, bell peppers, poblano peppers, chipotle chillies, red chillies, green chillies, Byadgi, Kashmiri, Reshampatti, Indian pickles, Mirchi, Milagai, Thecha, saalan, curry, chutney, spicy indian recipes, Saffron Trail, Recipe, Food, Indian food blog, Healthy eating, Healthy living, Mumbai, India

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