Indian Stuffed Green Bell Peppers

Every cuisine has version of stuffed green peppers and Indian cuisine is not an exception. The Indians love to stuff them up with spicy filling.

The elements of the filling range from rice, beans, lentil, potatoes, cottage cheese and meat. Though you might find them in other cuisine too but it is the use of spices which gives an Indian touch to these stuffed green peppers.

Bell peppers are known as "simla mirch" in India and "bharwa" means "stuffed" - hence "bharwa simla mirch" is the name given to this dish in India.

A mixture of cottage cheese and potatoes is one of the most common filling for green peppers. The creaminess of the cottage cheese is perfectly complimented by the piquancy of Indian spices while a hint of dry mango powder gives it a tangy twist.

Sometimes, these stuffed green bell peppers are dipped in equally spicy gravy to bring out the best in them. Hence bring the taste of India on plate with these stuffed peppers and relish the Indian flavours.

Yield: 4 Servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

•     4 green bell peppers
•     200 gm cottage cheese, grated
•     1/2 cup cheese
•     3 medium potatoes, mashed
•     Few sprigs of fresh cilantro
•     1" ginger, chopped
•     1 onion, chopped
•     12-15 raisins
•     A handful of cashews
•     1 tsp garam masala
•     1 tsp cumin powder
•     1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
•     2 tsp dry mango powder (amchur)
•     Salt to taste
•     3 green chillies, chopped
•     2 tbsp oil

Directions:

1.     Warm up your oven to 400 degrees F.
2.     Slice the top of each bell pepper and scoop out the seeds.
3.     Combine the mashed potatoes, raisins, cashew nuts, cottage cheese, cilantro, spices and salt in a bowl and keep aside.
4.     Saute the onions in oil over medium heat until they become soft and translucent.
5.     Add the green chillies and ginger, continue to cook for some time.
6.     Stir in the cottage cheese mixture and cook for another couple of minutes.
7.     Stuff portions of the cooked filling inside each bell pepper.
8.     Top each of them with the grated cheese and arrange them on baking dish.
9.     Bake the bell peppers for 15 minutes and serve hot.

Useful Tip:

You can boil the bell peppers before filling them up so that they can absorb the flavours of the stuffing while baking.