Dish of Bell Pepper Peanut Curry
(click to enlarge)

Bell Pepper Peanut Curry


India - South (Karnataka, Maharashtra)   -   Kairas
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 2-1/2 #
***
1-3/4 hrs
Most		 An unusual, but quite tasty curry, from the Saraswat cuisine of the southwest coastal India. It can be a vegetarian main dish or a side dish. See Comments.

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Peanuts, raw
Bell Peppers green
-- Paste A
Coriander Seed
Sesame Seeds, white  
Asafoetida (1)
Chili, red dry (2)
Chana Dal
-- Paste B
Tamarind (3)
Coconut grated (4)
Water
-- Tempering
Mustard Seed (5)  
Cumin seed
Chili, red dry
Curry Leaves (6)
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Oil
Oil (more)
Salt
Jaggery (7)
Water
PREP   -   (1.1 hrs - 14 minutes less if you don't skin the peppers)
  1. Place PEANUTS in a saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer until Peanuts are cooked through, about 20 minutes.
  2. Opt:   Blast BELL PEPPERS black with your Kitchen Torch and brush the skins off under running water - see Peppers.
  3. Cap and Core Bell Peppers cut into about 1/2 inch squares.
  4. Mix together all Paste A items.
  5. Heat 2 t Oil in a small pan. Add Paste A mix and fry over moderate heat until fragrant and the Dal is light golden. Take off the heat and stir in Paste B items.
  6. Run Paste mix in a Mixie or Blender until smooth.
  7. Mix together all Tempering items.
  8. Grate Jaggery (if needed) and mix with 1 t Salt.
RUN   -   (35 min)
  1. Rinse Bell Peppers and drain well. We just want a light coating of water on them.
  2. In a spacious sauté pan, coverable kadhai, or wok, heat 2 t Oil. Stir in Tempering mix (careful, the Curry Leaves will snap and spit for a few seconds) and fry stirring until Mustard Seed are popping well.
  3. Stir in wet Bell Peppers, cover and sweat them over moderate heat, stirring a couple of times, until they are crisp tender. Remove and set aside.
  4. Stir into the pan Jaggery mix, Paste mix, and Water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
  5. Stir in Peanuts and Peppers. Bring to a boil and simmer another 3 minutes.
  6. Serve hot with plenty of Steamed Rice or Roti. Thai Jasmine rice will do, unless you have patience to wait 1-1/2 hours for Rose Mata rice to steam. For details see our South Asian Rice page.
NOTES:

  1. Asafoetida - Hing:

      This is the resin of a giant fennel plant, used in India by sects forbidden to eat onions or garlic.   Caution: there are two forms: Pure Hing (asafoetida beads or ground) and the more common "Hing Powder". The "powder" is heavily cut with rice flour. The amount given here is for pure asafoetida. Use about 3 times as much if what you have is the "powder" form, and stir into temperings at the last moment. For details see our Asafoetida page.

  2. Chilis, Red Dry:

      The standard Japones will work fine, adding interest, but very light heat. Use hotter chilis if you prefer. For details see our Indian Chilis page.

  3. Tamarind:

      This presumes block form, just cut from the block and chopped. For details see our Tamarind page.

  4. Coconut, Grated:

      The pattern recipe presumes fresh grated, but frozen is fine. If you have only dry grated, measure the same amount and soak 20 minutes in half the volume of water.

  5. Mustard Seeds:

      this is the Indian temperature gage, Black Mustard Seeds are always used. If you have only Yellow, they will work but pop more violently and at a slightly lower temperature.

  6. Curry Leaves:

      These fresh leaves are necessary for the true flavor of southern India, and are now reasonably available in Indian and Southeast Asian markets, at least here in California. Dried ones aren't of much use (unless you force dried them yourself within a couple weeks). If you don't have them you will have to leave them out - there is no acceptable substitute. Use caution with how many you use, because some people don't like the resinous taste. For details see our Curry Leaves page.

  7. Jaggery:

      This is Indian partially refined cane sugar. If you don't have it, use a dark brown sugar.

  8. Peppers:

      The blasting and skinning step is not in the pattern recipe - households in India would not have the torch, but you should. This step improves the texture, but more important, if part of the dish is reheated (almost always the case for me), it prevents very annoying curled pepper skins from floating around in the sauce. With the recommended Kitchen Torch this skinning process takes 14 minutes and the peppers remain raw.

  9. Comments:

      This recipe could stand a little more liquid than shown in the photo example. This recipe has the minimum amount of Jaggery, it could be as much as a full Tablespoon if you want sweeter. Some recipes use a lot more, but warn it is too sweet to serve with rice, only roti. The garnish in the photo is dry pan toasted peanuts.
  10. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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