Simla Mirch Fry (Bell Pepper "Fry")

I picked up a whole chicken on sale a little while ago and decided that I wanted to try making a Kashmiri chile chicken curry with it. Iyer recommends serving that particular curry with a black lentil dal. This all sounded well and good, but left the meal completely devoid of vegetables. I though this pan-roasted bell pepper curry sounded like it would be a good match for the other flavours in the meal. It's probably not the most nutritious or vitamin-rich curry out there, but it gave us something that was neither meat nor legume, so I rolled with it. It's quite tasty, but I was a bit disappointed with how little it made. I think I'd be tempted to do a double batch next time.

Simla mirch fry (top left), pictured with kali aur hari mirch urad dal (top right) and Kashmiri mirch waale murghi (bottom left).

Simla Mirch Fry

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 2 large bell peppers, cut into 2cm pieces
• 2-4 fresh green Thai chilies, halved lengthwise
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. Dhania-Jeera Masala
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. water

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add mustard seeds, cover, and cook until seeds stop popping (30-60 seconds).
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and add bell peppers and chilies.
4. Cook, uncovered, stirring occaisonally, until peppers are soft and skin is blackened in places and blistered (15-20 minutes).
5. Add cilantro, masala, and salt.
6. Stir to mix and allow to cook for 10-20 seconds.
7. Add water and bring to a boil.
8. Remove from heat and serve.