Capsicum/Bell Pepper Stew: Flavour Sensation

Capsicum Stew

The weather report said the snow has never been so severe in Britain in the last eighteen years. The Artic winds coming from Russia is the main cause for all these chaos and they are likely to last for few more days. All the motorways are jammed (and at some places there was 50 miles of congestion!), some of them are closed, most of the schools are closed and even public transport system is shut down in some parts of the country!!!

While washing the plates after dinner on Sunday evening I saw little dusting of snow on our garden shed and thought to myself it is one of those days where it snows everywhere except in our neck of woods. But soon small flakes of snow continued to fall and within half an hour there was an inch of snow covering the grass, trees and hedges. I was amazed to see the steady flow of snow flakes even when I went to bed and overjoyed when I saw thick coat of snow covered everything and turning gloomy grey scenes into white wonderland. It was the first time I had seen this much of snow in my neck of woods. Hell, 12 inches of snow is something that is very unusual in this county.


Met office is continuing to advice drives not to venture out unless it is essential and requested to take extreme care while driving. So while Krish is loading few bars of chocolates, water, and shovel in car’s boot I am snuggling under my favourite blanket with a wonderful book and flask of strong filter coffee and munchies ;) Yep, my holidays just coincided with the snow fall and boy, am I enjoying it or what? I did enjoy running around in our backyard and building snowman for good two hours. But it’s not much fun when your palms turn from deep red to purple and your nose start to leak! And you need a good target to throw all those big snow balls and my target was away on training and will be coming back home late in the evening.


That’s when I decided to take break and cook my lunch. Usually I opt for frozen food, takeaways or canned soups when I am alone at home. I don’t feel motivated or need to cook for myself. But good two hours of playing in cold weather left me wanting to eat something warm, something special, and something comforting. All I had in refrigerator was big cauliflower and a pack of multi-coloured bell peppers. People who know me quite well also know my love for stinking flower, I mean cauliflower. So there is no surprise as why I reached out for a bag of peppers.


All said and done, I was bit confused as what to cook with it. I follow strict rules when it comes to serving the food which means particular type side dish has to be served with particular type of food. For example,
Curry=Chapatti/Roti/Flavoured Rice
Soup=Bread
Dals/Rasam/Stews=Rice
Salads=mmmm… mmmm…. A big bowl of ice cream or chocolate bar to sooth your grumbling stomach ;)
Since kneading and rolling the dough was out of question after kind of kneading the snow balls so curry was stroke off from the list. Unbelievably we were out of usual whole meal pack of bread, so the soup was out of question. I was left with choosing between stew and salad and you don’t have to be a Sherlock Holms to find out what I opted for!!!

Capsicum Stew

Yup, I had Capsicum Stew for lunch served with a bowl of White Rice. While the rice was cooking in microwave, I went through a recipe book called 100 Vegetarian Curries by Mallika Badrinath. This is one of 4 books my mother bought for me when I left home as a new bride and it’s the same book referred when I couldn’t call my mother during initial days of my ‘hit and miss’ cooking days. This is a thin book which will fit well in your palms and has no glossy pictures to drool on. But what it has is collection of hundred different curries with outstanding results. I have had tried many recipes from this book and most of them have come out finger licking delicious. So all new brides out there, I would highly recommend this book if you have just started to cook and want to impress your family members with something exciting.


Mrs. Mallika Badrinath uses common, easily available ingredients in her recipes but her cooking style turns the final product to something exciting and exquisite. And the best example is this Capsicum Stew where she uses few spices and coconut milk that is very common ingredients in many households in south India, yet the end result is something beyond anyone’s expectation. Sweet and peppery capsicums cooked to tender in creamy goodness of coconut milk and roasted spice powder will surely make your head spin with different flavours dancing on your mouth and leave you feeling content. Don’t believe me? Well, then you simply have to try this dish and see if I am telling the truth or not!

Capsicums & Coconut for Capsicum Stew

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Capsicum/Bell Pepper Stew (Coloured Peppers cooked in creamy Coconut Milk and Roasted Spices)

Prep Time: 10-20 mins
Cooking Time: 15-20 mins
Serves: 4-6
Recipe Source: 100 Vegetarian Curries by Mallika Badrinath
Recipe Level: Medium
Spice Level: Medium
Serving Suggestion: With steam cooked rice

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Ingredients:
3 large Bell Peppers/Capsicums cut into 1 inch cubes
3-4 cups/1 can Coconut Milk (Keep thin and thick milk separately if using fresh coconut milk)
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
1-2 tsp Jaggery
Extract from 1 small Lime sized Tamarind Pulp/1 tsp Tamarind Paste
Salt to taste

For Spice Powder:
1 tsp Toor Dal/Split Red Grams
1 tsp Channa Dal/Split Chickpeas
1 tsp Urad Dal/Split Black Grams
1 tsp Coriander Seeds
½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds (Optional as original recipe doesn't use it)
5-6 Dry Red Chillies (Adjust acc to taste)
4-6 tsp White Poppy Seeds
1 tsp Oil

For Tadka/Tempering:
1 tbsp Oil (Preferably Coconut Oil)
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
3-4 Cloves
2 Green Cardamoms, bruised (Optional as original recipe doesn't use it)
Few Curry Leaves
A big Pinch of Hing/Asafoetida

Capsicum Stew

Method:

Heat a pan and dry roast poppy seeds till they turn light golden, about 45 seconds. Transfer the roasted poppy seeds to coffee grinder or mixer jar. In the same pan heat oil and roast all the ingredients till lentils turn golden brown and aromatic. Let the roasted spices and lentils cool completely before you mix them with poppy seeds. Grind these roasted lentils and spices to fine powder and keep aside till needed.
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When mustard starts to pop and splutter, add cloves, cardamoms, curry leaves and hing. Sauté for a minute till the spices are aromatic.
Now add peppers and cook them on medium heat till their skin is wilted, about 3-4 mins.
Mix in spice powder, turmeric powder, jaggery, tamarind extract and salt to taste.
Now add 1/3rd of Coconut milk (thin milk if using freshly made coconut milk) and mix well. Cover and cook for 2-3 mins. Mix in the 2nd extract or 1/3rd of coconut milk and cook uncovered in low heat and bring it to gentle boil, about 5 mins.
Now add the tick coconut milk (or remaining 1/3rd) and bring the gravy to gentle boil, about 2-3 mins. At this stage make sure that the peppers are cooked well and they still retain their crunch. Turn off the gas and mix in finely chopped coriander leaves. Cover and let it sit for 5 mins for all the flavours to blend well. Serve it hot with steam cooked rice and enjoy.