Mirchi Ka Salan is a Hyderabadi specialty made with green chillies in a curry. Can you imagine something as hot as green chillies as main ingredient in a curry?! That’s the specialty about this curry recipe. Mirchi means Chilly and Salan, curry. Depending on the spiciness required, different varieties of green chillies can be used in making this curry. I had some less spicy green chillies with me and decided to make this super tasty, rich curry to go with my Jeera Rice. These green chillies that I have used are larger and usually used in making bajjis/fritters. I removed the stem and seeds from these chillies and roasted them before adding them to the curry – to ensure they are not very spicy. The curry is very rich – with peanuts, coconut, sesame seeds and onions used as base. This goes perfectly well with steamed rice, jeera rice, roti, chapati or even Hyderabadi biryani.
In a pan, heat ½ teaspoon of oil. Add sliced onions and fry for 2-3 mins. Add peanuts, sesame seeds and fry for 4-5 mins. Add chopped coconut and fry for 1 min. Let this mixture cool down.
Meanwhile, in a pan heat 1 teaspoon of oil. Remove the stalk, stem and seeds in the green chillies by slitting them lengthwise. Roast these green chillies in the hot oil until there are a few blisters on the green chillies and they are soft. Set aside.
Grind the roasted masala items and make it into a smooth paste by adding enough water.
In the same pan used to roast green chillies, heat 1 teaspoon of oil. Add mustard seeds and jeera. Let them splutter. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for 1-2 mins. Add the prepared masala paste and keep mixing it well for 3-4 mins. When the paste comes together and there is no raw smell, add red chilli powder, garam masala powder, salt and turmeric powder. Mix well.
Add some water if required and keep stirring the curry occasionally for 3-4 mins. Add the roasted green chillies and mix well.
Serve hot with Jeera Rice/Steamed Basmati Rice.
To have additional spiciness, the stem and seeds can be left intact but that would make the curry very spicy. Adjust the spices as per personal preference. The curry thickens up on cooling down, add some water if required.
