Stuffed Mini Sweet Pepper

I am so happy that I have posted 50 recipes...even though I liked the generic 50th post....felt did not do much justice to it since it was not made by me :( ....so I wanted to post something different...and marched into the kitchen with a big smile in my face (to make something new....it always makes me happy)!!....I had very little things in my refrigerator since I am having another trip this weekend (will tell you about it after I come back!!)....so had not stocked up the refrigerator to its brim (it was seemingly empty compared to how much it always stores)

I had got the mini sweet peppers to make bajjis...but did not find time to make pakoras with it this time too...I had both the giant bell peppers (call it this way because back in India...so do not get to see these big ones). Just think about stuffing this giant pepper...I felt it will need atleast 3 big potatoes to stuff one !! So choose the mini sweet peppers ....I like the texture, the firmness and the color of them....they are teeny tiny petite ones....and these will not need as many potatoes as the giant bell pepper would and also makes serving easier!!

I take them and cut their head off and take the seeds out....a pairing knife comes in handy to do this and be carefull not to cut them in the middle. I used the whole bad around 2 Lbs of the mini sweet pepper I got from Sams!!



Now coming to the ingredients and the recipe part -

2 Lbs (reserved like 10 of them from the bag for another experiment) and wash, cut the head part and de-seeded the rest
1/2 finely Chopped Onion
4 medium sized tomatoes
1/2 Tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 Tsp Red chilly Powder
1 Tsp Salt
2 TBSPN Olive Oil

For the filling

3 Medium Potatoes
1/2 Finely Chopped Onion
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Coriander powder
1/2 Tsp Red Chilly Powder
1/2 Inch Ginger Finely chopped
1 Green Chilly
1/2 Tsp Jeera
1 TBSP Oil

Coming to the stuffing part - Microwave the potatoes as a whole for about 8 minutes. Remove them from the water after microwaving them as you do not want them soaking and absorbing the water. Mash them well you do not want any chunky parts in it.

Take oil in a pan and add the jeera, green chillies and the ginger. Add the onion and fry them till they are slightly brown, Add the salt, red chilly powder and the coriander powder. Add the mashed potatoes and mix it well. The stuffing is ready to be filled into the sweet pepper.

Before that....I forgot to mention that I baked them in the oven....So before you start filling pre-heat the oven upto 350 degree. Make small balls and start filling them with your hand. I feel it works better when you fill them with your hands rather than with a spoon. If you are scared that the filling my spill...you may close it with a paste made from all purpose flour and then bake it.

Now place them in the baking tray and sprinkle some salt and drizzle some oil on top of each pepper for about 30 minutes...the smell when it is baked is so goooddddddd...........

You may serve them as is after baking them....but what I did was took little bit of oil in a pan. Added Jeera and onions. Fry them then add the tomatoes till they are done. Add the sweet peppers slowly and make sure the filling does not fall out. Add more salt if needed.

I served it with rotis......was pretty happy about the way it turned out...happily posting this recipe..I am posting this with a big smile on my face "the 51st one"...with your wishes and patronage looking forward to doing more.....see you soon with another post ...bye bye

Spicy Vegetable Soup

I have been thinking for a long time about making a spicy hot vegetable soup and but  brushed it off as time consuming and never ventured to make it. Finally on one snowy day....when you get too lazy (just roam around the house) and not do anything....I set out to make this relishing spicy vegetable soup...I would consider the way I made it to the famous story - "The Stranger and the Magic Stone (Soup)"..I am pretty sure that everyone knows this story...the story goes like this...A stranger enters a village in the middle of the night - tired and hungry and goes about knocking every house but no one  opens the door for him. He gets an idea and knocks at the door saying he has a magic stone that can make delicious soup and they welcome him in. He asks for a vessel and starts adding water along with the magic stone...and murmurs within himself...how much good it will taste if we add tomatoes to this..so the oldest of the oldest kid runs to the garden and fetches it for him...and as the tomatoes are boiling...he murmurs again I wish we could add some carrots .. on hearing that the lady of the house goes and fetches some carrots for him...the stranger adds this to the soup and then as it is boiling adds wish we could add sweet potatoes to it...then the youngest child goes to fetch sweet potatoes for the soup...the stranger murmurs to himself wish we could add some beans to balance the sweet ness of the carrots and sweet potatoes...the elderly lady in that house plucks it from the garden and brings it to him....as the soup is boiling and getting to thicken he adds wish we had some salt and pepper to spice it up....

I would  say the way I made the soup was similar to the story above (except that I did not have any magic stone while making the soup!!)  ....As to how the story ends I am going to leave it to the readers imagination :) !! But as to they way my soup turned out - absolutely splendid!!

Ingredients -

Bay Leaf - 1

Fennel Powder - 1/2 tsp

Chilly Powder - 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon Stick - 1 inch piece

Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp

Tomatoes - 4 medium size

Onion - cut 1/2 cup
Spring Onions - 3 strands

Beans, Carrots , Sweet potatoes and Corn (frozen) - all together 1 1/2 cups cut into small pieces (you may even use frozen vegetables ...making things easier)

Salt and Pepper (crushed) - as per the taste

Butter - 1/2 TBS

Olive Oil - 1 tsp

Take a heavy bottomed pan and add the butter and oil. After the butter melts and the oil gets heated add the bay leaf , cinnamon stick and the onions. Saute till the onion turns slightly brown. Now add the onion bulb (the bottom part of the spring onions) and saute it for a while.

If you are not using frozen veggies, boil them in microwave and set it aside. Add this to the pan and fry them.

(If you are using frozen veggies you may just add it after the onions turn brown)

Make puree by blending the tomatoes and add some veggies that are boiling in the pan. Add this mixture to the boiling pot of soup. Now add salt, all the other powders, the green part of the spring onions and the pepper. Let it boil for 15 minutes or so in medium flame.

Simmer the stove and allow it to thicken in the low flame for atleast an hour and a half. It will slowly let the raw smell from the tomatoes to go off and will take in the flavours from the spices that were added to the soup. It will also thicken to a nice consistency.

Add croutons and serve the warm soup...it was good and apt for a snowy day!!