Besan-Simla Mirchi Bhaji | Side dish with capsicum & chickpea flour
It is a local name for this vegan recipe that is a dry sides prepared using capsicum and chickpea flour. Just handful ingredients and no onion or garlic requires for the recipe. It has mild chilli with dominant earthy, nutty flavours of besan along with little crunch from capsicum. A tasty, easy and quick recipe that can be paired with fresh stack of chapati's or hot fluffy rice.
Ingredients
- 2 nos green capsicum large
- 1/2 cup besan or chickpea flour roasted chana dal flour
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- asafoetida little
- salt as per taste
- water optional
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry green capsicum, then roughly chop it.
- Take a pan or kadhai over high heat and add oil into it.
- Once oil is hot, add cumin seeds into it. Let them crackle for few seconds and tip asafoetida in the pan. Immediately, turn to low heat and add turmeric along with chilli powder.
- Give it a quick stir and tip in chopped capsicum.
- Turn heat high-medium while continuously stirring everything. Allow capsicum to cover with oil and spice mixture.
- Continue stirring until capsicums are slightly cooked.
- Sift the chickpea flour to avoid any lumps and add it into the pan.
- Gently mix everything together. Season with salt and again give a quick stir.
- At this point if mixture is looks dry; add few tbsp of water. (It is an optional step and required only if mixture is dry.)
- Cover the pan and let it simmer for 8-10 minutes; while stirring the mixture occasionally.
- Once chickpea flour or besan is cooked, it changes the colour and gets wonderful earthy-nutty taste.
- You can test the taste and adjust salt if required.
- I like to keep capsicums little crunchy but one can cook it until it's soft.
- Besan-simla mirchi bhaji or sabji is ready to serve with hot chapati or phulka.
Notes
- This recipe needs little extra oil.
- If besan or chickpea flour looks dry while cooking; add little water and cook it.
- Readymade besan works for this recipe and no need to roast it separately.