As I'm sure you know from reading this blog, we are quite fond of our spicy foods and we grow quite an assortment of hot peppers each for it's own purpose. These year we've lucky had an abundance of green chilies which Kishore uses in his infamous '25 Chili Chicken Curry' among other recipes. Since we are going through a beautifully sunny heat wave it seemed prudent to take advantage of the weather, and our chili crop to make Dahi Mirchi aka Yogurt Chilies. Dahi Mirchi is known by various names through out South India (Majjiga Mirapa, Challa Mirapakayalu), are a great accompaniment to rice, and grain dishes.
To make them, green chilies are soaked in a yogurt mix and dried in the sun repeatedly. The entire process takes about a week, but the transformed chilies are worth it. The burning spiciness goes away, leaving a mildly cheesy, salty, almost smoky spice flavor; that definitely adds depth to any meal.
Here's my recipe for Dahi Mirchi (Yogurt Chilies)
Dahi Mirchi-(Yogurt Chilies)
Yields:1 lb
Ingredients:
1lb Fresh Green Chilies, slit on one side
1 Cup Plain Yogurt
2 Tbsp Sea Salt
2 cups Filtered Water
Drying Racks
Glass Jars
Directions:
1. Wash the chilies and dry them, keep the stems on.
2. Mix the yogurt, water, and salt together. Then slit open the chilies on one side as shown in the picture below and add them to the yogurt mixture. Close the lid and leave in the fridge for 2 days, making sure to mix everyday.
3. Take the chilies from the yogurt mix revering the mix for later. Place the chilies in a single layer on a drying screen/rack in the sun for the whole day. At night, put the dried chilies back in the reserved yogurt mix. Mix well and replace in the fridge.
4. Repeat this process for another 2 days. The chilies will change in color from green/red to yellow/off-white.
5. On the last day, let the chilies dry completely and store in a clean glass air tight container.
To use, simply heat oil in a pan and once hot add a few chilies at a time and fry till crispy.
Enjoy!
I heard about this recipe from my Grandma but never ever had a chance to try it until i read this blog. These are absolutely mouth watering.
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a spicy and yummy recipe for the summer season. It will go perfect with the capatis. I will give it a try. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete