Mirchi ka Salan is a recipe from Hyderabad, India that features large green chillies (Jalapeño) simmered in a rich gravy made with roasted peanuts, sesame seeds, coconut, and a blend of spices. Traditionally served with biryani, it’s a bold, unforgettable dish that can be quite a showstopper all by itself!
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About Mirchi ka Salan
Mirchi or mirch is the generic green chilli, so mirchi ka salan would be a curry made with green chillies as the main ingredient. This dish is very popular in Hyderabadi cuisine and is usually served as a side dish with biryani.
The curry itself is not as hot as one would assume, but it is delicious and bold and happening, thanks to a creamy peanut-sesame paste, along with other ingredients. Almost the same ingredients, by the way, as the ever-popular bagara baingan, another gem from down South.
And the green chillies? A mild, thick-skinned variety called 'banana chillies', local to the area, are used traditionally. They hold up well during cooking and are not overwhelmingly spicy.
In our recipe today, we are going for Jalapeño chilli peppers since these are available commonly in North America, and they tick all the boxes for the kind of chillies required for mirchi ka salan. They are large and thick, and most important, mild, as compared to other varieties. If you want to kick up the heat by a notch, go for Serrano peppers.
Read on for a step-by-step discussion of the ingredients and method for making mirchi ka salan.
Ingredients and Instructions
Note: This recipe calls for some ingredients which you may not have in your pantry. They are all available online or your local Indian or Pakistani grocery store.
Step 1 Ingredients
Step 1: Make the wet masala
1. Fry the onions in some hot oil to a pinkish colour. There is no need to brown them completely, here. Remove the onions and wipe the pan for the next step.
2. Dry roast the remaining ingredients in the same frypan until fragrant. Usually, the ingredients are roasted one by one, but I find no need to be so particular. They are going to be ground anyway into a thick paste.
3. Put the onions and the roasted ingredients into a blender, and grind to a thick paste. Add water as required while you are blending.
Step 2 Ingredients
Step 2: Fry the Jalapeño peppers
Add the oil to a frypan and fry the Jalapeño chillies on medium heat until the skins get blistered. You don't have to cook them fully since they will be simmered in the gravy as well.
Note: If the oil splutters a lot, cover the pan with a plate or lid briefly. It should take about 2-3 minutes to fry the chillies.
Step 3 Ingredients
Step 3: Make the curry base
1. Add oil to a medium-sized pan and add the whole spices - cumin, mustard, fenugreek, and nigella seeds. Let them sizzle for a few seconds, then add the curry leaves.
2. Now, add the ginger-garlic paste and powdered spices - red chilli and turmeric. Sauté this masala for about 2 minutes on low heat so that it doesn't burn.
Step 4: Add the wet masala prepared in step 1
Add the wet masala you prepared in step 1 along with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ - ¾ cups water to loosen it a bit. Sauté this masala on medium heat for about 5-7 minutes until thick and fragrant. Like so:
Step 5: Add the fried Jalapeño peppers
1. Add the fried Jalapeño chilli peppers along with the oil in which they were fried. Also add 1.5 cups water. Reduce the heat and cover the pan with a lid. Allow the chillies to simmer in the gravy for about 10-12 minutes on gentle heat, undisturbed. When you finally remove the lid, the chillies will be completely cooked and the gravy glossy. Now is the time to serve the dish with some biryani or pulao, or even with some hot roti fresh off the griddle!
Top Tips
In Indian cooking, there aren't really any 'dump and go' kind of recipes, where you throw the ingredients in a pot all at once and walk away. The real taste of any curry emerges fully only when the ingredients are layered and cooked properly at the correct heat, a process called 'bhunai' (a combination of sautéing + stir-frying with minimal liquid). If this process is not finished properly, the resulting curry will be quite unappetizing, whatever the ingredients.
In line with this philosophy, be patient while adding the ingredients. In step 3, allow the whole spices to bloom and release their fragrance before adding the ginger-garlic paste and powdered spices. Cook this paste for a couple of minutes until the raw smell of the ginger and garlic goes away. And again, once you add the wet masala in step 4, sauté it well with just a little water (too much water at once will ruin it) on medium heat, until the gravy acquires a deep and glossy appearance. Only after sautéing it well are you allowed to add more water and cook it further!
Keep these tips in mind, and you will be rewarded with a rich, flavourful dish every time you are making a curry.
More recipes with bhunai as the main technique: lobia masala (black-eyed peas curry), egg curry, and matar paneer.
📖 Recipe
Mirchi Ka Salan
Equipment
- 1 Small frypan
- Blender
- 1 medium pan with lid
Ingredients
Wet Masala Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon cooking oil
- 3.5 oz red onions 1 cup chopped
- 1 ½ tablespoon peanuts unsalted
- 2 tbsp dry coconut flakes unsweetened
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds khus-khus
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- ½ tablespoon cumin seeds
Other Ingredients
- 11.2 oz Jalapeño chili peppers 6 large chilli peppers
Curry Ingredients
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp black mustard seeds
- ½ tsp fenugreek seeds methi
- ½ tsp nigella seeds kalonji
- 12 curry leaves kari patta
- 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chilli powder Kashmiri red chilli for less heat and more colour
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
1. Make the wet masala
- Heat the oil in a frypan (medium heat) and add the onions. Fry until pinkish and take out in a plate along with the oil (3-4 minutes).
- Wipe the pan clean with a paper towel, and put the rest of the ingredients under 'wet masala' in it. Sauté on low to medium heat until fragrant (2 minutes).
- Put the fried onions and the toasted ingredients in a blender, add water as required, and blend to a thick paste. Keep it aside.
2. Fry the chilli peppers
- Heat the oil in a frypan (medium heat) and add the chilli peppers. Fry until slightly blistered on all sides. Cover with a small plate briefly if the oil splatters. Keep the fried chillies aside.
3. Make the curry
- Heat the oil in a pan and add the whole spices - cumin, mustard, fenugreek, and nigella seeds. Let them sizzle in the hot oil for a few seconds, then add the curry leaves.
- Add the ginger-garlic paste and powdered spices - red chilli and turmeric. Sauté this masala for about 2 minutes on low heat so that it doesn't burn.
- Add the wet masala you prepared in step 1 along with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ - ¾ cups water to loosen it a bit. Sauté this masala on medium heat for about 5-7 minutes, stirring all the time, until thick and fragrant.
- Add the fried Jalapeño chilli peppers along with the oil in which they were fried. Also add 1 and a ½ cups water. Reduce the heat and cover the pan with a lid. Allow the chillies to simmer in the gravy for about 10-12 minutes on gentle heat, undisturbed.
- Remove the lid and stir the gravy. The chillies will be cooked and soft, and the gravy glossy. Serve hot with the main dish of your choice like biryani or pulao.
Notes
- Choose firm and plump jalapeño peppers. You can substitute these with Serrano chillies for a slightly spicier option.
- All the spices and ingredients are easily available online or in your local Indian or Pakistani grocery.
- Do not dump all the ingredients at once; instead, follow the layering steps and sauté the curry as required at every step, taking the time to roast all the ingredients well. This will ensure a deeply flavourful and well-cooked curry.
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