Til Kutachi Mirchi

Til kutachi mirchi is a delicious recipe of bhavnagari chillies stuffed with til (sesame seeds) and kut (peanut powder). It is a tongue-tickler side dish that adds a great deal of flavour to comforting meals of dal-rice, khichdi or roti-sabzi.

I was introduced to this dish by my husband’s family. However, they had a totally different recipe by this name which did not use any peanuts or til at all. I tweaked this original family recipe and added til, kut and other spices to it; and the result is a truly delectable and healthy side dish. Bhavnagari chillies are really mild and the spices blend very well with the mellow flavour of the peppers. Try it out and I promise it will become a regular in your kitchen 🙂

Ingredients for Til Kutachi Mirchi:

Bhavnagari chillies: 8-10 in number

Roasted peanut powder: 1/2 cup

Roasted sesame seed powder: 1/3rd cup

Haldi/Tumeric powder: 1 tsp

Red chilli powder: 1.5 tsp

Coriander powder: 1 tbsp

Jeera/Cumin powder: 1 tsp

Amchur powder: 3/4 tsp

Fennel seeds powder: 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Peanut oil: 1 to 2 tbsp for mixing with the spice powders

Peanut oil for shallow frying: 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds/Rai – 1 tsp

Recipe:

Mix all the dry spice powders together with salt. Next, add a little peanut oil to the dry powders to help it bind a bit together. Slit the bhavnagari chillies keeping their stems intact. Remove the seeds. Fill this spice mixture inside the chillies and keep them ready.

Heat around 1 tbsp of oil in a flat pan. To this oil, add 1 tsp mustard seeds and allow it to splutter. Next, arrange the chillies with the slit side up in the pan and close the lid of the pan for 2-3 minutes. The chillies cook really fast. As soon as the chillies get blistered on one side, flip them on the other side and cook them again for another 2-3 minutes. Then, sprinkle the remaining masala of the filling on top of the chillies and ensure uniform cooking without allowing the stuffing to come out.

Enjoy the chillies hot as a side dish. 🙂

Note: One can use any oil for the stuffing and frying. However, I recommend peanut oil as the stuffing is primarily peanuts.