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Stuff Up with Stuffed Capsicum ( Bell Peppers)

From long time I always wanted to make stuffed capsicum ( bell peppers) but for some reason that thought got ignored. For the New Year I wanted to give it a try for this recipe and browsed to get the idea, lot of people made the stuffing with meat or rice or potatoes.Hmmmm... lot of starch again the one thing I want to avoid in this new year.

So I came up with this new version where we can stuff with different kind of vegetables and replace the potatoes with sweet potatoes. For little spiciness I have added some indian curry powders (కూర పొడి) mixture and all of my vegetarian friends can add this to their healthy meal with no hesitation. C'mon Give it a Try!!!!!

Ingredients:
Small Bell Peppers (8)
Corn meal or Bread Crumbs


Vegetable Stuffing:
Chopped Cabbage - 1 Cup
Grated Carrots - 1/2 Cup
Green Peas (Frozen) - 1/2 Cup
Chopped Bell Pepper - 1/2 Cup
Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
Onion - 1/2 Medium
Green Chillies - 3
Ginger - 1 inch stick
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Cilantro - 1 Tbsp

Potato and Curry Powder Mixture:
Potato - 2
Sweet Potato - 1
Cumin Seeds - 1 Tsp
Cilantro - 1 Tbsp
Lime Juice - 1 Tsp
Pea Nuts - 1/4 Cup
Fried Split Chick Peas -  3 Tbsp
Red Chili Powder ( Paprika) - 1 tsp

Preparation:
Vegetable Stuffing:
1. Take the Chopped the Cabbage and grated carrots in a medium size bowl and add oil then microwave for 2 min
2. Add the Green Peas and microwave for 2 more minutes
3. Finally add the Green Bell Pepper and microwave for 1 minute
4. Take a Pan and put it on the stove and add oil to it
5. Add the chopped onions followed by green chili and ginger and fry it for a min
6. Add the grated coconut and add black pepper
7. Then Add the Vegetable (microwaved) to the pan and add salt stir fry on high flame and add the Chopped Cilantro at the end , reduce the heat and cook for 1 min so and turn off the heat and keep the mixture aside.

Potato and Curry Powder Mixture:
1. Boil the potatoes and sweet potatoes in the microwave for 10 min
2. peel the skin and mush them into a mixture
3. Grind the Pea Nuts and Fried Split Chick Peas (వేయించిన శనగ పప్పు / పుట్నాల పప్పు) in the magic bullet (or small jar in the mixie), add chili powder and pinch of salt and grind until it becomes the fine powder
4. Sprinkle Cumin Seeds to the Potato Mixture, add this powder from the jar, add cilantro and lime juice. Mix well with your hands by kneading so all the flavors gets sink into the potato mixture.

Get Bell Peppers Ready:
1. Take out the stem from the bell pepper by making an incision around it ( take a knife make it through the stem in circular motion). Take out the stem carefully with out breaking the edges
2. Cut the Peppers Vertically and Seed them out. (as shown in the picture above)
3. Wash all the peppers carefully and pat dry.

Now We are ready to stuff the bell Peppers:
1. Take one bell pepper ( it looks like a cup or shallow dish), take a spoonful of vegetable mixture and scoop in to the bell pepper cup
2. and then top with the potato mixture by spreading it evenly and stuffing tight. (Pea Nuts Powder acts a binding agent here).
3. Dip that potato mixture side in the Corn Meal or Bread Crumbs.
4. Take a Baking Dish and sprinkle with some oil
4. Arrange the stuffed peppers in the dish and then bake at 350 F for 30 minutes
5. Broil on Hi for 3 minutes and then turn the peppers and broil for 2 minutes on the other side.
6. Take them out and let them cool, garnish with grated carrots and spring onions and serve them hot with white rice.

This recipe looks long but most of the things can be done in microwave you can do some steps in parallel. Believe me its worth the effort. Now Enjoy this vegetable filled unique dish with your family and friends.


Nutritional Info:  You will be serving variety of vegetables with this dish and each pepper can be counted for 2 servings of vegetables and this is not deep fried yummy dish is very healthy and a nice addition to your plate for sure.

Hint:  In the Broil setting things can get roast easily so watch out carefully and turn it off in time.