Mirchi Bada recipe

Mirchi Bada recipe- Fried giant green chilies are stuffed with tangy potato filling and coated with a thick batter of gram flour is a spicy yet delicious tea time snack. I remember my mom making these at her kitty parties and the stuffing itself was very flavorful and satisfying. During our travelling days whenever we crossed Jodhpur; only the sight and smell of these mirchi bada’s was enough to make anyone’s mouth watery. And the thought of something particularly so delicious makes you want to eat it. One bite of it and all the flavors will just explode in your mouth making you crave for more.

WHY IS IT CALLED MIRCHI BADA? – I once asked a shopkeeper in Jodhpur and his answer was self explanatory. Mirchi stands for Green chili and Bada stands for Big; meaning big green chili a.k.a. Mirchi bada. Rain or shine..it’s an all time favorite snack.

The recipe below is divided into categories – first cleaning the green chilies, preparing the potato stuffing, de-seeding the chilies, preparing the batter and finally frying it. One can always improvise and use peas, cilantro and other ingredients in the stuffing making it more flavorful. 

Mirchi Bada recipe

4.58 from 7 votes

Mirchi bada - a spicy Indian street snack prepared with green chili and potato stuffing.

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 30 minutes mins

Total: 45 minutes mins

Servings: 6 PIECES

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INGREDIENTS 

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MIRCHI AND ALOO INGREDIENTS

• ▢ 5-6 pieces Big Green Chilies or jalapeno peppers
• ▢ 3 medium Boiled and mashed potatoes
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Turmeric powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Red chili powder
• ▢ 2 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
• ▢ 2 teaspoon Amchur Powder (Mango Powder)
• ▢ 2 teaspoon Dried mint leaves
• ▢ 2 teaspoon Mustard seeds
• ▢ A pinch of Hing/ Asafoetida
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Fennel seeds
• ▢ Salt to taste
• ▢ 1-2 tablespoon Oil
• ▢ A pinch of Chaat Masala - to sprinkle on top (optional)

BESAN INGREDIENTS

• ▢ 1.5 cups Besan (Chickpea flour/ Gram flour)
• ▢ 1/2 - 3/4 cup Club Soda or Soda water
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Red chili powder (adjust accordingly)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Dried mint leaves
• ▢ Salt to taste
• ▢ Oil for Frying

INSTRUCTIONS

ASSEMBLING INGREDIENTS

• Assemble: all your ingredients. Boil and mash the potatoes. Wash the green chilies in a colander and using a paper towel pat them dry one at a time. Keep them aside and let's prepare the stuffing.
  

ALOO PREPARATION

• Heat oil in a pan and add hing, mustard seeds and boiled mashed potatoes to it.
  
• To the mashed potatoes add all the spices.
  
• Give it a good mix until all the spices blend in with mashed potatoes and its color changes from off white to mustardy yellow . Allow the mixture to cool down.
  

MIRCHI PREPARATION

• Before we start stuffing the green chili- let's deseed it. Place the chili on a clean plate. Hold the top of the chili with your fingertips and using a sharp knife, carefully slit it open vertically. Open the chili and using a spoon remove all the seeds gently working your way downwards. Using the same method clean all the chilies.
  
• Time to stuff- make long rolls of the potato masala - almost the size of your chili and by carefully opening the chili place that potato masala roll inside the chili. We are not done yet.
  
• Press and firmly close the chili , excess masala will ooze out from the chili- either you can remove it and mix it back with rest of the masala or you can stuff it back - start at the bottom of the chili and while working your way up keep stuffing it inside the chili. This way all the loose pockets will be filled up and chili will be well stuffed. Firmly close the chili.
  

BESAN PREPARATION

• Before we begin let's assemble all our ingredients. Besan, soda water, spices and a bowl to mix everything in.
  
• Add besan to a bowl and stir in all the spices one by one.
  
• Time to add in soda water to the batter - at the same time start whisking the batter. You will hear a frizzy sound at first and then the bubbles will start to fade away as you whisk. Keep whisking the batter until it's smooth and lump- free. As shown in the picture below - it should be thick and of dropping consistency. Batter is ready.
  

FRYING MIRCHI BADA

• Now here is cool trick to dip Mirchi bada. Take a empty jar and pour besan batter into it. The height of the jar should be of the same size as the chili. Take your mirchi for a dive into this jar.
  
• Heat oil in a deep pan and bring it to a boiling point. Maintain your heat because if the oil cools down then the Mirchi bada will take in too much oil and result into - greasy mirchi bada's and if the oil is too hot then the outer batter would brown fast and the inner coating will remain uncooked. Check the oil if it's ready for frying by dropping a small drop of batter in the oil and if it rises to the surface immediately means your oil is ready for frying. Let's begin.
  
• If not comfortable with using a jar for dipping mirchi badas then let's go the traditional way by dipping the badas in the same vessel in which it was mixed and then frying them in hot oil. Be extra careful as the oil is too hot - holding the stem of the mirchi bada gently slide the mirchi bada in hot oil. Keep stirring and cook until they are evenly brown on all the sides. Keep a plate covered with paper towel ready nearby - to drain off the excess oil.
  
• As soon as they are out of the oil, sprinkle with chaat masala as this way it will stick to the mirchi badas right away- again this is optonal. Serve right away as depending on the weather, the crispy coating may not last longer.
  

Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided above is approximate. Variations may exist due to the ingredients/brands used. These numbers should be considered estimates, as they are not calculated by a registered dietician.

Author: Ruchi

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