Spusht: Stuffed Capsicums (Bell Pepper) / Bharwan Shimla Mirch

This Bharvan Shimla Mirch ki Sabji (Stuffed Capsicums/Bell Pepper) is a great dish to cook during parties, considering that once all the preparations are done, the capsicums are stuffed and placed on baking tray in oven, all you have to do is bake them for 10 minutes while you are entertaining guests, and voila – the bharwan shimla mirch is served. Because this dish tends to be on the dry side, I would prefer to serve it as an appetizer, or with another gravy/curry on the side.

This Stuffed Capsicum recipe has been taken from Shobha Indani's cookbook 'Swad Sugandh'. You may have to adjust the quantities of stuffing if your bell peppers are larger in size. As you see in pictures below, the stuffing was not enough to fill up my large bell peppers till the brim.

What you need:

*For shimla mirch stuffing:*	*For sabji:*
1 Tbsp Oil	6-8 small Capsicums/Bell Peppers
2 tsp Green Chili Paste	1 Tbsp Butter
1 tsp Grated Ginger	2 Tbsp Tomato Sauce
1 cup Grated Boiled Potatoes	½ cup Grated Cheese
¼ cup Boiled Green Peas
2 Tbsp Cashew nut pieces	*For tempering:*
15-20 Raisins	½ tsp Mustard Seeds
½ tsp Turmeric Powder	½ tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Cumin Seed Powder	Pinch Asafoetida
¼ tsp Garam Masala
2 tsp Lemon Juice	*For garnishing:*
1 Tbsp Chopped Cilantro	1 Tbsp Chopped Cilantro
Salt to taste (I used 1 tsp)	½ cup Sev
Sugar to taste (I used ½ tsp)
	Serves: 4 – 6

ingredients for bharwan shimla mirch

Let’s begin!

Prepare:

1. Cut a thin slice from the top of the capsicums and remove the inner contents to make them hollow.

remove seeds and make capsicums hollow on the inside

2. Boil the capsicums in salted water (4 cups water + 3 Tbsp salt) for just 1 minute. Drain & place the capsicums upside-down to remove excess water.

Make the shimla mirch/capsicum stuffing:

1. Heat oil in pan; add the tempering. When crackles, add chili paste + grated ginger to it.

2. Now add all the remaining ingredients of the stuffing one at a time, and mix very well.

3. Total time for cooking this capsicum stuffing: approx 10 minutes.

the stuffing to put inside capsicums

Make:

1. Fill this stuffing in the capsicums until the top, apply butter all over them (my stuffing was not enough therefore the emptiness in capsicums). Then put some tomato sauce + cheese on each of them.

filling capsicums, then covering them with cheese on top

2. Option 1: If using oven, then preheat oven at 350⁰F (180⁰C) and bake the stuffed capsicums at same temperature for about 10 minutes.

stuffed capsicums baked in the oven

3. Option 2: Otherwise, cook the stuffed capsicums covered in a non-stick pan for about 5 minutes. [Note: placing in pan causes black marks on the bottom of capsicum, whereas it comes out clean in oven; in case this matters to you.]