American ‘Idol’ and Mirchi Ka Salan
Posted in Indian Festivals, Peppers(Jalapeno.Serrano. et.al), Vegetables on 08/21/2006 11:20 am by mythiliRight. That’s what the title of the post going to be. For one thing – I will talk about the famed Mirchi ka Salan (Annaheim/Jalapeno Peppers in Spicy sauce), shortly. But before that there is a tad of pain and wincing the readers have to go through. Well as whimsical and as frivolous I am, there is a slightly religious touch to the whim in concern -> Idol Making. Boasting of less than 1 hour of experience at playing with clay, I indulged myself to “Pottery Clay” from Hobby Lobby. Ergo, the title.
So what’s with the idol? As we all know Aug 27th is Ganesh Chathurthi and this time (much to N’s grief) I wanted to make the idol with clay for the pooja - actually make it at home. The elephant-headed God needs no introduction. This time (while I lazily prepare for me GMAT) I want his extra powerful looks upon me.
As I embark to bribe the God, I realized idol making needs some talent (which I obviously lack as proved by the picture below). So I set the work table (hey – every work-woman, no matter how gauche’ she is, needs a platform to work). I took a portion of Clingwrap and wrapped around a small plastic stool. I also took some water and set down making the idol. After like 30 mins I could manage this. ( I had already planned that I will be making several of these miniatures before I get it right. So I had named this Ganesh v0.1) Enjoy !!
Bad photograph – I know. The idol was actually ravishing but the photographer was bad. heh heh! Anyhooo Iam going to make another one today so lets see how it comes out.
Yeah. I rememeber – the recipe. My dear friend – ‘A’ was leaving to her town today and I invited her over to lunch. That being the occasion I knew I had to make soemthing special. I already fed her Dum Aloo and other such recipes. So I turned to N and he offered he’d make ‘Peas Pulav’ and I decided I’d make “Mirchi Ka Salan” to go with it.
The original recipe can be found here at HareKrsna website which btw is absolutely fantastic.
–ingredients——————————————–
- Jalapeno peppers/Serrano Peppers/ Annaheim Peppers – 20
- Onions , chopped – 1 cup
- Tomatoes chopped (medium sized) – 2 (this is my addition and it is optional)
- Peanuts – 1/4 cup
- Dessicated coconut – 1/4 cup
- Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp
- Coriander Seeds – 2 tsp
- Black peppers – 1 tsp (optional)
- Star Anise – 1 (optional)
- Tamarind – Lemon sized
- Ginger – 1 inch piece
- Garlic - 1 clove
- Water – many cups
- Turmeric – 1 tsp
- Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
- Curry leaves – 8
–procedure————————————————-
- Make a vertical slit and remove the seeds from the peppers. Heat 1 tbsp of peanut oil or ghee and fry the peppers.
- Making the salan :
- Dry roast peanuts and de-skin them. Then in the same pan add 1 tsp cumin seeds, coriander seeds, black peppers, dessicated coconut and star anise. Keep aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and fry onions and tomatoes. Cool to room temparature and keep them aside.
- Dry roast ginger and garlic and keep aside.
- Grind all the above ingredients to a fine paste by adding 1 cup of water (approx.) and 1 tsp of salt. Keep the paste aside
- Soak the tamarind in as little warm water as possible for about 5 mins.
- Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and 1 tsp of cumin seeds. Wait until they splutter and add curry leaves. Fry for 15 secs and add the ground paste (stated above). Add some water and turmeric. Cook on medium heat for 7 mins.
- Squeeze in the tamarind juice into the cooking salan and cook for another 10 mins.
- Add the fried peppers and cook until the raw smell of onion/tomatoes/tamarind evaporates.
- Add salt and granish with coriander
Serve hot with rice and/or rotis.
08/21/2006 at 1:27 pm
What a great idea to make your own murti! And despite the quality of the image, it looks like you have a lot of talent there! If you’re serious about the clay modeling, look for a pottery studio that will fire (bake) your idols in their kilns and let you glaze them, after which they need to be fired again.
08/21/2006 at 1:31 pm
Thank you so much. Your words mean sooooooo much to me *sob* *sob*.
(Overaction)
I will check out the local pottery studio.
08/21/2006 at 7:37 pm
One of my friends did the murthy last time and we were going to do it for this time too. Need to get crackling on that
…
The mirchi ka salan looks great too!
Mythili replies, Thanks L2C and good luck with your venture
08/22/2006 at 8:41 am
Hi Mythili,
Ganesh murthi looks really good (even through the slightly faded picture). You are quite a handy woman..
Mirchi ka salan looks yummy..
Happy Ganesh Chathurthi in advance.
Mythili replies, Thanks Pavani.
08/22/2006 at 12:18 pm
Mythili, is there a particular mix of peppers that you would recommend for the mirchi ka salan?
Mythili replies, I used Jalapeno and Serrano.
08/22/2006 at 3:26 pm
nenoppukOnu.. oppukOnanTe oppukOnu..
nen lEnappuDu cheshi nAk peTTakunda tinTav lE..
chepta biDDa.. nI sangathi chepta..
08/22/2006 at 3:59 pm
Hi Mythili — cooking, gardening, and now pottery… looks like plenty of artistic ability to me
Mythili replies, *blush* *blush*
08/23/2006 at 2:39 am
Mythils,
Great work going there
Looking forward to see your GoLive Ganesha picture .. MirchikaSaalan brings water to my mouth.
Cheers,
Nav
Mythili replies, I will post the golive once I am done (which should be pretty soon)
08/25/2006 at 1:26 pm
Mythili the idol looks beautiful. I hope you will share one more photo with us when you have decked up the deity on Ganesh chaturthi…cheers
Mythili replies, *shy* *shy*
08/27/2006 at 9:23 am
Wow! So Mythili is a multi-talented gal,eh? I agree with Manisha.. you should do something about improving on your skills. Seriously, Mythili.
Wishing you and N a very happy Vinayaka Chaturthi!
Mythili replies, Thanks so much for you wishes. Wish you a very happy Vinayaka Chavithi too.
08/28/2006 at 12:47 am
Hi Mythili,
Your hand made Ganesh Idol looks great. Thank you so much for sharing your “Mirch Ki Salan” Recipe.
Mythili replies,
Glad you like the recipe.
08/28/2006 at 5:48 am
A great-looking idol, Mythili. I wouldn’t have even thought of attempting, you know.
Mythili replies, Wait until you see the ones that my friends made. I will post about that shorlty
09/14/2006 at 4:34 am
Hi Mythili,
I guess, you are too busy to post recipes right now. But how about something like a meme? I have tagged you for one. Please check out my latest post for more info.
09/19/2006 at 1:28 pm
Hey Mythili, I saw an article about Alpana Singh and her new book, Alpana Pours – thought it might interest the sommelier in you.
09/22/2006 at 12:10 pm
Manisha —
That’s so sweet of you… Thanks much !!
09/29/2006 at 8:39 am
Hi Mythili,
Its been a while you posted anything. Hope all is well.
Happy Dasara to you and your family.
Pavani
11/27/2006 at 1:51 pm
You go the whole route with Onion-Tomato-Garlic-Ginger, don’t you?..
I will try it this way next time. I very much like the star anise thing.
Question is, Will I buy the whole packet of star anise to try it out?
The answer?..of course, I will!!
11/27/2006 at 1:52 pm
Oh, I like your new template, too..NICE!