Bell peppers filled with spiced potatoes and peas, baked until the peppers soften and the filling turns golden.
Bharwan shimla mirch is a vegetarian stuffed pepper found in Pakistani and North Indian home kitchens, built around a spiced mashed potato and pea filling rather than rice or meat, which keeps the dish light and quick to prepare on a weeknight. The peppers are lightly hollowed, filled generously, and either shallow-fried in a pan or baked until the skins blister and soften. The filling itself is essentially a dry aloo sabzi: boiled potatoes mashed coarsely and cooked with cumin seeds, onion, ginger, and a blend of coriander, turmeric and amchur (dried mango powder) for tang. Amchur is the ingredient that sets this filling apart from a plain potato curry, giving it a bright sourness that cuts through the richness of the oil and balances the sweetness of the cooked peppers. Served with roti or as a side to dal and rice, stuffed peppers are the kind of dish Pakistani cooks make when they want something colorful and vegetable-forward without much fuss, and the leftover filling alone is good enough to eat on its own with flatbread.
Serves 4
Cut the tops off the peppers and scoop out the seeds and ribs, keeping the peppers whole. Set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and let them sizzle, then add onion and cook until soft and lightly golden, about 5 minutes.
Stir in ginger and green chile, then coriander, turmeric, amchur and chile powder. Cook the spices for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Crumble the boiled potatoes into the pan by hand for a coarse texture, add peas and salt, and cook 5 minutes, stirring, until everything is evenly coated and slightly golden in spots.
Crumbling the potatoes with your hands rather than mashing smooth keeps the filling from turning gluey.
Stir in cilantro, then pack the potato filling firmly into each pepper, mounding slightly at the top.
Heat remaining oil in a wide pan over medium-low heat. Stand the peppers upright, cover, and cook 15 to 18 minutes, turning occasionally, until the pepper skins blister and soften.
Serve hot with roti or steamed rice and a side of yogurt.
Choose peppers that can stand upright on their own -- flat-bottomed varieties like bell peppers work far better than long thin peppers.
If you don't have amchur, a squeeze of lemon juice stirred in at the end gives a similar tang, though slightly brighter.
Cover the pan while cooking the stuffed peppers so steam softens the skins evenly instead of just charring the bottom.
Baked version: arrange stuffed peppers in a baking dish, drizzle with oil, and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 25 minutes.
Add paneer: fold in half a cup of crumbled paneer with the potatoes for extra protein and richness.
Keema-stuffed: replace half the potato with cooked spiced ground beef or lamb keema for a non-vegetarian version.
Refrigerate cooked stuffed peppers up to 3 days in an airtight container. Reheat in a covered skillet over low heat or in a 350°F oven until warmed through; microwaving can make the pepper skins go soft and watery.
Stuffed vegetable dishes are common across South Asian home cooking, and the potato-and-amchur filling used here reflects a classic North Indian and Pakistani approach to using inexpensive pantry staples to fill and dress up seasonal produce.
Yes, red, yellow and orange peppers all work well and tend to taste slightly sweeter than green once cooked.
Substitute a tablespoon of lemon or lime juice stirred into the filling at the end -- it won't taste identical but adds the same tangy contrast.
This usually happens if the heat is too high or the peppers cook too long uncovered; keep the heat medium-low and check them after 12 minutes.
Per serving (260g / 9.2 oz) · 4 servings total
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