Colourful capsicums are the darlings of cuisines across the world. Sweet and crunchy capsicums are deliciously versatile vegetables, which can be prepared in a variety of ways and their beautiful colours brighten up any dish. They can be eaten raw, roasted, grilled with succulent meats, stuffed with a savoury filling and baked, steamed with other tender crisp veggies, sautéed, or thrown into a simmering pot for a hearty warming stew or a soup. I must admit that I used to enjoy capsicum only on pizzas until I came up with this creation of a simple recipe for Tricolour Capsicum Masala Stir Fry.
After thinking a lot, I decided to play with the colours to include this veggie in my cooking. I used yellow, green and red capsicums with some Indian spices to make a dry curry, more like a stir-fry. The plan was not to overcook the capsicum to retain its crunch and use very little oil. Just to add a little kick, they are tossed in with a self-created spice mix. I always love to use freshly ground spice mixes. I never plan ahead what would be the ingredients, I just go to the pantry, pick a few ingredients, grind them and there it is!….fresh spice mix ;-).
Capsicums are now a vegetable I enjoy, and even crave for. Can you guess the reason?? COLOURS.
I think Colours play an important role in our food. First you eat with your eyes, and then with your mouth… Everything green on a plate is so dull and boring, until you throw in some yellow or red to make it interesting. These capsicums add gorgeous colour and the inherent sweetness in it is very appealing.
A lot said about capsicum and my love for them, let’s move on quickly to the Tricolour Capsicum Masala Stir Fry recipe
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Step-by-Step process in making Tricolour Capsicum Masala Stir Fry:
- Grab all the required ingredients.
- Discard seeds, and dice capsicums and onion into equal-size cubes.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter add onions.
- Once the onions turn translucent, throw in capsicum cubes, few curry leaves, required salt and stir-fry for 5 minutes.
- While the capsicums get cooked, grab all the ingredients to make the spice mix.
- Add all the ingredients under the section “For the Powder” in a blender and grind to a coarse powder.
- Add in the ground powder to the capsicum mixture and stir for 5 minutes until the capsicum is coated well with the spices.
- The capsicum should have a mild crunch. Do not overcook them.
- Turn off the heat and garnish with coriander.
Serve with roti, chapathi, paratha or with rice with sambhar or rasam. This will make a great stuffing for sandwiches too.
Tricolour Capsicum Masala Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon Vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 3 Capsicums or Bell peppers tricolour, diced into cubes
- 1 large Onion diced into cubes
- Few curry leaves
- Required salt
- For the Powder
- ½ cup Roasted Peanuts
- 1 Tablespoon desiccated coconut
- 4 Dry red chillies
- 3 Garlic pods unpeeled
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- For garnish:
- A fistful of chopped coriander
Instructions
- Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add mustard seed. Once they splutter add onions.
- Once onions turn translucent, add capsicum, curry leaves, required salt and stir-fry for 5 minutes.
- In the mean time add all the ingredients under the heading “For the Powder” in a blender and grind to a coarse powder.
- Add in the ground powder to the capsicum mixture and stir for 5 minutes until the capsicum is coated well with the spices.
- The capsicum pieces should have a slight crunch. Do not overcook them.
- Turn off the heat and garnish with coriander.
Notes
Do not to overcook capsicums, otherwise they will become soggy.
Spice levels can be adjusted wit red chilies to your taste.
Do try out some variations in the spice mix and share it with me.
This spice mix powder can also be used with any vegetable of your choice.
You can also use the spicy lentil powder used in Eggplant stir fry recipe, which will give another variation to this Tricolour capsicum masala stir fry.
Happy cooking 🙂
padma
