I had never tasted this dish….only heard about it as an integral part of Hyderabadi cuisine.The other day while watching ‘The Best Thing I Ever Ate-Spicy’ on food network ,I saw Ted Allen vouching for the Mirchi Ka Salan which he ate at an Indian Restaurant in New York as the best spicy dish ever. I knew I had to make it.The husband is a big time fan of spicy stuff…so I knew that this dish will be a hit!!! 
Before I forget ..A big thanks to Ted Allen for the inspiration!
In hindi, Mirchi means chillies of all kinds & Salan is an Urdu lingo for a curry or sauce.The only irritating part of the making this dish is that everything crackles & splutters a lot!!! So be ready for a major cleanup!!!First its the crackling of all kinds of seed while being dry roasted & and then its the spluttering of sauce while cooking to every nook & corner of the kitchen within its reach! And these are the times when I really really miss my kaamvaali bai and the empress kinda life I had in India where I used to just walk out of the kitchen after the cooking & she used to wash the dishes and wipe the floors!!….I miss her so badly at times 
Anyhow,the dish is worth all the effort and aftereffects too……I spent almost 15-20 minutes cleaning the stove top and the kitchen walls
The salan is divine.Its nutty with peanuts, has a distinct taste of sesame seeds and tingles in the mouth.At the end of preparation ,your house will smell like the royal kitchens at the rajwaras of Hyderbad.I know I m gonna make it again and again I have used jalapenos to make this curry.And it was not a very hot curry, it was just spicy.You can actually add some teaspoons of sugar to mellow it down ! Your dish Your wish
Also while handling chillies, wear your gloves unless of course you wanna jump around the house with sore eyes !!! The dish has to be prepared with fresh jalapenos only, dried will not do because scraping the juicy flesh of the jalapenos and then combining it with nutty creamy sauce is the highlight of the curry and that’s the divine feeling I m talking about!It makes a great side dish with Mutton Biryani or a normal dal- rice combo.
You can make eggplants or corn on the cob in the same gravy.I used the left over gravy with some shrimps the next day and it tasted good.
What I needed:
[Adapted from Tarla Dalal's recipe here]
- 1/2 b fresh jalapenos [or any fleshy green chilli of your choice]
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp white poppy seeds [khus-khus]
- 1/4 cup white sesame seeds [safed til]
- 1/2 cup raw peanuts
- 1 tsp whole coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
Sauce
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds [rai]
- 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds [methi dana]
- 3 tbsp oil [ I used canola]
- 2 large onions , thick sliced
- 1 tsp garlic paste
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1 tsp red chili powder [ optional]
- 2 tbsp thick tamarind pulp
- 3-4 curry leaves
- Salt to taste
How I did it:
- Wash and pat dry the jalapenos. Make a slit in each lengthwise.Scoop out the seeds and veins from them.I did not remove all of the seeds because I wanted to keep my gravy little spicy.Its upto you!!! You can keep the stems intact if using smaller chillies.I removed the stems because I used jalapenos.Cut the chillies into halfs or thirds.I did.You can keep them whole too.Keep aside.
- In a small pan , dry roast all the dry ingredients one by one and set them aside.Rub off the skins of the peanuts after they are cool. Grind them all separately in a spice grinder/coffee grinder to a fine powder without adding any water. Set aside.
- Grind the onions to a smooth paste in a blender.In a cooking pot,heat the oil on medium high.Once hot enough,add the green chillies.The oil will splutter as you add the chillies so cover with lid.Carefully stir fry them for 3-5 minutes. Once done remove the chillies to a plate and keep aside.
- For the sauce :In the same hot oil, on medium heat add the cumin seeds,brown mustard seeds, curry leaves and fenugreek seeds.Allow the spices to splutter for a minute till you smell the aroma. Add the onion paste and immediately cover the pan with a lid because the paste will splutter. Allow it to saute for 3-6 minutes covered.
- Next, lower the heat , remove the lid and add ginger garlic paste and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the sesame seed powder,poppy seeds powder,corinader powder, cumin powder and peanut powder and stir fry the masala for 2-5 minutes or until you see that the mixture comes together and starts leaving oil on the sides of the pot.
- At this point add red chilli powder [if using], and salt.Keep stir frying the masala for about 3 minutes on medium low heat. Stir fry until you are done away with the raw odor of the peanuts and the ginger-garlic paste.
- Next, dilute the tamarind paste with 2 cups of water and mix well.Add the pulp to the pot along with the fried green chillies and stir well.Cover the lid and let the gravy simmer for 15-20 minutes the chillies are well cooked in the masala gravy.
- Remove from heat and serve.
Enjoy!!
Sending this to Show me your curry event by Divya of dil se.
Sending this to Two for Tuesdays.
I LOVE the sound of this. The spicy jalapeños in the fragrant sauce…oh my! I’m bookmarking with hopes that I really will get around to trying it one day! So glad you’ve shared it w/ t4t this week
i love spicy curry too and this is one of my fav with rice….pics are very lovely and very tempting tanvi…and thanks a lot for dropping by…
oh my ..mirch ka salan looks sooooo tempting …love to have it anytime ..yummy
Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com
With that long list of spices, this must have tasted flavourful and heavenly!
First time in ur space…you have such nice and warm space here..lovely recipes, moreover mouth watering pics..will come later to check ur other recipes..you are also welcome to my place..visit me when have time
Omg, yummy mirchi ka salan..mouthwatering here..
Tanvi!
I love mirchi ka salan with my dal chawal. Well the truth is I like anything mirchi with anything
I make this bhagare baigan alot http://journeykitchen.blogspot.com/2009/12/baghare-bhaigan.html and the think its mostly similar except the coconut ? Will add both baigan and mirchi next time to see how it turns out!
And thanks for that link on yogurt. I still haven’t read it but will do once I get home. And besides dumb! thats what food blogs are for, to share ideas, recipes and doubts. I’m glad to made me think
which is a rarity around here hehe.
Love
Kulsum
Lovely flavours delicious presentation
Its lunch time now, and this mirchi ka salan is tempting me a lot. A great recipe, Tanvi.
Spicy and yummy..sounds delicious,never tried this before..this is tempting me.
like you I have also heard abt the dish but never got a chance to taste the same..that looks delicious and yummy..very tempting pics..especially the last one.
Ooo..I bet that was delicious..fabulous recipe dear!!
US Masala
Though i always try to avoid chilly, this looks too tempting…….and new to me too…
Thanks for the Birthday wish….
I am soooo glad you shared this with Two for Tuesday this week. This is just the type of dish that makes me weak at the knees, and I feel inspired to try it pronto.
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Best side dish for briyani or for anything….extremely tempting and delicious
I so love this spicy curry…would be best with some biryani…yummmo yumm
Hey Tanvi,
First time here and loving it !! love the mirchi ka salan recipe !! was looking for the spicy salan recipe to go with my mild Chicken Yakhni biryani .Thank you so much for visiting my blog and ur lovely comments. Am foll ur blog on Facebook Networked blogs now and waiting to try out this yummy spicy recipe!!
Hi Tanvi and welcome to the two for tuesday recipe blog hop! I am now subscribed to your RSS feed and so glad you could join us on the hop because I get to check out your blog! I love spicy peanut sauces like this over rice, but never knew how to make one. Thank you so much! Alex@amoderatelife
I wish I had a “kaamvaali bai” oh, wait I do, I just call them “my children” LOL! What a great recipe full of spice and heat and delicious taste – thanks for linking to Two for Tues!
What a wonderful dish! I’m so happy to find you through Two for Tuesdays blog hop!! I love anything spicy and this looks to be right up my alley!
Tanvi- I wanted to thank you again for sharing your recipe with the Two for Tuesday blog hop. I liked it so much that I decided to feature it in my Best of the Blog Hop post.
Hope you come back to visit us at the hop this week, because we are unveiling some exciting new changes!
Thank you so much dear.I really appreciate it….I m so happy
Sure…I ll try to include my recipes in blog hops regularly.It such a exciting event as well as thanks to all of you for such an innovative idea!
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Hey, this is a nice one, I am going to try this today , I have some baingan and chillies in my garden, hubby wants me to use them! book marked it..
Absolutely awesome curry…
Mouthwatering, looks delicious!