Mirchi Bajji

Mirchi Bajji

Ingredients: 

1.Long, Stout Chilies – 8 
2.Tamarind – Gooseberry Sized 
3.Carom Seeds(Ajwain) – 1 1/2tsps 
4.Salt To Taste 
5.Gram Flour – 1 Cup 
6.Baking Powder – 1/4tsp 
7.Oil To Deep fry

Preparations: 

Take tamarind in a microwave safe bowl and add little water. Microwave this on high for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave again on high for 30 seconds. Keep aside. Take a mixie jar and add Carom Seeds (Ajwain). Add salt and the tamarind along with the tamarind water. If you have any doubt that the carom seeds do not get crushed to a fine paste, first powder them in a mortar and pestle and then add to the mixie jar. Now make a fine paste of the above ingredients. Take it into a plate and keep aside. Slit the chilies length wise and remove the seeds with the help of a spoon. Do not remove the seeds if you want the bajjis to be hot. If you want you can remove half seeds and keep half seeds so that the bajjis will be hot but not burning. Stuff these chilies with the tamarind mixture and keep aside for 4 to 5 hours. By doing this your bajjis will not be hot at all. The chilies get a nice flavor of carom seeds and tamarind and will be tasty. 

Method: 

Take gram flour in a bowl and add salt. Add baking powder also and mix. Slowly add water to get batter in right consistency. Heat a pan and add oil to it. To test whether the oil is sufficiently hot or not, drop a few drops of the batter into the oil. It should first sink and then slowly rise to the top. Then the heat is right. If it pops up immediately then switch off the heat and let it cool. Another way of cooling the oil is to add cold oil to it. Now dip the prepared chilies in the batter and drop them in the oil and fry on medium heat. Fry till golden brown. When done remove them on to the paper napkin to remove excess oil. Serve them hot. 

Points to Remember: 

 Make the gram flour batter 2 hours before you fry the chillies. Then they will puff rightly. Because of baking powder these chillies get browned fast. So fry them only on medium heat stirring all the while to get even browning. Remove the seeds from the chilies according to your taste. If you want them hot do not remove seeds. If you want them less hot then remove half the seeds. If you do not want it hot then remove all the seeds. After removing the seeds you can take some and grind along with the tamarind pulp also and stuff thereafter. It purely depends on your tastes. 

Tip: 

At times the stuffing comes out while frying and the oil gets spoilt. Do not worry. There is one age old tip. After frying the bajjis , take the pan away from heat and add some tamarind to the hot oil . Let the tamarind get fried completely. It becomes black and dry. Cool the oil along with the tamarind. Then strain it through a strainer and you get clear oil . But do not fry the oil repeatedly. It is not good for health as the property of oil changes once it is heated to high temperatures. So take less quantity of oil for frying and fry the chilies in 2 to 3 batches instead of one batch with more oil. Like this the oil remaining after frying will be less to get consumed. But remember not to use this oil for deep frying. Rather use this oil for daily cooking where you use only 2 to 3 teaspoons only. 

Variations: 

After frying these bajjis slit them length wise and keep aside. Chop onions finely, add some lemon juice and mix well with fingers. Stuff this onion mixture in the fried bajjis and serve. They taste excellent. 

 Or

Cut the bajjis into round pieces and spread them in a plate. Sprinkle chopped onions above these pieces. Sprinkle some lemon juice, some fine sev and serve as chat. 

Or

Cut the bajjis into round pieces and spread them in a plate. Take some whisked curd(smoothened curd) and add to the bajji pieces. Add tamarind chutney and green chutney to them. Sprinkle some tamarind chutney and green chutney. Cover with fine sev. Garnish with grated coconut and chopped coriander and serve.

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!