Stir-Fried Traffic Light Bell Pepper Curry

Adapted from Simply South: Traditional Vegetarian Cooking by Chandra Padmanabhan

Ingredients:

• 2-3 Tbsp coconut oil (or any vegetable oil)
• 1 tsp whole brown mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 dried red chili pepper, halved
• 1-2 sprig curry leaves (optional)
• 3 large bell peppers, one green, one orange and one red, washed and chopped in to 1/2 inch pieces
• 5 Tbsp chickpea or garbanzo bean flour (also known as besan in Hindi and kadalai maavu in Tamil)
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp red chili powder (or less if you cannot handle spicy)
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Heat the coconut oil in a wide pan, preferably cast-iron, or an iron wok
• When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, and when they start spluttering, add cumin seeds, red chilies and curry leaves
• Add the chopped bell pepper and stir on high heat for 2 minutes
• Then lower the heat, cover and let it cook for around 7 minutes (you can do less if you like the bell pepper to have a bit of crunch)
• While the bell pepper is cooking, mix together the chickpea flour, coriander powder, chili powder and salt to taste
• Uncover the pan or wok and sprinkle on the mixed spices and stir till well distributed
• Increase the heat to medium and continue stirring for 4-5 minutes until the curry is completely dry
• Switch off the heat, transfer to a serving bowl and serve hot with white rice

Notes:

• Next time I may try making this stir-fry curry with just green bell peppers. I did not care for the sweetness of the red and orange peppers as much, although V loved it
• In the book, Chandra Padmanabhan recommends mixing the spices and chickpea flour with oil before sprinkling it on the curry. I tried this last time and it did not work as well, so I decided to sprinkle on the dry mixture.