Bharela marcha (Stuffed chili peppers)
Delectable stuffing of chickpea flour and an assortment of masala into chili peppers is a delicious traditional Gujarati side dish
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No other Indian cuisine uses chickpea flour as much as Gujarati food does. Be it dhokla or khandvi or muthia, you will find amazing use of chickpea flour in this cuisine in all shapes and forms.
Bharela marcha or stuffed chili peppers is a delicious side dish served in a Gujarati thali. And just like the trademark of Gujarati cuisine, these chilies are not spicy but rather has a perfect balance of salty, sweet and spice.
The stuffing is primarily of roasted chickpea flour and other spices which is very versatile. I always make extra stuffing as it keeps for a week and use it to sprinkle it over roasted veggies or even swirling it in yogurt. It is absolutely delicious. A traditional Gujarati bread, Satpadi rotli (roti with 7 layers) is another favourite of ours with this stuffing. 
My sister who has an in-depth knowledge of Gujarati cuisine makes this lip-smacking ‘athanu’ (pickle as we call in Gujarati) as a part of the scrumptious thali. My version is a heavy adaptation of her recipe with few differences.
I hope you will enjoy these peppers as a part of your meal as much as we do.
If you liked this recipe, do have a look at some of these as well:
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Bharela marcha (Stuffed chili peppers)
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AUTHOR
Hema B Kathrani
CUISINE
Gujarati
PREP TIME
20 minutes
COOK TIME
5 minutes
SERVINGS
makes 12 peppers
Author: Hema B Kathrani | Cuisine: Gujarati | Category: Accompaniments
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes | Servings: makes 12 peppers
Delectable stuffing of chickpea flour and an assortment of masala into chili peppers is a delicious traditional Gujarati side dish
Ingredients
- 12 chili peppers
- 1 cup chickpea flour (besan)
- Masala:
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 ½ tsp kasoori methi
- 1 ½ tbsp koro sambhar
- 1 tbsp cumin-coriander powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black salt
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup peanut oil
- 3 tbsp peanut oil
- Garnish: a generous squirt of freshly squeezed lemon/lime
Method
- Wash and thoroughly dry the chili peppers.
- In a pan, dry roast chickpea flour on a low flame till it turns lightly brown and smells toasted. This should take about 10-12 minutes.
- Remove in a bowl and keep it aside.
- In the same pan, dry roast the sesame seeds till it starts to crackle.
- Remove from the pan and mix it with the chickpea flour.
- Dry roast kasoori methi in the same pan without heat for 30 seconds. The residual heat of the pan will crisp up the dry leaves.
- Remove from the pan and mix with flour + sesame seeds mix.
- Now add all the remaining ingredients and combine in a crumbly masala mix.
- Slit the peppers half way through with a sharp knife and remove as many seeds as possible.
- Carefully, stuff the peppers with the masala mix.
- In a non-stick pan, put 3 tbsp of peanut oil and bring it to heat.
- Place the stuffed peppers in the pan and sauté it for 30 seconds.
- Cook for further 5-8 minutes or until you see blisters on the skin of the peppers.
- Remove from the pan and cool.
- Serve with a generous squirt of lemon and enjoy!
Notes
- Buy stiff peppers as the softer ones will not hold its shape during cooking.
- Koro sambhar or methia no masalo, is a pickle powder primarily made up of fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds and chili powder.
- Dry roast the chickpea flour and sesame seeds on a low flame as they tend to burn quickly if unattended.
- I would recommend using a chopstick as a most effective method to remove the seeds from the peppers. I have tried spoon, fork etc but invariably the pepper tears.
- The stuffing can be made in advance and be stored in the fridge for a week.
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3 thoughts on “Bharela marcha (Stuffed chili peppers)”
I have been looking for this information for quite some times. About four and a half hours of continuous searching, at last I found that in your web site. I wonder why Bing never display this type of useful websites in the top of the list. Usually the first few websites are junks. Maybe its time to change to another search engine.
Loved the taste. Awesome recipes.
Thank you so much Pankti 🙂