Mahanandi

Living in Consciousness ~ Indi(r)a’s Food and Garden Weblog

Bell Pepper Zunka

Bell Peppers with Besan:


Bell Pepper and Besan (Gram Flour or Sanaga Pindi)

This one is easy to prepare and puts the bell peppers in season to good use.

Slice the peppers, (green, red or yellow) length-wise into thin strips. Do pan-saute and season with spices and besan. The subtle sweet flavor of besan (gram flour) complements the bell peppers greatly. Lovely to look at, even lovelier to consume, bell peppers with besan also known as Bell Pepper Zunka in Marathi, is an ideal dish for bell pepper fans.

Recipe:

3 bell peppers – green, yellow and red, cut to thin strips of 1-inch length
3 tablespoons – besan (gram flour)
¼ teaspoon each – chilli powder, salt and turmeric (or to taste)
Popu or tadka ingredients:
1 teaspoon oil
Pinch each – cumin, mustard seeds, and a sprig of curry leaves

In a wide skillet, heat the oil until a curry leaf tossed in it sizzles. Keep the heat to medium. Add the curry leaves and toast to pale brown. Toss in cumin and mustard seeds. When seeds start to splutter, add the bell peppers. Stir-fry few minutes, until bell peppers become crisp and fork-tender. Sprinkle the besan, chilli powder, salt and turmeric. Mix. Sauté, stirring often. Do not cover the skillet at this stage. When the pale yellow besan starts to get pale brown, time to turn off the heat. Serve the bell pepper Zunka hot. Makes a tasty meal when eaten with chapati or rice and dal combination.


Chapati with Bell Pepper Zunka, and Cantaloupe ~ Brunch Today

Bell Pepper Recipes:
Marathi Mirchi Bhaaji ~ from Kay
Stuffed Bell Peppers
Green Bell Pepper Saute with Dalia Powder (Pappula Podi)
Red, Yellow and Green Bell Pepper Curry
Bell Pepper Masala

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Bell Pepper,Gram Flour (Besan) (Thursday August 2, 2007 at 10:38 am- permalink)
Comments (26)

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26 comments for Bell Pepper Zunka »

  1. Simple & delicious dish. You made it colorful with the different colored peppers. I usually add thinly sliced onions too.. Yummy.

    Comment by Pavani — August 2, 2007 @ 11:06 am

  2. delicious looking and easy to prepare. I love the pix

    Comment by Deepika Saripalli — August 2, 2007 @ 11:08 am

  3. Simplicity at its best!

    Comment by Roopa (KitchenAromas) — August 2, 2007 @ 11:45 am

  4. we use pappula podi(senaga podem) rather than besan….i didnt quite like the bg’s

    Comment by anusharaji — August 2, 2007 @ 12:08 pm

  5. I know a simmilar dish like this.i think it tastes good too,rt?simple and tasty.

    Comment by viji — August 2, 2007 @ 12:57 pm

  6. I’ve done something like this with cabbage. A nice simple meal. Very pretty pictures, too (much prettier than with the cabbage!)

    Comment by Diane — August 2, 2007 @ 1:39 pm

  7. Hi Indira,

    You have done it again..looks very yummy! I dry-fry my besan a lil bit when i do this curry – but as you said simple and when served hot the very BEST!puts teh fersh peppers to great use.

    I have a question – I see your chapatis – they look very thin and have patterns on them – makes me remember rumali rotis – can you please share the secret?

    Thank you for a wholesome recipe again!
    Aparna

    Comment by Aparna — August 2, 2007 @ 2:57 pm

  8. Indira, about the chipotle chillies.. I used to wonder at those and feel the texture and put it back where it belonged.. Next time, I’ll probably buy one packet and try it after soaking.. Thanks for the tip.

    Btw, Indira, I made this sabji too.. One question – The first time I made it, it was excellent (I guess, beginner’s luck!) and I posted it on my blog too… But from the next time onwards, when I add the besan, it becomes kinda pasty instead of dry.. I’ve tried it upteen times after my first time and I get the pasty end always… I am not sure how I’m doing differently.

    Would you know how the sabji stays dry? If so, Can you please share the secret.

    Puzzled Kay.

    Comment by Kay — August 2, 2007 @ 3:08 pm

  9. Indira, I am not sure whether its me, but, I am having problems viewing yr post from FBD. Sometimes it is mere text, sometimes its a blank page. Its happening for the past 4 days. Letting you know…

    Comment by Suganya — August 2, 2007 @ 10:22 pm

  10. Bright pics Indira! I am the only one at home to love these bell peppers! Great but simple recipe!

    Comment by Nirmala — August 2, 2007 @ 10:46 pm

  11. That first photo of the pepper and the besan is gorgeous!! 🙂

    Comment by aa — August 2, 2007 @ 11:04 pm

  12. HI Indira,

    U have similar recipe for brinjal also. I think you posted this curry previously with different spices I think..

    Great picture and nice presentation….love the back grounds with green and blue …How could u do that?…can u please tell me the secrets of taking a nice picture?…atleast recoomend a book regarding photography.

    I am also getting the same problem that sometime your site comes as textwise and sometime it didn’t even open up.

    Bye
    Laxmi

    Comment by laxmi — August 3, 2007 @ 12:01 am

  13. i couldn’t access ur post since yest india. thank god its working fine now.
    the recipe sounds like zunka. simple and delicious.

    Comment by sia — August 3, 2007 @ 1:45 am

  14. Indira
    Nice to see u up and running again!!
    amazing pictures as usual!!

    Comment by padmaja — August 3, 2007 @ 1:45 am

  15. Looks delicious.. and colorful too!!!

    Comment by Cinnamon — August 3, 2007 @ 2:13 am

  16. Hi Indira,
    For some reason I could not view your blog yesterday.It’s fine now.
    This is such a simple recipe. My question is the same as Kay’s. Evertime I make this, the besan forms a paste 🙁
    Any tips/suggestions would be welcome.Thanks!

    Comment by TBC — August 3, 2007 @ 7:55 am

  17. Due to high volume traffic, the site had slowed down a bit. Hosting service problem. The site is back up again. If it’s not appearing, please click on “Refresh”. It does the trick, sometimes. The site needs another upgrade, because of cost factor involved, we are hesitating a bit to take that step.

    I am extremely sorry for this inconvenience!

    Hi Kay and TBC: I faced that problem too. Usually stir-fryng open, no lid cover, plus high heat cooking, particularly in the last stages, reduces the water amount in the skillet and helps to prevent the besan paste formation. Also I have noticed old bell peppers sweat out a lot compared to young ones. Young, firm fleshed ones are the best for this type of recipe.
    My two cents. Hope this helps.

    Hi Aparna: Thanks. The patterns are from the rolling pin that I use. They are regular chapatis, no rumali magic at all.:) Just wheat flour, salt and warm water and an hour rest to the dough. That’s it.

    Hi Laxmi:
    Yes, I blogged another recipe brinjal and besan combination. That one tastes even better.
    About photography: I listed few books in Amazon photography ad in the sidebar. They are all good and useful. Please check them out.

    Comment by Indira — August 3, 2007 @ 9:35 am

  18. Amazing recipe. You seem a pro at this 🙂

    I am still taking baby steps towards learning cooking. Yours is an inspiration.

    Will come back for more!

    Comment by Nags — August 3, 2007 @ 10:59 pm

  19. Thanks for the tips, Indira! 🙂 That was my problem. I knew to cook uncovered after the besan was added, but not before. Didn’t know about the tender, matured bell peppers either.

    I will try this recipe tomorrow. Have some bell peppers.

    Comment by Kay — August 4, 2007 @ 10:50 am

  20. That’s a great recipe! I love besan and bell peppers, so I’ll try it soon…

    Comment by Rosa — August 6, 2007 @ 6:47 am

  21. I tried it! All the tips – followed them all religiously. It came very good. 🙂 Thanks Indira.

    :bow:

    That’s great to hear Kay. I am happy for you. 🙂
    – Indira in a bowing pose.:)

    Comment by Kay — August 13, 2007 @ 1:48 pm

  22. We almost always have our bell peppers this way. Yumm. The only thing is, we slightly roast the besan before adding.

    Comment by Manu Sharma — August 19, 2007 @ 11:44 am

  23. Thanks Indira, this recipe was simply delicious. This is the only way I am going to prepare bell peppers ever again. Thankyou once again.

    Comment by smitha — January 21, 2008 @ 10:28 am

  24. hi indira,

    i am new here. i tried this recepi today. it came our really well. thanks a lot for the recepi.

    thanks
    vani.

    Comment by vani — February 8, 2008 @ 2:44 pm

  25. Hi Indira,
    I tried this and it was great. Will be posting it soon!
    Thank you!

    Comment by Kay — February 11, 2011 @ 11:29 am

  26. Amazing recipe. You seem a pro at this 🙂

    I am still taking baby steps towards learning cooking. Yours is an inspiration.

    Will come back for more!

    Comment by Andira — October 14, 2015 @ 8:30 am

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