Description

Mirchi Bhajji (Stuffed chillies) is one of my favourite Indian street food that I grew up with. The spicy chillies are stuffed and dipped in chickpea flour batter and then deep-fried in oil. We all sometimes crave our favourite deep-fried foods. When transitioning to a no oil whole food plant-based way of eating, you might be wondering if you have to give up your favourites. Well, it gets better than that…. you can still enjoy them made without oil. These Bhaji do not contain any cheese butter or oil. They contain all the nutrition from fresh green pepper, chickpeas flour, veggies and herbs, and spices.

We have our dear friend Dr. Sirisha Potluri showing us her recipe on how to make Mirchi Bajji

Watch the above video for step by step process.

Green chillies are an excellent source of vitamin C and also the consumption of spicy food had shown to increase metabolism and whole-body calorie expenditure.

Method:

Preparing the Chillies:

1. Pick Long green chillis ( try to get the ones that are not too spicy). If you cannot find them in your local grocery store, you can also try green Jalapeno pepper or Pablano pepper.
2. Wear gloves and carefully remove the seeds and ribs from the green chillis.

For Stuffing:

1. Collect all the ingredients listed under stuffing in a blender jar: sesame seeds, flax seeds, ajwain seeds(carom seeds), chopped cilantro, chopped onion, Juice of 1 lemon, 1/4th teaspoon salt and blend them into a fine paste.
2. Now stuff the green chillis with the above paste and keep them aside.

For Coating:

1. combine all the ingredients listed under batter- chickpea flour, rice flour, ginger garlic paste, coriander seed powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder, salt, and baking soda,
2. Using water make a thick paste of all the above ingredients and keep it aside. (watch the video for this step)
3. Now hold each green chilli and carefully apply the batter on all the sides.
4. Lay them on the parchment paper lining the airfryer basket

Air Frying:

1. Line air fryer basket with parchment paper.
2. Lay the green chilli’s in the basket and air fry them at 375F for 10-15 minutes, no need to turn them. Check them at 10 minutes. they will be ready by then.
3. Let them cool for 3-4 minutes before removing them on a plate.

Garnishing:

We can cut the bajji in the center and put some onions, shredded carrots,  microgreens and lemon juice and Enjoy!!!