Mirchi ka salan recipe With step by step photos – mirchi ka salan is a lightly spiced, creamy & slightly tangy curry made with green chilies. A vegan recipe.
I have had the opportunities of having the Hyderabadi mirchi ka salan in Hyderabad many times. Most of the times when we would order Hyderabadi veg biryani in the restaurants there, it would always be accompanied by the mirchi ka salan and raita by the side.
I have also had the Hyderabadi veg biryani in the famous paradise restaurant in Hyderabad. All I can say that it was not a good veg biryani. Firstly there were not enough veggies. All I could see was the masala and that too not flavorful nor tasty. The rice was also not cooked well. In fact the Hyderabadi veg biryani which I make at home is a zillion times better than the Paradise restaurant veg biryani and no exaggeration on this one.
This Mirchi ka salan is a request recipe for one of my dear readers. in urdu language mirch or mirchi means chilies and salan means curry.
What makes the Hyderabadi mirchi ka salan unique from other curries is:
- Well, firstly it is made with green chilies.
- Secondly, the masala paste is made from healthy ingredients – Sesame seeds, desiccated coconut & peanuts. these tone down the heat of the green chilies in the curry. i have also used lightly browned onions in the paste.
These ingredients are then ground with rest of the spices into a smooth paste. Later the masala paste is cooked in the typical Indian way with some tamarind pulp and then simmered with lightly fried green chilies.
The result is a lightly spiced, creamy & slightly tangy curry. Mirchi ka salan Pairs excellently with Hyderabadi veg biryani. it also goes well with veg pulao or even steamed rice. I served it with cumin rice.
Tips for making mirchi ka salan
- The gravy thickens as it cooks, so add more water if required.
- To remove the hotness from the chilies, remove the seeds from the chilies.
- It is better to add a milder variety of chilies in this curry. We get such midler varieties of chilies in India.
- If you add the hotter variety of chilies to the curry, your curry will become very very hot. So avoid making this recipe with hot green chilies. I have used semi-hot chilies and even adding these, about 12 of them made my curry very hot. But since we are used to eating spicy and hot foods, we liked it and relished it too 🙂
There are Many variations of making the Hyderabadi mirchi ka salan and this is my own recipe. I can say this is a really good recipe and you must try this one.
How to make mirchi ka salan
A) making the masala paste:
1. Measure and keep all the ingredients ready for making the masala paste.
2. In a pan add lightly brown 1 medium-sized onion (sliced).
3. Add ¼ cup desiccated unsweetened coconut.
4. Roast till desiccated coconut is browned.
5. Later add ¼ cup roasted peanuts and 1.5 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds to this mixture.
6. Roast for 1 to 2 minutes.
7. Add browned onions, roasted desiccated coconut, roasted groundnuts, roasted sesame seeds, 2-3 garlic cloves (chopped) and ½ inch ginger (roughly chopped) to the blender jar.
8. Next add ½ teaspoon red chili powder, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder and ½ teaspoon garam masala powder.
9. Add ½ cup water or as required.
10. Blend to a smooth paste.
11. add 1 tablespoon tamarind in ⅓ cup hot water and place aside for 10 to 15 minutes.
Preparing green chillies for mirchi ka salan
12. Rinse 10 to 12 green chilies a couple of times in water. I have used green chilies which are not of the hot variety.
13. Wipe them with a kitchen napkin or cloth.
14. Remove the chili crowns or you can also keep them intact.
15. Slit the chilies vertically but do not break them.
Frying mirchi
16. Heat about 2 tablespoons oil in a pan. Add the slit green chilies.
18. Fry the chilies till light brown from both sides.
19. Remove and drain them on kitchen tissues.
Making mirchi ka salan
20. Now in the same pan add 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil. Fry ½ teaspoon mustard seeds till they pop.
21. Then add ½ teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji) and ½ teaspoon cumin seeds.
22. Add 8 to 10 curry leaves and fry for a minute.
23. Next add the ground masala paste.
24. Stir very well.
25. Keep stirring continuously on low flame. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes or more till you can see oil floating on the top and sides of the masala.
26. Squeeze the tamarind and now add the tamarind pulp along 1.5 or 2 cups water.
27. Mix very well.
28. Stir & simmer for 5 minutes.
29. Add fried green chilies.
30. Next add salt as required.
31. Simmer for 5 to 6 minutes more.
32. Garnish with coriander leaves.
33. Serve mirchi ka salan hot with Hyderabadi veg biryani or even plain steamed rice.
Few more curry recipes
- Bhindi ka salan – easy one pot delicious bhindi ka salan.
- Drumstick curry – a quick easy curry made with drumsticks.
- Bagara baingan – a delicious dish made with small aubergines from the Hyderabadi cuisine.
- Brinjal curry – absolutely delicious brinjal curry from the Hyderabadi cuisine.
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Mirchi ka Salan
Ingredients
for mirchi ka salan
- 10 to 12 green chilies which are not of the hot variety
- 1 tbsp tamarind dissolved in ⅓ cup hot water
- 1.5 to 2 cups water
- ½ teaspoon mustard
- ½ teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji)
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 8 to 10 curry leaves
- 3 to 4 tablespoons oil
- salt as required
for the masala paste
- ¼ cup dessciated unsweetened coconut
- ¼ cup peanuts, roasted
- 1.5 tablespoon sesame seeds, roasted
- 1 medium size onion, sliced
- 2 to 3 garlic cloves
- ½ inch ginger
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- ½ cup of water for grinding or add as required
Instructions
preparing masala paste
- In a pan lightly brown the onions
- Add the dessicated coconut and brown it.
- Later add ground nuts and sesame seeds to this mixture and roast for 1-2 minutes.
- Make a smooth paste of the above with garlic, ginger, all the spice powders adding little water.
preparing chillies for mirchi ka salan
- Remove the chili crowns or you can also keep them intact.
- Rinse and wipe dry the green chilies.
- Slit the chilies vertically but do not break them.
- Heat about 2 tbsp oil in a pan. fry the chilies till light brown.
- Remove and drain on kitchen tissues.
making mirchi ka salan
- Now in the same pan add more oil. fry the mustard seeds till they pop.
- Then add nigella seeds and cumin seeds.
- Add curry leaves and fry for a minute.
- Add the ground masala paste. fry for 3-4 minutes or more till you can see oil floating on the top and sides of the masala.
- Now add tamarind pulp and 1.5 or 2 cups water. sitir & simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add fried green chilies plus salt and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes more.
- Garnish with coriander leaves.
- Serve mirchi ka salan hot with veg biryani or even plain steamed rice.
I tried the recipe and it came out very well. My family members enjoyed it. Thank you for the super recipe.
welcome renukadevi and thanks for the feedback and rating. glad to know.
i have been told by the locals that if you are vegetarian you should n’t be going to Paradise.
Superb recipe of Mirchi Ka Salaan Hyderabadi style. Just made it and it’s tasting heavenly. Thanks for sharing.
thanks sudhir for the feedback. glad to know and happy cooking.
Thanks for the recipe, i tried and it tastes awesome
Welcome Nivedita
Hi, just want to check do we have to fry the onions with oil or just dry roast it?
nadia, you can dry roast them. in case you want, then you can add 1 tablespoon oil and fry the onions in it.
Thank U for giving instructions
It is really helpful and easy way process.
Goodbye
Nuzhat Parveen
From Karachi
Welcome Nuzhat. Glad to know this. Do try some recipes.
Love your recipes.. keep up the good work
thanks ashish.
It’s delicious….. ur blog is very useful for me…. i’ve learnt lots of dishes here… thank you very much dassana…. for sharing the recipes
welcome shona and thank you for your positive views.
Hi dasanna, your recipes are clear and easy to prepare at home.. i tried rajma masala which turned out really tasty and appealing…Thanks I’m a learning north indian recipes with help of your site…
pleased to know this siri 🙂 thankyou for your kind words and you are welcome.
Good recipe
thankyou bolli 🙂
We tried the recipe for mirichi ka Salan. It was a great experience and we are enjoying the dish but need to improve
ravail, good to know this.
dasanna didi..your blog is simply superb and awesome..I tried almost all vegetable recipes of ur’s..thank you for your wonderful recipes
welcome soujanya. thanks for sharing your positive feedback.
Excellent! It came very well
thanks for the feedback vipin.
It is my and my family favorite.in a weekend ofcourse we make it thank u for Introducing ur special salan recipe also
welcome sunitha. glad to know this.
nice dish
thanks tukku
thanks a lot .it was really yummy
welcome nirzari
Dassanna, simply love your blog!! Have tried out many baking recipes of yours and they come out perfectly!! Tried this mirch ka salan yesterday, turned out lip smacking!! Thanks so much and loved your “About us” section too 🙂
welcome priya. thanks for this sweet feedback.
Mirchi ka salan is very good recipe. I am going to make it first time. Because we belong to punjabi family. And always try different cusions. So it is my first experiment on Hyderabadi dishes. Thanks
welcome jaskiran
the taste is verry verry gud……….
thanks zaheer
ya… its has got a great taste….!!
Hi Dassana, I looked at your Hyderabadi Biryani and Mirchi ka salan. Really happy to see both recipes with nice pictures and step by step process. Only thing I feel missing, very important one, is the proportions. I did not see the quantities need to use for each ingredient. Different proportions will make the recipe different. I hope you will post the quantities too. Thanks.
hi mani. thanks. i have posted the ingredients quantities in the recipe detail section after the step by step pics are over. thats the case with all the step by step recipes on the blog.
Hi Dassana. I live in the US and am the mother of 2 daughters, 19 and 22 yrs old. We are vegetarian and mostly eat Indian food and they love it. They know I use your recipes and have been filing away all your posts for the last year or so in the hope that when they want to begin cooking, your pictures and details will help them as nothing else can!! I cannot thank you enough for all the elegant presentations and easy step by step directions. My wishes that you should be well, and be happy always, my dear.
thanks a lot jayshree. i am so honoured and pleased. thanks also for your good wishes.
I love the use of coconut and peanuts for the masala. THis looks so delicious 🙂
So excited to find a recipe that uses dried coconut since that is pretty much all I can find here! (That and coconut milk.) And it looks delicious, although because of my kids I will have to make extra sure the chile peppers are mild enough. I wonder if poblanos would work?…
dear laura, you can use poblano chilies. since they are mild they will be good in the curry.
Dassana, I love “mirch ka salan ” a lot. Your’s looks drool worthy and that reminds me of my mirch ka saalan that is sitting in my drafts:) Shall post it soon!
do post your version soon.
My husband is fan of Mirchi ka salan, but i an not. I always make it for him with Jalapeno peppers. Your mirchi ka salan looks absolutely delicious.
Mirchi ka salan is one of my favorite Hyderabadi dishes. This along with some spicy biryani and yellow dal would be perfect. Followed by kurbani ka mitha.
This mirchi salan looks great. Would love to try it out.
i love mirchi ka salan with my biryani…wow..you are making me hungry!!
BTW, i really admire you step by step pics… 🙂