That is, apparently, the correct Indian name. The bolded heading, in English, is: Hyderabad Hot Green Chili Peppers Braised in Almond-Cream Sauce.
I recently bought two Indian cookbooks, both by Julie Sahni: Classic Indian Cooking and Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking. Both books, from what I gather, are still the best Indian cookbooks in English, though they’re over two decades old. Intuitively, it makes some sense: modern convince always alters tradition. Which is not to say this is all old-ways: Sahni embraces time saving techniques (ie the food processor) if it doesn’t change the way it’s supposed to be and offers up potential substitutes for items difficult to find in the States of 1985. Point is, these don’t fall into the cookbook-for-idiots category.
This recipe is from the latter cookbook. Sahni is pretty detailed in her recipes, I will be far less so because I am lazy. Besides, this cookbook looks to be worth owning if you want to cook Indian food.
Heat 4 tablespoons vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry 1 cup minced onion until light brown, ~10 minutes. To this, add:
3-inch stick of Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp minced Garlic
1 tbsp fresh shredded Ginger
2 tbsp ground Almonds
I didn’t have any cinnamon sticks, so I added ground cinnamon instead, trying to estimate how much flavor would have been leached from a three-inch stick. I don’t think it affected the outcome too much.. Fry until the almonds begin to darken, ~3-4 minutes. Then add:
1 tbsp ground Coriander
1 tsp ground Cumin
1/2 tsp Cayenne (cut in half if you want to limit the heat, but why would you?)
The ingredient list also says 1/2 tsp of cardamom, but doesn’t say to add it—so I added it here. Sizzle this for ~15 seconds, then add 1 cup coconut milk (or plain yogurt, light cream, or a combination of theses). Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover and—I’m going to quote here to make sure I get it right—“continue cooking until the mixture looks like a thick pulp and the oil begins to separate from the gravy.” When I uncovered mine, it already looked like this. And 1/2 cup water and cook another 3-5 minutes until the water has blended in and the sauce has a nice consistency. Turn off heat and transfer sauce to a bowl.
Back in the skillet, heat up another 3 tablespoons of that vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add 1 pound of chili peppers. Okay, I’m going to discuss this for a second. In the introduction to the recipe, Sahni offers two suggestions for choice of peppers. She says that poblanos would be better for those with a “fiery palate” and Anaheims if not. I definitely fall into the former category: I have a pretty good tolerance for spicy food and I love spicy food. Still, when I first try a recipe, I try to follow it as closely as possible to get an idea of what is intended. So, I used about 3/4 pound of poblano and 1/4 pound of Anaheim just to test. If I were to make this again, I would go with only poblanos—or something hotter. I cored and seeded the peppers, as you usually do, but maybe I should have left some of the seeds. It might be good with jalepenos. I would not recommend Anaheims for two reasons: (1) They have no flavor (though this may be because I used a mixture and they were overwhelmed; and (2) maybe I cooked it wrong, but the Anaheim meat was real tender, but the skin was not. I ended up just scrapping off the meat and discarding the skins bite by bite. If I did it again, I would definitely consider roasting the peppers first, in order to highlight the flavor and skin it.
Anyway, after you add the peppers, sautee for 3-5 minutes, “until they are well coated with oil, look glazed, and begin to steam.” Add 2 medium tomatoes, cut into 1-inch thick wedges. Up the heat to high and cook, tossing and turning, for another 1-2 minutes.
Return the sauce to the skillet, mix, and simmer, covered, “until the peppers look wilted” ~10 minutes. So, my peppers never looked wilted, which is why I think I may have overcooked them. Sahni specifically says not to overcook as they will become limp and soft. Mine were definitely soft. Stir in 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro. Turn off heat, serve warm. (If you want, fold in a few tablespoons of cream or milk. I didn’t.)
So, I served with some plain brown rice. I wasn’t overly impressed with this though, like I said, it may have been my fault. And while I like peppers, I don’t think I’m fond of them as the basis of a meal. What this means is, I don’t think I’ll be trying this one again for sometime.