There are days when all you need is a simple side dish with roti / rice that takes no much time to put together.Today’s recipe is one such no fuss,no mess dish which is high on flavors and taste.That’s “Capsicum Zunka ” for western India or as “Besanwali Shimla Mirch ” for Northern India.Though both the dishes are almost same ,we all know each region has its own special batch of spices.In simple its “Capsicum Besan sabzi ” where the crunchy capsicum and spicy besan blend together to form a aromatic and flavorful dish.
Wondering what Zunka is ? Let me do a short intro to it.Basically Zunka is a very authentic typical north Karnataka and Maharashtrian dish in which roasted gram flour is the base.They can be made with or without vegetable and served as a side dish with roti.The common veggies that are used to make Zunka are : Capsicum, cabbage,okra,methi,onion etc.The spicy besan forms a crust around the veggie ,making this dry sabzi mouth watering. the best part is they can be cooked in jiffy.
Today im sharing recipe for capsicum zunka,you can go ahead and replace capsicum with any other veggie you have in hand .The procedure remains same.But do try and i’m sure its going to make a permanent entry in your menu list …
Check Out the Video recipe here :
CAPSICUM ZUNKA
Ingredients
- 2 big capsicum, -
- 2 - 3 tbsps Gram Flour Besan
- 1 medium size onion
- 1 medium size Tomatoes, optional
- 2 Green Chillies
Spice powders :
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric / Haldi powder
- 1 tsp Red chilli powder
- Salt, - As per taste
- 1/2 tsp Aamchoor / Dry Mango Powder, Raw / powder
- 2 tsp Coriander/ Dhania powder
- 1 tsp Cumin /Jeera powder
- 1/2 tsp Garam Masala powder, (optional )
To temper :
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp Cumin Jeera Seeds
- a few Curry Leaves
- a pinch Hing
- 1 Red Chilli
- 3 - 4 tbsp Oil
Instructions
- De seed the capsicum and dice.Chop onion and green chilli.
- Dry roast besan till aromatic on low medium heat.This will take 3-4 mins.Transfer to a bowl and keep aside.
- In a pan / kadai ,Keep oil.Add mustard and jeera.When they splutter,add hing ,curry leaves and red chilly.Later add green chillies and onion.Fry till they turn translucent.
- Next add capsicum.Cook uncovered for abt 5-6 mins stirring in intervals.
- When capsicum is done 50 %, add haldi,salt,red chilli powder,amchoor powder,dhania powder and jeera powder.Mix well .Continue sauteing .
- When capsicum is done 75 % ,sprinkle besan little by little, 1 tbsp at a time.Combine well so that no lumps are formed.Then gradually sprinkle the rest of the gram flour while mixing the sabzi well.
- After you have mixed in all 3 tbsp of besan , add 1-2 tbsp oil and garam masala powder.Mix well . Cook on medium high heat for another 3-4 minutes so that all masala is quoted well to capsicum and besan.If you don't want to use oil, sprinkle little water.
- Switch off the flame and serve them hot with Roti .
Notes
- Roast besan in medium low flame only. Have some patience.Roasting the flour properly till you get nice aroma is an important step in this sabzi. Else in the end product, you might feel raw gramflour taste.Roasting them on high flame might also burn them..
- It is advised to add besan to capsicum in small steps. Dumping together the whole quantity without properly mixing may lead to formation of besam lumps which would not taste good.
- Authentic zunka calls for more oil.If you are ok with it proceed n add. the quantity of oil makes a lot of difference to the texture and taste. They would be very soft and creamy. However if you are calorie conscious, never mind. Cut a few tbsp of oil and instead sprinkle little water. Once you get used to this, you will the one with less oil is more tasty.
- The above version is little dry dish. But if you want it to be little mushy , you can add tomatoes instead amchoor.
capsicum zunka looks very lovely. Easy to prepare and tasty dish.
Wow!! Easy recipe… Will def try Smitha… 🙂
ya easy to prepare , but no water for cooking?
I have tried this dish years before. I know this dish is so tasty and also healthy.
my favorite too, I add carrot too for little crunch.
Wonderful zunka….. Very delicious !
Wonderful zunka …… Looking tasty !!
This looks yum, I have never tried it.
Lovely yummy dish!
Delicious and colorful capsicum zunka 🙂
Looks delicious! Love the colors!
def the tastiest curry with a single ingredient(i mean veggie).But the taste of bell pepper is def awesome …Simply loved it ..
Quick and yummy side dish,thanks for sharing
ref notes Vibha, i ve mentioned.If u dnt like to add more oil, u can sprinkle little water.
i bet this dish must have smelt really good… looks great…
Superb.sounds easy too.I’ll try sometime 🙂
Wow its a different one…looks so yummy…
Wow! Looks so colorful, I love having this dish. Green chillies and onions give it a nice taste!
healthy yum n easy!
My favourite, I make it the same way too..Picture perfect:)
wow very very delicious and yummy capsicum zunka 🙂 looks super inviting !!
very delicious….
looking great!! very tempting dear!!
Wow u have tempted with the besan crispy masala looks so yummmy.
I tried this yesterday night , it came very nice , we loved it , actually we don’t eatmuch spicy so i reduced the spice level but still it was tasty .thank u smitha for sharing such yummy dish 🙂
I commented on Google+ some two days ago. It’s certainly awesome. Actually, I am interested to know how you maintained that beautiful yellow colour in the final outcome of the dish. Mine turned quite dark. Hope to receive a reply from you so that when next time I prepare it then I get the right colour. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Zunka looks delicious … vil try sometime
just prepared capsicum zunka today…its easy n came out well…planning to prepare okra with besan next time…thanks…
Followed your recipe verbatim, came out very tasty. Will post on Facebook.
Thanks Chitra Mam….
Tried today…turned out great…thanks for sharing
Really nice….the recipe turned out really well ….thank you for sharing !!
Most of my childhood memory includes getting yelled at by my mother, punampaul.com and eat your veggies; but I used to pay no heed to it. However as time passes, most of us come around to eating vegetables as we are aware of the countless benefits they have for our health.
Cabbage is especially one of the world’s most nutrient dense vegetables readily available for us to enjoy, rich in essential vitamins such as C, B6, K, saturated fat, thiammin, calcium, iron, magnesium phosphorus and a good source of dietary fibers.
But I never liked any cabbage recipe other than in noodles.
This cabbage recipe when I tried at home was not really appreciated by my family but it was really yummy too. Thanks for sharing this delicious preparation. Keep posting wonderful recipes like this.