Mirchi ka Salan
A flavorful and creamy side for Hyderabadi Style Dum Biryani made with Peanuts, Sesame seeds, coconut, tamarind and most importantly Chili Peppers. A Hyderabad Dum biryani is incomplete without Mirchi ka Salan and onion Raita. You cannot find a Biryani serving place in Hyderabad without this famous salan, even street food carts have them, it is that famous. I had to learn to make this salan for my daughter who loves the tart flavor of salan with Spicy Biryani and it became a regular in my house now. Do try this Salan with your biryani next time and you will love it.
What is Mirchi ka Salan?
In Urdu, a common language spoken In Hyderabad, Mirchi means Chili peppers and Salan means curry. The main ingredient used is Mirchi or chilies and then the salan is made rich and creamy using masala paste made from Peanuts, Sesame seeds and dry coconut and then the mirchi and salan are made extra flavorful by simmering in the tamarind juice.. Yum! Yogurt can be used in place of Tamarind to give more volume to the curry and that variation taste awesome too.
What ingredients are used to make Mirchi ka salan?
- Chili Peppers: First and foremost, we need chilies. Now, we can use any variety of chili peppers you like, depending on how much spice you like. In India, long green chilies are used to make this salan. In US, we get Serrano peppers which are medium hot and are a perfect size for this salan. Please make sure to deseed the peppers to minimize the heat. You can also sweet use mini peppers if you like mild peppers.
- Peanuts: Peanuts are very important for this salan. I like to use raw peanuts and dry roast them. You can use roasted or raw peanuts and they can be salted or unsalted as well.
- Sesame Seeds: Another important ingredient used to make the masala is Sesame seeds. Hulled, unhulled, toasted, raw anything will do.
- Dry coconut: I like to use Unsweetened shredded or desiccated coconut in my recipe, you can use dry coconut slices if you have that on hand.
- Ginger Garlic paste: I make home made Ginger garlic paste in bulk, which I use for all my recipes and it lasts for 3-4 months in my refrigerator. You can definitely use Store bought version if you like. Find my recipe here: Ginger Garlic Paste – Blissful Bites by Tay
- Tamarind: Tamarind is a sour fruit native to Asia and Africa, which is sold in dried and peeled blocks. You simply need to take a lime sized ball of tamarind and soak in warm water to extract the pulp. The pulp is then added to curries and gravies to achieve that desired sourness.
- Spices: The spices I use here are very simple, Red chilli powder, Coriander powder, turmeric, Salt and Garam masala.
Process to make Mirchi ka Salan:
It is a very easy recipe, the masala is very easy to make and this whole recipe comes together in 30 min while the biryani is in “dum” mode. Lets check out the steps:
- First we need to dry roast peanuts and when the peanuts are completely roasted, add sesame seeds and turn off flame. Add desiccated coconut after the sesame seeds are fully toasted. Transfer the toasted peanuts, sesame seeds and coconut to a blender jar and make a paste with a little water.
- Meanwhile soak a lime sized tamarind ball in hot water.
- Deseed the Serrano peppers. This is completely optional, I do it for my kids, though they are spice monsters. Add oil to the same pan and Fry the slit serrano peppers in oil for a minute or until they are lightly charred. Remove them and keep them aside.
- Add sliced onions to oil and sauté till they are brown. Then, add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute.
- Add the ground peanut-sesame seed-coconut masala and cook for couple more minutes. Add turmeric, red chilli powder, salt, coriander powder and garam masala and cook till the mixture thickens.
- The Tamarind should be soaked in hot water for at least 15 minutes. I usually microwave the tamarind for a minute to make it soft. Squeeze the tamarind to extract the pulp. Add this tamarind juice to the curry and add fried serrano peppers and let the curry come to a boil.
- Let the salan thicken and check the seasoning. Add cilantro to finish off the curry and serve it hot with delicious biryani.
What other vegetables can be used in Salan?
Well technically, it is called mirchi ka salan, but I have used several other vegetables in my salans. I mostly use sweet mini peppers like in this picture below, its mirchi ka salan made with colorful peppers served with Egg biryani. I also use cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes and call it Tomato salan and ooh eggs can be used to make a quick curry side for plain rice. This curry tastes amazing with plain rice or roti as well.
Biryani recipes to accompany this awesome Mirchi ka salan:
Please go through some of the biryani recipes on my blog that go really well with this mirchi ka salan.
Mirchi ka Salan
Course: Indian CurriesCuisine: Indian, South IndianDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes15
minutes30
minutesA perfect side for Hyderabadi Style Dum Biryani.
Ingredients
3-5 Serrano Peppers
1/4 cup Peanuts
1/4 cup Sesame seeds
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1/4 onion sliced
2 tablespoons Avocado oil
1 teaspoon Ginger garlic paste
Lime sized Tamarind (or about 1 Tablespoon)
1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
1 teaspoon Coriander powder,
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
Salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon Garam masala
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
Method
- First dry roast peanuts and when the peanuts are completely roasted, add sesame seeds and turn off flame. Add desiccated coconut after the sesame seeds are fully toasted.
- Transfer the toasted peanuts, sesame seeds and coconut to a blender jar and make a paste with a little water.
- Meanwhile soak a lime sized tamarind ball in hot water.
- Slit and deseed the Serrano peppers. Add oil to the same pan and Fry the slit serrano peppers in oil for a minute or until they are lightly charred. Remove them and keep them aside.
- Add sliced onions to oil and sauté till they are brown. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute.
- Add the ground peanut-sesame seed-coconut masala and cook for couple more minutes. Add turmeric, red chilli powder, salt, coriander powder and garam masala and cook till the mixture thickens.
- Squeeze the tamarind to extract the pulp. Add this tamarind juice to the curry and add fried serrano peppers and let the curry come to a boil.
- Let the salan thicken and check the seasoning. Add cilantro to finish off the curry and serve it hot with delicious biryani.
Notes
- Please go through my post above for step by step pictures and instructions.
- Yogurt can be used to add more volume to the curry. Use only half the tamarind and replace half the tamarind with 1/4 cup of plain yogurt to get the desired consistency.
Please do try this recipe and let us know if you like it, we would love to hear from you!
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