Marcha Na Bhajia
aka
Menasinakai Bajji






The flavor that excites me most (and to the most of the foodies and public at large) is Heavenly smell of frying Chili peppers.The wafting aroma tingles the tongue and excites a part of brain that widens the eyes and sends secretion message to the tongue ,which starts salivating. The feeling is almost the same in any person who loves food and lives in any corner of this earth.

When I was searching for the reasons that made chili peppers as the most sought after spice in the whole world, I looked at different reasons like smell, color,taste , cost and shelf life etc.Surprisingly chili peppers came out toppers in spite of their fiery burning taste.Red colour and nose burning, cough inducing fumes.What,then makes Chilies, the most sought after spice?Honestly speaking , I myself could not pinpoint any plausible single reason.But the fact remains that there is no corner of this world where people do not like, love and swear by their chilies.

I have talked to hundreds of people about the reason they like their food most, invariablythey pin pointed to the primary taste maker and taste enhancer as Fiery hot or mildly hot chili peppers.Among the methods of chili pepper consumption, two stood out as most popular ways of consumption.Fried and or Roasted and the second one was Powdered.

This, then calls for posting a very popular recipe from India , which falls in "Fried"catagory.In India, Chili fritters are known as Mirchi Ki Bhajji" or Marcha Na Bhajiya.This nomanclature varies from state to state. But the end product , basically remains the same.I am posting a very fine recipe of Marcha Na Bhajiya as eaten in Karnataka which is one of the southern states in India,


When we think of a fiery evening snack especially on a cold evening,, the first thing that comes to my mind is the "Mirchi Bajji" lovingingly called as "Menasinakai Bajji" in Karnataka..Especially in Bangalore, the vendors on hand-carts made delicious bajjis and it was my favourite indulging snack..My friend got me a bag full of the portugese peppers which are fiery hot fresh from her garden..She warned me about the degree of heat in these chillies..So I decided to make these stuffed bajjis to satisfy my snack craving:)..Here it is..

You need:

5-6 Long portugese peppers/banana peppers/any kind of peppers which can hold stuffing and Clean them, make a vertical slit on one side and remove the vein with the seeds if you do not like it very hot..


For the stuffing:


2 boiled potatoes
1 onion chopped finely
1/2 cup coriender leaves chopped
2tsps chat masala powder
1tsp peanut powder(optional)
juice of a lime
and salt to taste

Mix everything together..

For the batter:
1cup besan/chickpea flour
tbsp of rice flour
A pinch of turmeric
A pinch of red chilli powder
A pinch of Asafoetida
1/4 tsp coriander powder
water (little)
salt
oil to deep fry

mix everything together to a thick batter..

Stuff the vertically slit Chili peppers with potato mixture gently and keep them aside..Heat oil in a wok and deep fry the stuffed peppers dipped in batter till brown and crispy.
If you want to give special effect like what you get on streets, dip once agian into batter and refry the bhajjis in oil. This gives them a thick covering as in street bought Bhajjis.
Serve them with coffee or tea as the choice may be.
Bhajjis are best enjoyed as a rainy day evening snack or with spirits.

Receipe adopted with permission with small changes and photograph from
http://brindavanrecipes.blogspot.com/