Spicy Chili Recipes
There are times when you want to chuck the bland food and feast on some lip-smacking spicy food, which will make your taste buds, come alive! The first ingredient that comes to your mind when you think about spicy food is obviously - chili. Be it the slender and spicy green chilies, the fiery red ones or the wide variety of chili peppers - there are a lot of recipes, which make use of these chilies as the main ingredient instead of treating them as an add-on spice. Although the Mexican cuisine is especially known for its use of chilies, there exist so many other cuisines which are an equally rich resource of delicious and spicy chili recipes.
Recipes Using Spicy Ingredients
Chili Paneer Pakora
Pakoras are fried snacks in the Indian cuisine, which can be made with chilies as well as a wide variety of ingredients like onions, potatoes and spinach. These crunchy bite sized appetizers can be a great accompaniment for the afternoon tea or even be used as finger foods served with cocktails at the party. The pakoras are green chilies, which are dipped in a spiced chickpea batter and then deep-fried. The fiery chilies combined with a little bit of salt, sugar, slight tang of lemon juice and a mushy cottage cheese (paneer) filling creates a perfect concoction of all the flavors that blend into these heavenly bite-sized crunchy appetizers with soft delicious cores!
Ingredients:
- Fresh green chilies - 15
- Fresh grated cottage cheese - cup
- Chickpea flour - 1 cup
- Salt - 2 teaspoons
- Cumin powder - 2 teaspoons
- Coriander powder - 2 teaspoons
- Sugar - 1 teaspoon
- Lemon juice - 2 teaspoons
- Grated onion - 1 tablespoon
- Baking soda - teaspoon
- Bishop's weed - teaspoon
- Oil (for deep-frying)
First of all, cut the green chilies along their length and remove all the seeds and veins. You don't want your appetizers to be too hot - seeding the chilies will help you to get the perfect amount of spiciness.
Mix the lemon juice with salt and sugar in a separate bowl. Now, allow the chilies to marinate in this lemon juice mixture, so that the chilies absorb the tanginess and the sweet and salty flavors. Allow the chilies to soak in this mixture for at least fifteen minutes.
Meanwhile, mix the grated cottage cheese with a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of sugar, cumin powder, coriander powder and the grated onion in a mixing bowl. Make sure that the ingredients are mixed thoroughly.
Now, take another bowl and mix the chickpea flour with salt, sugar, bishop's weed and baking powder. Mix these dry powders thoroughly and then add water to make a batter with a consistency that is suitable for deep-frying.
Now, take the marinated chilies out of the lemon juice and fill them with the cottage cheese filling. Stuff the chilies in such a way that the slit gets sealed completely.
Now, dip the stuffed chilies in chickpea batter and deep-fry immediately. Fry, until it turns golden. Remove from the oil and transfer onto a plate covered with paper napkins (to soak the excess oil).
Transfer immediately onto the serving plate and serve hot with a refreshing chutney or a tangy ketchup.
Chile con Carne - Spicy Mexican Stew
Now known as the official dish of the US state of Texas, Chile corn carne, literally means peppers with meat. This spicy stew made with hot chili peppers, garlic, onions, cumin, tomatoes, beans and beef makes a perfect spicy entre, which is common in several American restaurants. Pepper, garlic, cumin and cinnamon spice the beans and beef, a splash of red wine gives it a crisp taste, the tomatoes add a dash of luscious tang and a generous sprinkle of freshly chopped coriander makes it refreshingly delicious!
Ingredients:
- Crushed garlic cloves - 2
- Olive oil - 2 tablespoons
- Finely chopped onions - 2
- Red wine - 2 glasses
- Ground beef - 2 lbs
- Chopped tomatoes - 3 cups
- Tomato ketchup - 2 tablespoons
- Red chilies - 2
- Cumin powder - 1 teaspoon
- Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon
- Cinnamon powder - teaspoon
- Ground black pepper
- Red kidney beans - 4 cups
- Freshly chopped coriander
First of all, heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the onion and garlic. Fry, until the onions turn translucent and start turning a light shade of pink.
Now, add the ground beef and saut it in the oil for about two minutes. Immediately, add the red wine after five minutes and allow the beef to get cooked in the wine juices for about five minutes.
Add the chilies, cumin, chopped tomatoes, the ketchup, cinnamon and pepper. Add salt to taste as well.
Allow the stew to simmer for about 45 minutes, until the stew thickens. Once thickened, add the kidney beans and cook again for about fifteen minutes.
Once cooked, transfer in the serving bowl and sprinkle with generous amounts of fresh chopped coriander.
