I have been really into Middle Eastern food lately and had a bit of a feast the other day. It meant that I was able to put 3 really fantastic recipes together that I am in the process of writing up and they should be out to you over the next week.
The stuffed chilli peppers in this recipe was one of my favourites and is actually adapted from an Indian recipe os stuffed okra from Anjum’s Indian Vegetarian Feast. I slightly played around with the spices to give it a bit more of a Middle Eastern slant. The coconut in this recipe gives it such a sweet and rich flavour that will just have you coming back for more.
If you are worried about it being too spicy, don’t worry as the recipe involves you taking out all the seeds from the chilli peppers and you could adapt this and use sweet peppers if you want to make sure but I like a bit of heat and so prefer chilli peppers.
Coconut Stuffed Chilli Peppers
Serves 2-4
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Ingredients
4 large chilli peppers (or 2 small sweet peppers)
1 tbs coconut oil
1 tbs Sesame Seeds
1 tbs grated ginger
2 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 chilli powder (optional)
6 tbs desiccated coconut
3 tbs cashew nuts, roughly chopped
2 tsp Xylitol (or sugar if you prefer)
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs olive oil (mild of medium)
A handful of fresh parsley, chopped
salt to taste
Instructions
1. Mix all of the filling ingredients together in a bowl and taste. Season with salt and add some more lemon or Xylitol depending on your taste.
2. Wash the peppers and cut their tops off. Scoop out the seeds and then fill each one with stuffing.
3. In a non-stick pan, heat the coconut oil and then add the peppers and any remaining stuffing. Cook for about 2-3 minutes and then add about 100ml of water, cover and steam fry until peppers are soft. Keep an eye on this and add some more water if you need to.
