Mirchi Ka Salan

Hyderabad's partner for biryani

Mirchi ka salan comes from the Hyderabadi kitchen, and it is the customary accompaniment to Hyderabadi biryani alongside raita, usually at weddings and at any serious biryani house in the city. Its ground paste of peanuts, sesame and dry coconut sharpened with tamarind belongs to the Deccan, and the same family of gravies gives you bagara baingan, which uses small brinjals. The dish is a good example of that region's love of nutty, sour and hot flavours at once.

Though the name means chilli curry, it is not a test of bravery. The traditional chillies are long, pale and quite mild, and the gravy is tangy and rich in place of being simply hot.

Choosing and taming the chillies

The right chilli is the difference between a pleasant side dish and a painful one. Look for bhavnagri or other long, thick-walled, light green chillies, sometimes sold as pakoda or bajji mirchi. Small, thin, dark green chillies are far too hot for this purpose. Removing the seeds and white membrane takes out much of the remaining heat. If your chillies turn out hotter than expected, a few minutes of soaking in salted water with a spoon of lemon before frying can soften them somewhat; dry them thoroughly afterwards.

Outside India, banana peppers or Anaheim chillies are fair substitutes. As a shortcut for children or the heat-averse, cook long strips of green capsicum instead. It will not be traditional, but the gravy is still delicious.

Frying the paste until the oil rises

This is the stage people rush. Nut and seed pastes are thick and contain natural oils, so they catch easily on the base of a thin pan, and they taste heavy and raw if undercooked. Keep the flame low, use a heavy pan and stir regularly, scraping well. After about ten minutes the paste darkens, smells roasted and starts to release fat. Only then should you add the water.

Peanuts should be roasted just until golden, as dark ones make the gravy bitter. Taste a roasted peanut before grinding if you are unsure. Sesame also turns bitter if it is taken too far, so remove it as soon as it starts to pop. Grinding everything to a truly smooth paste gives a silky gravy; a coarse paste feels gritty and tends to separate.

Common mistakes and the rescue

If the salan tastes flat, it probably needs more tamarind and salt. Add a teaspoon of tamarind at a time and simmer for a couple of minutes between each. A bitter gravy usually means a dark roast; a teaspoon more of jaggery and a little more tamarind help to balance it, though it will not disappear entirely. If it is too thick, as it often gets on standing, stir in hot water until it pours like a thin custard, then correct the salt.

Chillies that fall apart were fried too long or stirred too hard; next time, take them off at the first patches of blister and shake the pan in place of stirring. Oil that fails to separate at the end usually means the paste was not cooked for long enough. Simmer uncovered on low heat for a further ten minutes, and it will come.

Substitutions and a lighter version

If peanuts are a problem, roasted cashews or melon seeds can make a similar base; for a sesame allergy, use a little more peanut. Fresh coconut is less traditional than dry kopra and spoils sooner, though it will do at a pinch. Some households add a spoonful of whisked curd at the end, in which case the recipe is no longer vegan. Ordinary sugar can replace the jaggery.

For a lighter pot, shallow-fry the chillies in two tablespoons of oil and use another two for the masala, then keep your portions small. The dish loses some of its gloss but very little of its taste. Roasting the peanuts dry instead of in oil already saves some fat.

Serving, storing and reheating

Serve it warm with chicken biryani or veg biryani, plus a cooling boondi raita. It also goes surprisingly well with plain rice and dal, or roti on a day when you want something sharp, and leftover salan is good beside a simple vegetable pulao.

The flavour is better after a few hours and at its best the following day, which makes it useful for entertaining. Refrigerate in a sealed box within two hours, and eat within four days. It freezes well for a month, although the chillies soften. Warm it gently on low heat with a splash of water, stirring until hot, and check the salt, since the gravy thickens as it stands.