Stuffed Habanero Pepper Biriyani..."For Spice Lovers"

Those of you who are aware of this pepper, don't ask me why I ever tried this! I know, it is crazy but one needs some spice in life from time to time! I had got bored with my low salt, low spice, food myself..so decided to try this stuffed biriyani...and as expected it turned out to be simply too spicy:-) Glad I had made custard during the day, which I could use to soothen my burning food pipe;-) Please note, this recipe is only for those real spicy food eaters..those with ulcers stay away! My husband and my neighbors(from Andhra) simply loved the dish!


Before cooking this dish, I did quite a bit of wiki-ing and googl-ing about Habanero's. Habanero's belong to the capsicum family and are ranked among one of the spiciest variety of chilly. The raw Habanero's are bright green and as they ripe they turn into a hue of colors like orange, red etc. Well, these are expensive too! It costs $8 per Lb(my own experience...i bought a 1/4 lb of it)! Use caution while cooking...do not let the juices get into your eyes or even rub your fingers over your eyes! If you have a bruise or cut in your hands use gloves while handling these....remember, these are extremely HOT!

Habanero Pepper

One thing I need to say...the aroma of this Chilly is soooo good! The house was filled with the aroma for a couple of hours after I had made the dish! Its a pity we don't get this in India...or may be we would in some special stores or markets!

Spicy Habanero's

Ingredients:


For Rice
1 cup basmati rice washed and soaked-20 mins
1 tsp ghee
Salt to taste


For Stuffing
6 Habanero peppers
1 small potato boiled and mashed
1/2 medium onion finely chopped
1 tbsp green peas
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
Salt to taste


For the garnish
2 tbsp curd
1 tbsp chopped coriander
1 tbsp chopped mint 


For grinding
1/2 finely chopped onions
3 rings from the habanero pepper
6-7 cashews
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 clove
1 small piece cinnamon
1 small aniseed


For the gravy
1 onion sliced across
2 tomatoes sliced across
1 tbsp green peas
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp saunf
1 or 2 bay leaves
Salt to taste


- 1 1/2  tbsp oil for shallow frying the stuffed Habanero's. Same oil can be later used for the gravy preparation!
- 1/8 tsp saffron soaked in 2 tsp of warm milk


Did you notice...?There is no need to use any chilly powder or biriyani masala for this dish!


Prep time: 20 mins               Cook time: 45 mins


Preparation:
For the stuffed Habanero's

Stuffed Habanero and the cut rings

Peppers
- Wash the peppers and cut the round of the head with the stem and core the inside of the pepper.
- Do not throw away the cut rings of the head. These can be used as normal chilly in your everyday cooking.
- Chop only 3 rings and use it while making the masala paste given below.

The potato stuffing

For the stuffing
- Boil the potato and mash it well
- In a pan, heat 1 tsp oil, add half of the finely chopped onions, green peas, 1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste and saute for a couple of minutes.
- Now add the mashed potato, salt and 1/4 tsp garam masala and saute it for a couple of minutes and remove from heat.
- You could add 1 tbsp shredded paneer to this if you prefer.
- Stuff this masala inside the Habanero's and shallow fry them on all sides in 1 1/2 tbsp of oil.
- Remove and set aside.

Shallow fry the stuffed habanero's

For the rice
- Heat 1 tsp of ghee in a pan and then drain the soaked rice and fry it for a minute in the ghee.
- Transfer to rice cooker or pressure cooker and add salt and 1-1/2 cups water.
- Cook the rice and set aside


For grinding into a paste
- In a blender add the cinnamon, aniseeds, cashews, clove, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, half of the chopped onions.
- To this add the chopped habanero rings and blend them all into a fine paste

For the gravy
- Use the oil remaining after shallow frying the stuffed Habanero's.

- Add the saunf and bay leaf and later add the ground paste. Let them fry for 3-4 minutes on medium flame.

- Add the onions, tomatoes, green peas and salt and cook till the oil sperates
- If using cooked green peas, add this at the end of 5 mins and keep aside.


Finishing the dish
- Whisk the curd, coriander, mint with 2 tbsp of water
- Arrange the gravy at the bottom of a baking dish or heavy bottomed pan
- Top with half of the cooked rice and pour half the soaked saffron over it in a pattern
- Arrange the stuffed Habanero's and top it with the remaining rice

- Pour the remaining saffron over the rice.
- Top this with the curd-coriander and mint mix.

- Cover with a lid and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 deg C or 400 deg F for 15 to 20 mins.

- If not using oven, cover and cook on low heat for 20-25 mins on stove top
- Serve hot with onion- tomato raita


Serving
- Serve with one stuffed Habanero and raita
- Do not forget to have a glass of chill water or coke besides you;-)
- Mix the stuffing from inside of the habanero and eat the rice!
- Do not bite into the Habanero as a whole .....this is an extremely hot dish!

Recipe linked to:

Love-lock with Rice event at Tomato Blues and also at Sweet Karam Kapi