Middle Eastern Peppers With Tomato-cream Gravy Cucumber-cilantro Raita And Apricot Or Peach Chutney
From shine 16 years ago
- 60 minutes to make
- Serves 6
The idea for this started to surface about a month before I finally got to try it... good thing I did! This medley of flavors from the Middle East will send your taste buds singing! Each player in this flavor fusion builds upon the others, resulting in a multi-faceted taste sensation that Middle Eastern chefs are renowned for. Read more The recipe will be equally good with ground beef, turkey, or chicken. While this dish may seem complicated and daunting on the surface, I will show you how to break it down to four simple parts that may be done separately, each part can be used as components in other dishes as well. I guarantee your guests will be blown away by this, and thoroughly impressed with your culinary abilities! So, take a walk with me through the steps. The four major components of this are: 1- the stuffed peppers; 2- the gravy; 3- the raita; and 4- the chutney. You can buy the chutney, or make your own, weeks ahead of time. The raita can be made up to a week ahead. The peppers can be made the day before, and the gravy can be made while the peppers are in the oven, making the day of the meal nearly effortless, and served in the time it takes to heat the peppers and serve the plates – less than about 60 minutes! So, come join me…here we go! See less
Ingredients
- ****Peppers**** shopping list
- 6 bell peppers – use red, yellow, and orange, not green. 1/2 inch trimmed off tops, cores and seeds discarded shopping list
- 2 tbl oil shopping list
- 1 large red onion, finely chopped shopping list
- 1 tbl whole cumin seeds, toasted then ground shopping list
- 1 tbl ground Saigon cinnamon shopping list
- 1 pound ground chuck, turkey, or chicken shopping list
- 5 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped shopping list
- 1 inch piece ginger grated or minced shopping list
- salt and pepper to taste shopping list
- 2 ½ cups cooked quinoa shopping list
- ½ cup chopped cilantro shopping list
- ****For the gravy**** shopping list
- 1 tbl ghee (clarified butter) or olive oil shopping list
- 1 large onion, finely chopped shopping list
- 1 tbl garlic paste or 1 ½ tbl finely minced garlic shopping list
- 1 tbl ginger paste or 1 inch piece finely minced ginger shopping list
- 1 tbl garam nasala*** Garam Masala shopping list
- 2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder (adjust according to your heat preference) shopping list
- 1 – 28 oz can tomato sauce shopping list
- ½ cup whipping cream shopping list
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish shopping list
- ****raita**** shopping list
- Cucumber Cilabtro And Tomato Raita shopping list
- ****peach chutney**** shopping list
- chutney.html">Peach chutney shopping list
How to make it
- ****Peppers****
- Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large stockpot or Dutch oven over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt and bell peppers. Cook until peppers just begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, remove peppers from pot, drain off excess water, and place peppers cut-sides up on paper towels.
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees ***if assembling these ahead of time, omit this step for now****
- Meanwhile, heat a 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat until hot, about 1 ½ minutes; add oil and swirl to coat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add cumin and cinnamon, and cook until aromatic.
- Add ground meat and cook, breaking meat into small pieces with spoon, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.
- Stir in garlic and ginger, cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Season with salt and pepper to taste
- Transfer mixture to bowl with quinoa and cilantro. Mix until well combined
- Place peppers cut-side up in 9x13 inch baking dish. Using a soup spoon, divide filling evenly among peppers.
- If preparing ahead of time, let cool, then cover and refrigerate.
- **********The day of the meal**********
- Take the peppers from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature
- ****an hour before the meal****
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees
- Cover the baking dish containing the peppers with foil, and place in the oven
- While the peepers are in the oven, heat the ghee or olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat until shimmering but not smoking
- Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes
- Add the garlic and ginger, cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the garam masala and chili powder, cook until fragrant
- Stir in the tomato sauce, bring to a simmer, and turn the heat down to medium low, let simmer for another 5 minutes
- Stir in the cream
- Keep the gravy on medium low, stirring occasionally until the peppers are heated through, about 45 minutes
- To serve, Cut each pepper into quarters, and spread open on the plate
- Pour about a cup of the gravy over each pepper. Drizzle about ¼ cup of the raita over the gravy, then about two tablespoons of chutney in the center. Garnish with cilantro.
- Pit extra raita and chutney in bowl on the table
- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Congratulations, and enjoy this fabulous meal!
The Rating
Reviewed by 12 people-
And you get a High 6 for this one! *wink* And 100 forks whether they'll let me officially do it here or not. The next time - let's make this one together. ok? ;-)~ Yours, Vickie
lunasea
in Orlando loved it
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Very nice recipe. The flavor combos are quite familiar to me. I have not worked with Quinoa that much except in salads. Guess its time to expand my horizons...;-)~ High five on this one.
jimrug1
in Peoria loved it
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Hello, hello Ray...I made these for dinner tonight and just finished eating. Oh, Ray - this is not only a perfectly flavored and delicious meal - but it is beautiful as well with all of the colors. As you suggested, I did make the peach chutney and...more
lunasea
in Orlando loved it
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