I bought a pack of red peppers from Costco for preparing salad. But later, I was not in a mood for salad, so changed my plan for preparing a dish with roasted peppers. To keep them handy, I roasted  peppers and refrigerated them for couple of days. I was doing Ragi Oats Idli for lunch and instead of making traditional chutney, I wanted to use these roasted peppers, which were handy. Since I used roasted peppers, there was no obvious flavor or smell of peppers.More over red peppers have more fiber, anti oxidants and Vitamin c than its counterparts green , yellow or orange peppers.I am glad that I tried this recipe. It was spicy , tangy and as always a huge hit.

Ingredients:

1. Red peppers – 6
2. Dry Red Chilies – 6
3. Garlic – 8 cloves
4. Tamarind paste – 4 tsp
5. Jeera – 1 tsp
6. Coriander Seeds – 1 tsp
7. Oil – ½ tsp
8. Salt –  2 tsps or to taste
9. Walnuts – 12 – 15

Seasoning ~ Popu:

1. Oil – 1 tbsp
2. Mustered Seeds – 1 tsp
3. Dry Red Chili – 1
4. Urad Dal – 1 tsp
5. Curry leaves – 5

Roasting using Oven:

• Preheat broiler to high and place the whole peppers on a sheet until the skins are completely charred, turning them twice during roasting.
• Remove the pan from the oven and immediately cover it tightly. Set aside until the peppers are cool enough to handle.
• Remove the stem, seeds and peels from each pepper and cut them .
  
• Place the peppers in a bowl along with any juices that have collected and refrigerate up to a week.
• Check instructions for other methods with pictures  here.

Chutney Method:

• Toast walnuts in a pan and keep them aside.
• Chop garlic into pieces.
• Heat 1 tsp oil in pan, when the oil is heated add dry red chilies and garlic pieces.
• When chilies are almost done add jeera, coriander seeds and tamarind pieces, fry them for a minute.
• Once all the ingredients are cool enough,  grind them (except red peppers).
• Add roasted red peppers to grinder and grind them along with other ingredients.
• Add and adjust salt.
• For seasoning chutney, heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, add dry red chili, mustard and urad dal. 
• once the mustard seeds splutter and urad dal turns little brown, add curry leaves and turn off heat.
• Pour this seasoning over the chutney and serve with idli or dosa.