Stuffed capsicum or bell peppers - Make dinnertime extra special with this picture-perfect bowls of bell peppers. Made with spiced minced meat, cooked rice and tomato sauce, this is guaranteed to be a winner. Add a side of raita (yogurt salad) and pappadums for a complete meal.
Among all of nature's bounty, bell peppers or capsicums are one of my favorites. You can do so much with them. Chop and add to curries, soups and stews. Cut into sticks, and dip your way to the favorite starter. Or just stuff them to create delicious dinner.
Now imagine a full-blown delicious Indian meal stuffed inside bell peppers. Rice and minced meat seasoned with ground spices like cumin, coriander, and a touch of red chili powder. Flavorful and vibrant, this dish tastes incredible when served with raita (Indian yogurt salad) and crunchy pappadums.
Ok, now, let's have a quick look at how you make this stuffed capsicum (bell peppers). Start out by making the stuffing, which is all about browning the meat along with few spices to zoom up the flavor in the whole dish. Before I browned the meat, I sautéed some onions and garlic, and then threw in the minced meat. If you're not a fan of beef, you can always substitute it with lamb.
Once meat is browned, the spices go in to flavor the rest of the ingredients in the pan. A couple of sliced tomatoes and herbs also adds immense depth of flavor. To make this stuffed bell pepper dish a complete meal, we'll also stir in some cooked rice and tomato sauce. Yum!
Again, I choose to cut the bell peppers horizontally. Remember to remove all the membranes and seeds. Next up, the stuffing we prepared earlier goes into the peppers, and baked to perfection.
Lastly, serve them warm with a side of raita and pappadums. Just because no Indian meal is complete without these goodies!
Stuffed Bell Peppers | Stuffed Capsicum | Video
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 500 g ground or minced meat beef or lamb
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- 2 small tomatoes chopped
- 2 tablespoon chopped mint or coriander cilantro leaves
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 2 tablespoon tomato sauce tomato ketchup
- 3 red bell peppers capsicums
- Salt and pepper to season
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C / 350F. Line a baking tray with baking (parchment) paper.
- Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic. Saute for 2-3 minutes or until onions turn soft and translucent. Add ground beef. Season with salt and pepper.
- Brown beef, breaking it apart as it cooks, for about 8-10 minutes. Drain excess fat. Stir in ground cumin, ground coriander and red chili powder. Stir fry for a minute. Add tomatoes and mint leaves. Cook for another 2 minutes, or until the tomatoes are mushy. Leave to cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds and membranes. Rinse. Set aside.
- Place beef mixture in a large bowl. Add cooked rice and tomato sauce. Stir until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.
- Spoon the meat mixture into bell peppers. Place peppers on the baking tray.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the peppers are tender. Garnish with more mint leaves. Serve warm.
Video
Notes
- You can add more veggies like beans, carrots etc. Chop them finely, and cook them with the ground meat
- If you're not a fan of beef, use ground lamb
- Mint leaves can be replaced with coriander (cilantro) leaves if you like
Nutrition
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Anu - My Ginger Garlic Kitchen says
These stuffed peppers look fantastic, Rose. Loved the stuffing — would love to try this with mushrooms as I don't eat meat. Wish you a lovely weekend. 🙂