Hyderabadi Mirchi Ka Salan Recipe for Biryani

Mirchi Ka Salan is an Indian side dish served with Hyderabadi Dum Biryani. It's prepared by grilling jalapenos and then adding them to a vegan Biryani sauce. These curried chili peppers are cooked in a delicious blend of spices making it the preferred accompaniment with any Biryani! 

What is Mirchi Ka Salan?

Mirchi means chili pepper in Hindi and Salan is an Urdu word that means curry. This dish hails from the royalty kitchen of the Nizams from Hyderabad. Their Hyderabadi Dum Biryani is world-famous and so is this accompaniment that they served with it. The fried peppers are dunked in a peanut-coconut gravy. It’s the perfect creamy Biryani sauce that balances the taste of these spicy peppers and its finger-licking good!

I first heard of this Indian side dish in a Bollywood movie. That is when I decided to look it up and when I got to know more about it, I decided to make it! 

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Why make it

• Makes a great side to the mildly flavored biryani or rice dish
• Is easy, simple and quick to make
• It's not that spicy like it sounds but it's definitely delicious to taste
• Very appetizing to look at
• Can be made in 20 minutes
• It's vegan and gluten-free

What goes in this Biryani sauce

First comes the masala base which is prepared with a bunch of spices like coconut, peanuts, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, nigella seeds, curry leaves, cumin, and fenugreek seeds. That is what gives this gravy a tangy, nutty, and earthy flavor.

Then comes the vegetable. You can prepare Salan with any other vegetables like eggplants, tomatoes, bell peppers, or mixed veggies. But the most popular of them all is the one made with chilies. You can use really mild peppers like banana peppers, sweet peppers, shishito peppers, pepperoncini, or even poblano if you can tolerate slightly higher heat. I used jalapeno peppers because we like it spicy. 

How to make this Indian side dish

To make Mirchi ka Salan, you need to do some prep work first. You need to get those big chilies or jalapenos for this recipe.

• Grilling the jalapenos is the first step. Slit them and remove the stems and seeds from inside. This will remove the hotness from it. Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry the green chilies evenly on all sides. I love the crackling sound when grilling jalapenos. Take it off the pan and keep it aside for now.
• Roast coconut, peanuts, poppy seeds, white sesame seeds, cumin seeds, nigella seeds/kalonji, fenugreek seeds, and curry leaves in oil for 4-5 minutes. Transfer it to a plate and allow it to cool. While roasting peanuts or any of the other ingredients for that matter, make sure that you do not burn them, or the taste will be off.
• Grind it to a dry paste without adding any water. 

• In the same pan, roast tomatoes, onions, ginger, and garlic one after the other in a teaspoon of oil for 4-5 minutes.
• If you want to add some more tang to your base, you can add one or two teaspoons of tamarind pulp.
• Take it off the pan and let it cool down completely before grinding it to a smooth paste.
• Heat oil in the same pan, temper mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once they begin to splutter add a cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Fry for 30 seconds and then add the onion tomato paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes or until the raw smell goes and it releases oil from the sides.
• Then add the dry spice powders like turmeric powder, cardamom powder, sugar, coriander-cumin powder and red chilly powder along with salt. Mix it well and continue to fry the masala for another minute.
• Then add the coconut-peanut ground paste to the pan. Mix it all together, add water and cook this for 2-3 minutes till it begins to boil. Finally, add the fried green chillies to the pan. Cook this gravy on medium flame till it thickens. Garnish with garam masala, chopped coriander leaves, and lemon juice before taking it off the flame. 

Mirchi Ka Salan is ready. You can also garnish it with fried onions for more flavor and extra punch.

Serving suggestions

This delicious curry will pair well with any kind of biryani, an Indian flatbread, or plain steamed rice. You can also get creative and serve this Indian side dish with cauliflower rice or quinoa. However, this is popularly served as an accompaniment to Hyderabadi Biryani or Hyderabadi Dum Biryani, so I would highly recommend you to try it with that. This being incredibly delicious, kids and grownups alike will devour this. This is a dish you need to make when you are in the mood to indulge. It's not your typical weeknight dinner recipe but more of a weekend brunch meal.  

Tips to make the best Mirchi ka Salan

You can make this dish as hot or as mild as you want it to be. Pick the pepper variety of your choice based on your tolerance level. Always slit before grilling jalapenos or any other peppers. Else they will explode in the pan when your grilling it. Also, deseed them to further reduce the heat. In case the salon becomes very spicy in the end, add coconut milk to reduce the heat. I have not tried this though. 

The coconut-peanut paste should be smooth and creamy, not coarse. The final consistency of the sauce should be slightly thick and not very watery. 

Add tamarind and jaggery in the sauce to help balance the flavors. Alternatively, you can add yogurt or tomatoes as well. You can prepare the base sauce in advance and store it in the fridge. It stays good for 2-3 days. You can also freeze it. Just heat it up before serving and add the freshly grilled peppers to it. You can also stuff the chili with mashed potato filling to prepared stuffed Mirchi ka Salan recipe.

Some rice dishes to pair this biryani sauce with

Besides Hyderabadi Dum Biryani, you can serve this salan with any of these dishes.

• Green Peas Pulao
• Bell Pepper Rice
• Cilantro Spinach Lentil Rice
• Instant pot Vegetable Pulao
• Mint Pistachio Vegetable Rice

If you’ve tried this Mirchi ka Salan or any other recipe on the blog please let me know how it went by commenting below, I love hearing from you!

Mirchi Ka Salan

Mirchi Ka Salan is an Indian side dish served with Hyderabadi Dum Biryani. It's prepared by grilling jalapenos and then adding them to a vegan Biryani sauce. These curried chili peppers are cooked in a delicious blend of spices making it the preferred accompaniment with any Biryani! 

4.75 from 8 votes

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Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Asian, hyderabadi, Indian

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 5 people

Calories: 277.65kcal

Author: Priya Lakshminarayan

Equipment

skillet

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

To grill the Jalapenos

• ▢ 8 Jalapenos
• ▢ 1 tsp cooking oil

To prepare the coconut-peanut paste

• ▢ 1 tsp cooking oil
• ▢ 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• ▢ 1/2 cup peanuts
• ▢ 1 tbsp poppy seeds
• ▢ 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• ▢ 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• ▢ 1 tbsp nigella seeds or kalonji
• ▢ 5 fenugreek seeds
• ▢ 6 curry leaves

To prepare the tomato-onion paste

• ▢ 2 tomatoes
• ▢ 1 onion
• ▢ 6 garlic cloves
• ▢ 1 inch ginger

To prepare the Salan

• ▢ 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
• ▢ 1 tsp mustard seeds
• ▢ 1 tsp cumin seeds
• ▢ 2 bay leaves
• ▢ 1 cinnamon stick
• ▢ 1 tsp turmeric powder
• ▢ 1/4 tsp cardamon powder
• ▢ 1 tbsp sugar or jaggery
• ▢ 1 tbsp coriander cumin powder
• ▢ 2 tsp chilly powder
• ▢ Salt
• ▢ Water as required

For garnish

• ▢ 2 tsp garam masala
• ▢ 1 tbsp lemon juice
• ▢ 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• ▢ 1/4 cup fried onions optional

Instructions

To grill the Jalapenos

• Grilling the jalapenos is the first step. Slit them and remove the stems and seeds from inside. This will remove the hotness from it.
• Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry the chilies evenly on all sides. Take it off the pan and keep it aside for now.

To prepare the coconut-peanut paste

• Roast coconut, peanuts, poppy seeds, white sesame seeds, cumin seeds, nigella seeds/kalonji, fenugreek seeds, and curry leaves in oil for 4-5 minutes. Transfer it to a plate and allow it to cool.
• Grind it to a dry paste without adding any water.

To prepare the tomato-onion paste

• In the same pan, roast tomatoes, onions, ginger, and garlic one after the other in a teaspoon of oil for 4-5 minutes.
• Take it off the pan and let it cool down completely before grinding it to a smooth paste.

To prepare the Salan

• Heat oil in the same pan, temper mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once they begin to splutter add a cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Fry for 30 seconds and then add the onion tomato paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes or until the raw smell goes and it releases oil from the sides.
• Then add the dry spice powders like turmeric powder, cardamom powder, sugar, coriander-cumin powder and red chilly powder along with salt. Mix it well and continue to fry the masala for another minute.
• Then add the coconut-peanut ground paste to the pan. Mix it all together, add water and cook this for 2-3 minutes till it begins to boil. Finally, add the fried green chilies to the pan. Cook this gravy on medium flame till it thickens.

Garnish

• Garnish with garam masala, chopped cilantro, and lemon juice before taking it off the flame. You can also garnish it with fried onions for more flavor and extra punch. Mirchi Ka Salan is ready.
• This delicious curry will pair well with any kind of biryani, an Indian flatbread, or plain steamed rice.

Notes

You can make this dish as hot or as mild as you want it to be. Pick the pepper variety of your choice based on your tolerance level. Always slit before grilling jalapenos or any other peppers. Else they will explode in the pan when your grilling it.

Also, deseed them to further reduce the heat. In case the salon becomes very spicy in the end, add coconut milk to reduce the heat. I have not tried this though. 

The coconut-peanut paste should be smooth and creamy, not coarse. The final consistency of the sauce should be slightly thick and not very watery. 

Add tamarind and jaggery in the sauce to help balance the flavors. Alternatively, you can add yogurt or tomatoes as well. You can prepare the base sauce in advance and store it in the fridge. It stays good for 2-3 days.

You can also freeze it. Just heat it up before serving and add the freshly grilled peppers to it. You can also stuff the chili with mashed potato filling to prepared stuffed Mirchi ka Salan recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 277.65kcal | Carbohydrates: 23.4g | Protein: 7.65g | Fat: 19.1g | Saturated Fat: 5.53g | Sodium: 81.81mg | Potassium: 483.36mg | Fiber: 6.12g | Sugar: 9.84g | Vitamin A: 1101.35IU | Vitamin C: 61.44mg | Calcium: 149.16mg | Iron: 4.58mg

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