Ingredients

• 250 gm. finger thick and long green chillies

• 1/2 cup cooking oil to fry chillies

• 1 tsp. mustard seeds or rai

• 8-10 curry leaves (not bay leaves)

• 100 gm. natural yoghurt** or dahi

• Salt to taste

• 2 heaped tbsp. tamarind purée* or pulp (imli)

• 1 tsp. chilli powder, only if your green chillies are not hot

• Paste ingredients

• 1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped

• 35 gm. roasted peanuts (you can roast peanuts in a microwave, on full, for 3+2+2 minutes, stirring in between)

• 1 heaped tbsp. desiccated coconut

• 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled

• 3 cloves garlic, peeled

• 1 tsp. sesame seeds (til), not seen in picture, added separately

• 2 tbsp. lime/lemon juice

• For garnish:

• 2 tbsp. chopped coriander leaves

• *Tamarind purée can be bought in jars from Asian grocers. It is much better than the dark coloured tamarind concentrate, it is just tamarind pulp with fibrous bits removed.

Instructions

1. Wash and wipe dry green chillies. Any water drops will make the oil splutter during frying.

2. Make a small slit on the side of each chilli. This will stop it from bursting open during frying.

3. Heat oil in a wok or pan and fry chillies until nicely browned on all sides.

4. Remove from pan and keep aside on kitchen paper. This will drain off the excessive oil.

5. While the chillies are frying, grind together onion, roasted peanuts, desiccated coconut, ginger, garlic, sesame seeds (not seen in picture, added separately) and lime juice into a fine paste. Add a little water to make it easier.

6. Heat 2 tbsp. oil, add mustard seeds to it.

7. When the seeds crackle, add curry leaves, stir for a few seconds and then add the paste from step 5.

8. Stir fry the paste. Sprinkle a tablespoon of water every few minutes and continue frying. Adding water during frying makes the sauce swell up and cook better. This takes approximately 10 minutes.

9. Add yoghurt and salt and stir for 3-4 minutes.

10. Add tamarind pulp and 2-3 tbsp. water. Continue to cook it for further 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until it looks like a thick sauce.

11. Add chilli powder to taste. Finger chillies are usually quite sweet, so taste an adjust amount to your taste.

12. Add the fried green chillies from step 2, bring to simmer. Simmer until heated through.

13. Turn heat off, transfer to a bowl and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

14. Serve hot with Biryani, Peas Pilaf/Pulao Rice, Parathas or anything else that takse your fancy.

Notes

• **A few tips for cooking with yoghurt :

• Always use full fat yoghurt, if possible. Skimmed milk yoghurt sometimes curdles during cooking. If you wish to use low fat yoghurt, add 1 heaped teaspoon of plain or corn flour per cup of yoghurt.

• Make sure that the yoghurt is at room temperature. If chilled yoghurt straight from the fridge is added to a hot dish, it may curdle.

• Or, take out a few tablespoons of the hot food in a bowl, mix yoghurt, warming it a bit and then stir it back into the hot dish.

• Substitute sour cream for yoghurt, using only half the amount.