A friend of ours always has Mirchi ka Theccha in her fridge and she pulls it out like a superpower when she is making anything desi. This is where I first discovered this amazing dish and have since kept it ready in my fridge too. We eat it for many things - spread inside grilled cheese, toppings on dips and with roti.
Here's the recipe -
Ingredients
Green chillies
Garlic cloves
Cumin
Coriander
Sesame seeds
Cooking oil
All the quantities for the ingredients are per your taste.
Method
- Wash and dry the green chillies
- Heat the pan with oil in it. Put the green chillies and sauté well. The chillies will blister and get charred in places. Once all the sides of the chillies are blistered well and it looks like they are cooked, keep aside.
- In the remaining oil, sauté the garlic cloves. They can be charred a bit too. Take off heat and put aside
- Coarsely grind the charred chillies and garlic together. Take care to not make them into a paste, the texture retains some of the taste.
- Dry roast the cumin, coriander and sesame seeds, together or separately. Take care not to burn them. Dry grind once they are cold.
- Mix the ground powder with the coarse chilli and garlic mixture well.
- Store in a glass container. Keep refrigerated, should stay good for at least a month.
Optional
- You can add asafoetida while dry roasting the spices and grind them all together for additional flavor
- While storing the theccha, cover it with lemon juice to preserve it and for a tangy taste
Where to use
- Spread for grilled cheese sandwich
- Any Indian dish that is lacking in spice, for that oomph factor
- Topping for hummus and other Mediterranean dips
- Along with Roti or Thepla