Banana Chilli

Talk about Mexican food and here I cook it. It was a relaxing weekend when I went out on a sunny afternoon for grocery shopping. Long, fresh, red banana chillies caught my eyes. I instantly flipped through my favourite Mexican recipe book in my mind and bought the remaining ingredients required to cook 'Banana Chilli Mexican style'.

Banana chilli, also known as banana pepper and yellow wax is a South American grown chilli belonging to chilli pepper family. It comes in variety of size and colour. Due to its size (4 to 6 inches) and its curved like banana shape, its known as banana chilli. The beauty of this chilli is that it can be eaten in many ways. It can be fried, stuffed, grilled, pickled and roasted. Originally, banana chilli is yellow in colour but it also comes in orange and red colour. This chilli is mostly served pickled, usually with sandwiches. And not to forget the most important part of it; these chillies are a good source of vitamin C.

For me it was rare to find a recipe like this in Mexican cookbook as I always thought that Mexican is only about salsa sauces, tomatoes, tortillas and enchiladas. But this recipe gave me a broader perspective of Mexican food. I would like to share it with you which I have not had so far in any of the Mexican restaurants.

Cooked in a simple way, this is made by stuffing the filling in the chillies, grilling it and serving it with home made tomato sauce. To make Banana chilli Mexican style prepare its stuffing first. The stuffing is made of potatoes (chopped), green olives and onions cooked in olive oil once the cumin seeds starts to mutter. Once it is cooked add oregano and keep aside. To make tomato sauce, saute onion in olive oil and oregano and add good amount of chopped tomatoes in it. Cook it till the tomatoes boil and add sufficient water. Take a heatproof bowl and pour the sauce in it.

Now slit the chillies from the middle, remove the seeds and the membrane and stuff it with the filling kept aside. Place these chillies on the sauce, cover the lid and cook till it gets grilled and soft. It is then ready to be served.

Its a very healthy, low calorie and quick dish to serve, especially when you are running out of time. This dish is best made when made in red chillies, but yellow is a good alternative too.