I’m a child of the eighties—no one can stop me from stuffing peppers. These make for a beautiful starter alongside simply dressed leaves, and you can, if you want, stuff the peppers and refrigerate them, then roast them when you want to eat them.
Serves 4 as a starter or part of a main course
4 large Romano peppers
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed
1 yellow onion, finely diced
1 Indian green chile, very finely chopped
¾-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
8 ounces hard paneer, grated
1 large ripe tomato, finely chopped
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon ground red chile
½ cup cilantro, chopped
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
Slice open the top of a pepper, ¼ inch below the stem, but don’t slice it off—keep it intact. Then slice down the middle of the pepper. Open it up with your hands, gently pull out the seeds, and discard. Repeat with the rest of the peppers.
Put a frying pan on medium heat. When hot, add the oil and the crushed cumin seeds and stir-fry for 30 seconds, then add the onion. Fry for around 8 minutes, until soft, then add the green chile and ginger and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the paneer and tomato, cook for a further 5 minutes, or until soft, then add the salt, ground red chile, and cilantro. Mix well, take off the heat, and allow to cool.
Divide the mixture into four and stuff each pepper using a spoon or clean fingers. Press the peppers closed, lay on the baking sheet, then bake for 20 minutes, or until the peppers are soft and slightly charred in places.
