Samosa Stuffed Peppers with Tikka Masala Sauce

This recipe was inspired by the amazing Mexican potato stuffed peppers I had at Destihl restaurant. I gave the original dish an Indian twist and filled Anaheim peppers with Samosa stuffing and paired it with a Tikka Masala sauce! I used Anaheim peppers that I received from an Imperfect Produce delivery, but this recipe would work just as well with poblano or bell peppers! I also blended in some roasted red peppers with the tikka masala sauce to give it some extra depth. There are a lot of different components to this recipe and it may take a while to make, but it’s a very tasty dinner to make on the weekend!

Ingredients

4 medium sized Anaheim peppers

Samosa Filling:

5 small potatoes, or 2 large ones
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon hing (asafoetida)
1 teaspoon amchur (dried mango powder)
1 teaspoon ground cumin and coriander powder
2 teaspoons red chili powder
Salt to taste

Tikka Masala Sauce:

1 large red bell pepper, to be roasted
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 medium white onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, diced
1/2 tablespoon of fresh ginger, grated
1 bay leaf
1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds
1/2 tablespoon garam masala powder
2 teaspoons red chili powder
Salt to taste

Dice the tomatoes, onion, and garlic, grate the ginger, and set aside.
Start your oven on the broil setting.
Slice the red bell pepper in half and remove the stem and seeds.
Drizzle the bell pepper with a little bit of olive oil and place with the skin side up on a baking tray.
Place the bell pepper into the oven and let it roast for 15 minutes, or until the skin is blackened.
While the peppers are roasting, place your potatoes to boil on the stove for 15 minutes.
Remove the bell pepper from the oven, put it in a bowl and cover the bowl to let them peppers steam a little bit.
Remove the potatoes and let them cool off.
Once the red bell pepper is cool, remove the blackened skin with a large knife and set the pepper aside.
Remove the skin from the cooled potatoes and mash them thoroughly with a fork.
Heat oil in the pan to start making the samosa stuffing.
Once the oil is hot, add in the mustard seeds and let them pop for a few seconds,
Add in the hing (asafoetida) powder.
Add all of the mashed potatoes into the pan.
Add the amchur, cumin and coriander powder, and the red chili powder, and mix the spices into the potato completely, your samosa stuffing is now ready!
Add salt to taste, and set aside the samosa stuffing to cool.
While the samosa stuffing is cooling off, boil the Anaheim peppers for 4 minutes, remove them from the pot, run them under cold water, and dry them off.
Preheat your oven to 375º.
Slice a long slit into the Anaheim peppers from the stem down to the tip (not all the way through) and pull out the seed line. If all of the seeds don’t easily come out, give the peppers a good whack to force them all out!
Take the samosa stuffing and fully stuff each of the Anaheim peppers.
Grease a baking pan with olive oil or cooking spray.
Place the stuffed peppers on the tray, and into the oven to bake at 375º for 15 minutes.
While the peppers are baking, heat oil in a pot to make the tikka masala sauce.
Once the oil is hot, add in the cumin seeds and ginger, and let them fry for a few seconds (very very few seconds, you don’t want the ginger to burn!).
Add in the garlic, onion, and bay leaf and sauté.
Add in garam masala powder, red chili powder, and a sprinkle of salt and continue to sauté until the onions are translucent.
Once the onions are cooked, add in the tomatoes and continuously stir for 10 minutes.
Add in salt for the tomatoes once most of the juice from the tomatoes has evaporated and continue to stir for a few more minutes. Once they are thoroughly cooked, set the tikka masala sauce aside to cool. Make sure to remove the bay leaf!
Add the roasted red bell pepper and the cooled tikka masala into a blender and pulse until smooth.
Plate the finished sauce and baked stuffed peppers and enjoy!