Green Chilli Thecha Recipe (Maharashtrian Hirvi Mirchi Chutney)
Made using fresh green chili peppers, peanuts, and garlic, Green Chilli Thecha is a Maharashtrian condiment especially served with bhakri (millet flatbread). It is like a spicy chutney that perks up any meal. Learn how to make a traditional recipe at home.
Servings: 8 people
Ingredients
- 5 ounces green chilies 150 g
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ cup whole peeled garlic cloves
- ½ cup raw peanuts with or without skin
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Instructions
- Wash the chilies with water and wipe them with a kitchen towel. Remove their stalk and set them aside.
- Keep a wide heavy bottom pan on high heat. You need more surface area for the chilies to blister nicely.
- A cast-iron skillet works best. You can also make it on a large iron tawa.
- Add the chilies to the hot pan and saute on high heat until they are blistered (8-10 minutes). Stir at regular intervals.
- Once blistered, remove the chilies on a plate.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and add oil to the same pan. It will get heated in just a few seconds as the pan is already very hot.
- Add cumin seeds and garlic and mix everything. Cook until garlic cloves are blistered (2-3 minutes). Stir frequently.
- Transfer the cumin seeds and garlic to the plate along with chilies.
- Add peanuts to the same pan and cook until they are lightly blistered (2-3 minutes), stirring frequently.
- Transfer the peanuts to the same plate and let everything cool down for 5 minutes.
- Transfer the green chilies, peanuts, and garlic mixture to a large mortar and pestle and pound to make a coarse paste.
- If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can crush the ingredients in a food processor or a chopper. Just make sure to keep it coarse and not pasty.
- Add salt and mix well.
- Once everything comes together, it is ready to serve.
Video
Notes
Choose the chilies as per your liking. If you like mildly hot thecha, go for the light green variety of chilies that are milder in their spice level. and if you like it hot, then use dark green chilies.
You can use any variety of chilies that are easily available to you.
You can also add toasted sesame seeds or chopped cilantro to it.
Replace green chillies with red chillies to make red chilli thecha.
Add a little freshly squeezed lime juice (or lemon juice) to make it tangy.
Do not use a blender to make thecha as it will make it pasty.
You can also give the ready Thecha a tempering of asafetida (hing) and brown mustard seeds in ghee. Just heat 2 teaspoons of ghee in a small pan. Once the ghee is hot, add ½ teaspoon mustard seeds and ¼ teaspoon asafetida and let them crackle for 3-4 seconds. Pour the tempering over Thecha and mix well.
Nutrition
Calories: 17kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 64mg | Potassium: 22mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg
