Stuffed Deep Fried Italian Peppers

Happy and Prosperous Diwali to all my Hindu, Jain And Sikh Readers.

Diwali in a nutshell -- Diwali, festival of lights,is one of the biggest festival of Hindus,Jains and Sikhs, celebrated with great enthusiasm and happiness in India. Deepvali or Diwali translates to "Rows of lights".The festival is celebrated for five continuous days, where the third days is celebrated as the main Diwali festival or 'Festival of lights'. Different colorful varieties of fireworks are always associated with this festival. On this auspicious day, people light up diyas(oil lamp made from clay) and candles all around their house. They perform Laxmi Puja in the evening and seek divine blessings of Goddess of Wealth. The festival of Diwali is never complete without exchange of gifts. People present diwali gifts to all near and dear ones.
**I am going to be busy chilling in front of the TV watching Diwali special in the Sun Network and eating the goodies MIL is going to make. :). I have more coming my way from mom and dad who are coming for a visit. Can't wait**
Day5 of Stuffed Delicacies -- Stuffed Deep Fried Italian Peppers. A few days ago, I saw piles and piles of these gorgeous peppers in the grocery. People were buying it by bagfuls and I made a beeline for it too. I knew what I wanted to make with these little beauties the minute I saw it. Soon-after I put MIL to the task by asking her to make me a plateful of stuffed deep-fried snack to go with my evening tea. She was only too happy to oblige.

Ingredients:

• 6 Italian Peppers
• Corn Oil for deep frying

For the Stuffing:

• 4 Tbsp Finely Chopped Onions
• 3 Tbsp Seasoned Italian BreadCrumbs
• 2 Tsp "Indian Head" Yellow Cornmeal
• 1/2 Tsp Chickpea Flour(sold as "Besan" in Indian Stores)
• 1/2 Tsp Cumin Powder
• A pinch of Salt

For the Coating/Batter:

• 3 Tbsp Besan Flour
• 1-1/2 Tbsp Rice Flour
• 1 Tbsp All-purpose Flour
• A pinch of Asafoetida(sold as "Hing" in Indian Stores)
• A pinch of Baking Soda

Procedure:

• Mix all the ingredients under "For the Coating" with little water to make a slightly thick paste. Else it won't stick to the peppers.

• Mix all the ingredients under "For the Stuffing" with very little water just until the mixture comes together. It shouldn't be a paste.

• Clean and dry the Peppers.

• Slit the peppers vertically to make pockets without cutting through.Using a small spoon scoop out the membranes and seeds as much as possible.Divide the filling mixture into 6 parts and stuff the peppers generously without packing them.

• Heat the oil for deep frying.
• Dunk the stuffed peppers into the coating/batter and deep fry till until they are golden brown.

• Enjoy it with a cup of coffee. Here, take a bite.

Makes 3 Servings.

Notes:

• Large curvy peppers may be halved horizontally to facilitate scooping seeds and stuffing the filling.

Enjoy!