Diwali, this year, came upon me before I knew it.. so had no time to meditate on what I would like to make. I did feel like making some Faral (Maharashtrian sweetmeats) , but after looking up some recipes and noting that all involved copious amounts of frying..which usually gives me an enormous headache, I gave up on that notion. But there were two Diwali potlucks over the weekend and I did not want to show up empty handed:-). So decided to make quick and easy stuffed chilies. Bought two pounds of jalapeno peppers from the local grocery, the Mexican blend of shredded cheese and I was all set to go.
Since I always keep a large bag of frozen corn in the freezer (being a huge corn freak !) and always have some garam masala at hand, the rest was simple and straightforward.
Cut the stem end of the chilies and slit them vertically I proceeded to deseed them, (note to self in the future: wearing gloves while doing this is a really good idea to avoid the burning sensation that deseeding chilies can leave).I rubbed the chilies with some olive oil very lightly. I microwaved a bowl of corn for 2 minutes and then mixed it with the shredded cheese, some garam masala, salt , turmeric for some color and some dhana-jeera powder. I set the oven to preheat to 400'F and stuffed the chilies while it got to that temperature.
Once the chilies were stuffed and the oven was preheated, I put the chilies in for 12 minutes. Let them sit in the oven for 2-3 minutes after the first 12 minutes were over and I had turned off the oven.
The smell of the melting cheese was a good indicator that the chilies were done. The chilies looked a little wilted and I could see they had been cooked well.
That was it.. I was happy to have prepared a spicy, cheesy appetizer in a short time, with no frying involved!
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