Recipe: Potato pepper poppers

Stuff your peppers with Indian-spiced potatoes for a fantastic vegan starter dish

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

• 3 medium-sized potatoes
• 1 carrot
• 2 handfuls of garden peas
• 4 bell peppers
• 1 onion
• 2tsp cumin powder
• 3 cloves chopped garlic
• 1tsp red chilli powder
• 2tsp garam masala
• 2tsp all-purpose seasoning
• 2tsp dried fenugreek seeds
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Coriander, chopped

Method

Boil the potatoes (peel these first), the carrot, and the peas. But do not boil the pepper! (Or onions). Dice the onion finely and chop the ginger.

With the peppers, wash out the pepper and delicately slice just the top off, then use a spoon and knife to empty the bell pepper, so you’re left with an open-top shell that you can stuff!

Now onto the stuffing, heat a pan with oil with medium heat. Drop in the diced onions and chopped ginger, and let the onions cook for two minutes. Add cumin powder, fenugreek seeds, chilli powder, garam masala, and all-purpose seasoning. Let this sauté and mix until the onions are golden brown but coloured from the seasoning! Once cooked, add in your boiled vegetables, using a wooden spoon (or something that won’t scratch your pan!) to mash the vegetables as they are cooking. Mix it in well with the spices, and admire your stuffing!

Next, gently stuff the poppers (as I call them) with the stuffing, then place them back in the pan upright and cover the pan to let them cook for 12 minutes (this ensures that they are crunchy and grilled correctly). Once that’s done, crack salt and pepper over the finish dish and serve.

Tip

When putting them in the oven, if you have a vegan cheese that you like, sprinkle it all over the peppers to add some thickness and bring out some more flavour in the starter!