🏙 Street Food · Andhra Pradesh · Level 1
Mirchi Bajji
Andhra's large green chilli fried in besan batter. The chilli must be slit and deseeded — it becomes a vessel, not a weapon.
Andhra's large green chilli fried in besan batter. The chilli must be slit and deseeded — it becomes a vessel, not a weapon.
Mirchi bajji is Andhra Pradesh's most popular street snack — large bhavnagri or banana peppers coated in a thick, spiced besan batter and deep-fried until golden and crispy. The key is deseeding the chilli properly: the goal is a crispy batter shell with a sweet, mildly spicy pepper inside, not an incendiary experience. The besan batter coating also undergoes a distinctive puffing during frying that creates the characteristic light, airy texture.
Make a slit down one side of each chilli — not all the way through. Remove seeds and membranes completely using a small spoon or fingers. The chilli should be hollow inside. Rinse briefly.
The heat in chillies concentrates in the seeds and the white membrane (placenta) — these contain the highest concentration of capsaicin. Removing them completely transforms the chilli from painfully hot to mildly sweet and pleasant. The hollow interior also serves as a steam pocket during frying — steam released inside the batter coating creates a slight puffing effect.
Mix besan, rice flour, turmeric, chilli powder, ajwain, salt with enough water to make a thick batter — it should coat a spoon heavily and fall off in a thick ribbon.
Rice flour addition produces a crispier, harder crust than besan alone — rice starch gelatinises at a higher temperature than chickpea starch, forming a more rigid structure on cooling. Ajwain's thymol compound inhibits excessive gluten formation in the besan, producing a lighter batter.
Heat oil to 175°C. Dip each chilli in batter, ensuring complete coating. Fry 3–4 at a time for 3–4 minutes, turning once, until deep golden.
175°C produces optimal simultaneous batter crust formation and chilli cooking. At 160°C the batter absorbs oil before the crust sets. At 190°C the exterior burns before the chilli inside softens.