Mirchi ka Salan
Published Jun 02, 2025
Add CommentThis step by step recipe guides you on how to make Mirchi ka Salan at home- just like the one from your favorite Biryani spot!
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Mirchi ka Salan is a spicy curry made with green chilies. It’s not very often that you come across an Indian curry recipe that uses green chilies as the star ingredient. This salan is a Hyderbadi dish which uses ingredients like sesame, peanuts and coconut for that nutty curry base which balances out the heat from the chilies. This dish is typically served with biryani but can also be enjoyed with pulao or parathas.
If you order biryani from a restaurant, it’s most likely that you have either of the two sides served along with (or both in may cases!)- a cooling cucumber raita and mirchi ka salan. The word salan basically means a curry so mirchi ka salan translates to a curry made with chilies.
I have had my fair shares of salan, and while some have been extremely spicy, others have been quite tolerable. If you have been following me for a while, then you will know that I don’t like too much heat in my food (and all the recipes on this blog are proof of that!) so this recipe of salan is spicy- but not the kind of spicy that’ll burn your tongue!
Ingredients
Masala paste ingredients: The base of the salan is made with peanuts, sesame seeds, coconut and coriander seeds. Poppy seeds are also commonly added although I have skipped them in this recipe. The addition of coconut and peanuts make the curry milder and it also helps in making it creamy.
Green chilies: For salan, a type of green chilies called bhavnagri chilies is often used however it can me made with any green chili that you can find for example jalapenos, serrano peppers etc. One thing to remember is that the spicier chili you use, the spicier your salan will be.
Tamarind: To balance out the spicy flavor, tamarind is used for imparting a tangy flavor to this dish.
Do not burn the peanuts while roasting them, it will spoil the taste of the salan!
Quantity of Oil: This recipe uses a considerable amount of oil to make restaurant-style mirchi ka salan. If this sounds too much for you, and you want to make a homemade version with less oil, use about 3 to 4 tablespoons of oil only. I tested this recipe with less oil as well, and it still turns out good – though that version is more homestyle and might not necessarily satisfy your craving for the salan that you get with biryani at your favorite spot!
Let’s Make Mirchi ka Salan
- Roasted the ingredients for masala base
The base of this curry is made with peanuts, coconut, sesame seeds, and coriander all of which are first dry roasted and then ground into a paste with fried onions, ginger, and garlic.
- Grind the masala
Add everything to a blender and blend it to a smooth paste with enough water.
- Sauté the chilies and prepare the tadka
Make a slit in the chilies from top to bottom with a knife (do not slice them in half, make sure they remain intact). The chilies need to be sauteed for only 2 minutes until they get some blisters on both sides. For the tadka, I have used mustard seeds, kalonji (nigella seeds) and fennel seeds. You can also use cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds.
- Add the prepared paste and ground spices
You can also add some crushed green chili paste to increase the heat. For the ground spices, I have used turmeric, Kashmiri red chili powder and cumin powder. Use regular chili powder for extra heat.
- Cook the paste
Cook the spices with the paste until oil releases from the sides. Addition of tamarind is important for a tangy flavor in the salan.
- Add the chilies and water
Cook the salan on “dum” aka slow heat after adding the chilies until you see oil floating on top. That indicates the salan is ready. Serve with pulao or biryani!
How to tone down the heat of salan
If you are worried that your biryani salan might be too spicy, here are few things that you can do to tone down the heat:
- Use a less spicy chili variety: How hot your salan turns out will be directly proportional to how hot the chilies are that you used in the recipe. You can use milder varieties like poblano, jalapenos, or bhavnagri (the one I used in this recipe). If you use spicier varieties like Thai green chilies, the salan will be pretty spicy.
- De-seeding the chilies: To tone down the heat further, you can remove the seeds from the chilies. That will help in reducing the heat.
- Slit the chilies rather than slicing them: Some people cut chilies in 2 parts and that makes the salan more hot. I just make a slit from top to the bottom of the chili (making sure they remain intact).
- Do not use extra green chilies in the tadka: To make the salan less spicy, skip using anhi chopped chilies or green chilies paste while making the tadka for the salan.
- Skip the chilies, and use other vegetables: Well, technically it won’t be mirchi ka salan anymore, but you can replace the chilies with eggplant, bell peppers or even okra. Everything else remains the same.
Storage: Store leftover salan in an airtight container in the fridge. It will stay good for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. You can also make the gravy and freeze it. Thaw it and then reheat in a pan over stovetop. Lightly fry and add the chilies when you want to serve the salan.
How to Make Mirchi ka Salan
Ingredients
For the masala paste
- 3 tablespoons peanuts 50 grams , use raw peanuts
- ¼ cup desiccated coconut 25 grams , I used frozen coconut
- 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds 25 grams , raw
- 1 tablepoon coriander seeds 5 grams
- 2 tablespoons oil I used avocado oil
- ½ medium red onion sliced
- ½ inch ginger roughly chopped
- 4-5 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- ¾ cup water to blend the paste
For the salan
- 8-9 large green chilies I used bhavnagri chilies
- ¼-⅓ cup oil I used avocado oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon kalonji
- ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 10-12 curry leaves
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 & ½ teaspoon tamarind concentrate
- 2 cups water
Instructions
Make the masala paste
- Start by the roasting the peanuts. To a pan on medium heat, add 3 tablespoons of raw peanuts. Dry roast them for around 4 minutes on medium heat, stirring constantly. Make sure they are lightly roasted and do not burn. Transfer them to a blender.
- To the same pan, now add ¼ of desiccated coconut, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, and 1 tablespoon coriander seeds. Roast them for around the same time, 4 to 5 minutes on medium heat until lightly toasted and then transfer them to the blender.
- Now, to the same pan on medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add ½ of a medium onion (sliced), ½-inch roughly chopped ginger and 4-5 roughly chopped garlic cloves. Cook on medium heat for 8 to 9 minutes until the ginger, garlic and the onions are browned. Be careful not to burn them. Transfer to the same blender and blend along with the peanuts, sesame seeds, coconut using around ¾ cup water to a smooth paste. Set this paste aside.
Cook the salan
- Wash and then pat dry 8 to 9 chilies. Make a slit in the chilies from the top to bottom, making sure they are not sliced in half and remain intact. To the same pan in which you had fried the onions (there will still be oil left), now add these slit green chilies. Cook them for 2 minutes on medium heat until they get blisters on both sides. Make sure to turn them in between. Remove on a plate.
- Now, to the same pan, add ¼ to ⅓ cup of oil. Add ½ teaspoon of mustard seeds and ¼ teaspoon each of kalonji and fennel seeds. Let the mustard seeds pop and the other seeds sizzle. Then add, 8-10 curry leaves and let them splutter. At this point, if you prefer spicier salan, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of Thai green chili paste and cook for 1 minute.
- Then add the prepared masala paste. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Then add the ground spices: ½ teaspoon each of turmeric, Kashmiri red chili powder, and cumin powder. Also, add ¾ teaspoon of salt. Cook the spices along with the masala for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add 2 & ½ teaspoon of tamarind concentrate and cook for 1 more minute. Tamarind concentrate is super concentrate and so we need very little of it (refer note 1).
- Then, add the chilies, stir and then add 2 cups of water. Mix everything and set the heat to low. Let the salan slow cook (dum) for 8-10 minutes. The flavors will come together and you will see oil floating on top. At this point, turn off the heat and serve salan with your favorite biryani!
Notes
- Tamarind concentrate is super thick and so we need very little bit of it for tangy flavor. If you don’t have tamarind concentrate, soak around 2 tablespoons of tamarind in 1/4 to 1/3 cup hot water for 15 to 20 minutes. Once soften, extract the juice using a strainer and use that in the recipe.
- To make the salan spicier, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of green chilies paste (paste made of Thai green chilies) to the pan along with tadka. You can also add regular chili powder in place of Kashmiri red chili powder.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
