Challa Mirchi

Challa mirchi is one of those preparations that seems unnecessary until you've eaten it. Thick green chillies, soaked in buttermilk and salt for a day or two, then sun-dried until they shrink and wrinkle. You fry them in a little oil until they puff up and crisp, and what you get is tangy, salty, crispy, fiery — all at once.

The buttermilk marinade does two things: it takes some of the raw heat out of the chilli and adds a mild lactic sourness that you can taste in the finished product. The salt goes all the way through. When you fry them, the moisture that remained inside releases quickly in the hot oil, and the chilli becomes almost hollow and very crunchy.

Eat these as a side with rice and dal — the way you'd eat a pickle, but crunchier. Curd rice with a fried challa mirchi on the side is a classic combination. Also good as an accompaniment to upma or khichdi.

To fry: a little oil in a pan, medium heat, drop in the chillies and cover immediately because they splatter. Sixty to ninety seconds, turn once. They're done when they've puffed and turned slightly darker. Eat immediately while hot and crisp.