Stuffed capsicum recipe with step by step photos. This is a Punjabi style delicious bharwa shimla mirch preparation in which capsicum (bell pepper) are stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes filling and then further cooked. It makes for a comforting side dish to go with any North Indian meal.
This Punjabi bharwa shimla mirch recipe is how I make this dish at home and is liked by everyone. Sometimes I also add green peas to the potato stuffing. There are many variations of making the stuffing and even with different ingredients like paneer (cottage cheese) or besan (gram flour).
Stuffed vegetable dishes are quite popular in India. A few more bharwa (meaning stuffed) recipes on the blog are:
Most of the times I bake the stuffed capsicum. But in this post, I have mentioned on how to cook the capsicum in a pan, as I do get a lot of requests for making stuff without an oven.
However, if you do have an oven, then bake or air fry the capsicum. Baking is easy and effortless, then sauteing and cooking them in a pan. This dish can be made with any variety of bell peppers – red, orange, yellow or green.
For a colorful dish you can also use 2 to 3 different kinds of bell peppers.
Try to use small to medium-sized bell peppers as they are easy to fill and saute. The large sized capsicums may not cook evenly unless you bake them.
The bharwa shimla mirch goes best with rotis accompanied by raita. You can also serve these stuffed capsicum as a side dish.
This dish also makes for a good tiffin box lunch paired with a roti or paratha.
How to make Stuffed Capsicum
1. First, Rinse 4 to 5 medium-sized potatoes very well in fresh water. Then boil the potatoes till they are completely tender and cooked thoroughly. Peel and grate the potatoes. Keep aside.
2. Slice off the tops of 4 to 5 medium to large sized capsicum. Remove the seeds. Rinse them in water and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Keep aside.
3. In a small frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Fry ½ teaspoon cumin first on low heat. Then add ¼ cup finely chopped onion.
4. Saute the onions stirring often till translucent. Add 1 chopped green chili (approx ½ to 1 teaspoon).
5. Stir and then add the following ingredients:
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 pinch of asafoetida (hing) – optional
Stir and mix again.
6. Add the potatoes and mix everything.
7. Saute the potatoes for 2 minutes and then add the following ingredients:
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
- ½ teaspoon dry mango powder – You can substitute it with ¼ teaspoon lemon juice
- salt to taste
8. Stir well and then add 2 teaspoons of chopped coriander leaves. Mix again and let this spiced potato stuffing become warm or cool down.
9. With a spoon or with your hands, stuff the potato mixture in the capsicum.
Cooking Stuffed Capsicum
10. Now you can bake them or saute in a pan. I have mentioned the baking instructions in the recipe card details below.
For Sauteing: Heat 1 to 1.5 tablespoon oil in a pan or kadai (wok) and place the stuffed capsicum in the pan. You can use any neutral-flavored oil.
11. Cover the pan with its lid and allow the stuffed capsicum to cook on a low heat.
12. You will have to check often after every 5 to 6 minutes and keep on changing the sides of the capsicum so that all sides are cooked well. Check, turn the sides and cover the pan again.
You also have to place the open potato side touching the pan. In the below pic, you will see the various sides getting cooked. The capsicum will get golden and wrinkled. I usually cook the bell peppers thoroughly.
13. Continue to check, change the sides and then cover again till the capsicum are cooked well. It took me about 25 minutes to cook these on a low heat.
14. Garnish with coriander or mint leaves and Serve these potato stuffed capsicum hot or warm with rotis, bread or as a side dish. Also pair a vegetable salad or raita or yogurt.
While serving you can add some grated paneer or grated cheese.
For more veggie recipes
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Stuffed Capsicum | Bharwa Shimla Mirch
Ingredients
- 4 to 5 medium to large shimla mirch (capsicum or green bell peppers)
- 4 to 5 medium potatoes or about 180 to 200 grams potatoes
- ⅓ to ½ cup steamed or cooked peas – optional
- 1 small onion, finely chopped or ¼ cup finely chopped onion
- 1 green chili, chopped
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing) – optional
- ½ teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur powder) or as required. – (substitute with ¼ teaspoon lemon juice if dry mango powder is not available. you can also increase the quantity of lemon juice as per your taste)
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon Garam Masala
- 2 teaspoon chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
- 1 tablespoon oil for sauteing the onions
- 1 or 1.5 tablespoon oil for sauteing the capsicum
- salt as required
Instructions
making stuffing
- First rinse the potatoes well. Then boil them till they completely tender and cooked thoroughly. Peel and grate the potatoes. Keep aside.
- Slice off the tops of the capsicum. Remove the seeds. Rinse them in water and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Keep aside.
- In a small frying pan, heat oil. Fry the cumin first on low heat and then add chopped onions.
- Saute the onions till translucent stirring often. Add chopped green chilies.
- Stir and then add turmeric powder, red chili powder and asafoetida. Stir again.
- Add the potatoes and mix everything.
- Saute the potatoes for 2 minutes and then add garam masala powder, dry mango powder and salt to taste.
- Stir well and then add chopped coriander leaves. Mix again and let this spiced potato stuffing become warm or cool down.
- With a spoon or with your hands, stuff the potato mixture in the capsicum.
- If baking, then brush or rub oil outside the capsicum, before you stuff them with the spiced mashed potatoes.
- Now you can bake the stuffed capsicum in an oven or saute in a pan.
for cooking stuffed capsicum in a pan
- Heat oil in a pan or kadai/wok and place the stuffed capsicum in the pan.
- Cover the pan and allow the stuffed capsicum to cook on a low flame.
- You will have to check often after every 5 to 6 mins and keep on changing the sides of the capsicum so that all sides are cooked well. Check, turn the sides and cover the pan again.
- You also have to place the open potato side touching the pan. The capsicum will get golden and wrinkled.
- Continue to check, change the sides and then cover again till they are cooked well. It took me about 25 minutes to cook these on a low flame.
- Garnish with coriander or mint leaves and serve these potato stuffed capsicum hot or warm with rotis, bread or as a side dish.
- It also tastes good when served with raita or curd. If you like then you can add some grated cheese or grated paneer while serving.
- You can also pack it in a tiffin box with chapati or plain paratha.
Notes
- This recipe can be easily scaled to make a big batch.
- You can use any neutral flavored oil.
- You can use any color bell pepper – red, green, yellow or orange. Or you can use 2 to 3 color bell peppers to make a colorful dish.
- Preheat your oven to 200 degrees c.
- Place the stuffed capsicum on a baking tray and bake at 200 degrees c for 20 to 30 minutes (oven temperatures vary, so keep an eye) till the capsicum has become golden and wrinkled. You can also top some grated cheese on the potatoes and then bake.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Stuffed Capsicum Post from the blog archives, first published in June 2014 has been republished and updated on December 2022.
Hi..having found your food blogs, I m very relaxed now, as I dnt hv to search and keep brainstorming various sites for various recipes. U have so much in store where I can find all at one place..good going!
thanks pooja for sharing positive feedback on recipes. glad to know this. do try some recipes and feel free to ask any query.
Dear Dassana, thank you very much for this recipe. Tried it…and loved it!
Finally, I love capsicums!!
welcome radhika
Hi Dassana… I have been a regular visitor to your food blog and love it for the simple instructions and beautiful pics. I am not a regular in the kitchen, howerver,I have tried a few recipes and they turned out to be good. I would love to try out the home-made breads and have been pondering over purchasing a good Oven/OTG. Could you suggest one please?
Thanks…
hi amruta. firstly thanks. i have a philips basic OTG which is some years now and still working good. i am not sure about the other brands as i have never tried them. you can read some online reviews and then decide on which brand and model you want to purchase. happy shopping.
Thank you so much for your simple indian recipies. Being a guy, even i can follow them step by step with awesome results.
Please post more dishes from northern india like UP, Bihar.
Thanks again!
welcome vik. thanks for sharing your encouraging feedback. yes, we will post more recipes from north india.
I try every dishes made from this site .
It’s the fantastic experience
U make the khana pakana is so simple for me.
Thank u so………much.
welcome yogita. thanks for sharing your positive feedback.
Hey there, I live in Texas n cooking is my passion. And I love to experiment with my food. Ur recipes are really simple n amazing. Instead of aaloo in bharwan shimla mirch, I used soya granules n peas n it turned out awesome. Hv tried lots of ur recipes recent one was dabeli. Thanks for sharing ur recipes in such a beautiful way. Good Luck.
welcome nisha. good to know this. thanks for sharing your positive feedback on recipes and your variation on stuffed capsicum recipe.
Very nice dish….. Thank u
welcome anuradha
I made this for dinner last week. I have just moved to the US and I didn’t know how to use the oven. I tried this dish it came out fantastic! Thank you so much. Every recipe of yours that I have tried so far have come out great!
welcome sneha. thanks for sharing positive feedback on recipes.
I made this for dinner last week and my husband loved it! Thanks for the tips on making it in the oven. This was my first experience of using an oven so I was really reassured and happy with the result. 🙂
thanks sneha. so now you will be able to use the oven comfortably. in fact not only stuffed capsicum, but also stuffed tomatoes and potatoes can also be made in the oven.
For tomatoes and potatoes would the filling be the same?
for tomatoes, its either potatoes or paneer. for bharwan aloo, its paneer or a mixture of paneer and khoya. peas also can be added.
Thank you!
welcome sneha
Hey,
I moved to Leeds a month back and was only surviving on take away for a fortnight, and eventually started missing home food. Then I came across your website and the result is I now have 5 people coming to my place for dinner everyday. Thanks a lot.. I feel at home in U.K. now…at least on the dinner table.
Glad to know this. Now you are having indian home cooked and the oleasure of being a good chef and a host. Your friends must be thanking you 🙂
Hi,
I really love your recipes. they are simply good and you have done a great job in presenting the recipes with pictures. Just love your website. This has inspired me to cook.
thank you.
thanks sneha. good to know that the website has inspired you to cook. do cook often and try new recipes. its creative as well as relaxing.
Hi,
Looks yummy. I was wondering if I can add grated cheddar cheese in the potato mixture. Or whether I should just sprinkle the cheese on top? I would add it without any hesitation if there was no Mango Powder. Since you are the expert and you might have cooked this dish many times, do you think adding cheddar cheese at all is recommended here. If yes than which would be the best way? In the mixture or sprinkling a little on top. I can’t predict cheddar cheese combination with mango powder. Pls guide.
Thanks Zo, add the cheddar cheese from top. cheese goes well with mango powder.
Hi..cooking is my biggest fear.. i dont know wht i think when i cook but I tried this recipe..n my husband likes it.thanks for generating my confidence in cooking through ur recipes..thanks alot
thanks a lot rinku. just don’t get scared while cooking. its an art and with practice you will be able to master it.
Nice recipe… Its too good… Whenever I m cooking I choose recipes from ur website… I also made coconut barfi, gajar ka halwa, and they were awesome… Thanx…
welcome zil and thanks for the positive feedback on recipes.
Hello !
Your recipes are very nice !! Thanks a lot for posting them. I have been able to improve a lot in my cooking because of your recipes.
I had a small query not directly related to your page. I wanted to buy an otg for baking purpose, but mostly people these days suggest buying a microwave with convection mode as it serves the purpose of an otg also. But there is another group that says that microwave is not good for health and food is not baked evenly in it as compared to Otg.
What would your suggestion be for some one who is new to baking and cooking as well. I am not asking you to suggest any particular model or brand.
Request you to clear my doubts as you are so experienced in the field of cooking.
Thanks in Advance !
Regards.
thanks. if you want to bake a lot, then i would suggest an OTG. in oven there is even baking. microwave oven is also good for baking. but the temperature for a standard recipe using oven, needs to be brought down in the microwave oven. in a microwave oven, due to the fan the heating is quick and rapid. so what happens is the top of a loaf gets browned quickly in microwave oven. personally i prefer to bake in an OTG. i have also heard the side effects of microwave rays. i used to cook food in microwave, but now i just use it for reheating. for cooking i use the stove top. i have got so many requests for microwave recipes, but still considering whether to add them or not. i would suggest to go for an OTG since i bake often. i have used both OTG and microwave oven and i feel baking is better in an OTG.