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.
Looks tasty.But to make it healthy, what other veggies can i add instead of potato?
Sruthi, you can add grated carrot, green peas or corn.
Hi Dasaana
gr8 recipe, wud like to try out for dinner 2nite, need help, in microwave can we use the grill mode or grill+convention mode,
what is the difference between grill and convention, plz help
thanks sunita
sunita, in microwave oven, use the microwave mode. you just need to cook for 4 to 5 minutes. thats it. grill and convection both use dry heat for cooking. in grill its just that the food is touching the heat source, whereas in convection the food is not touching the heat source.
Lovely recipe as usual..love your blog and the fact that all recipes are so easy to follow. Your photographs are amazing.
Thanks for making cooking so easy and fun!!
pleased to know this shubhda 🙂 thankyou for your kind and encouraging words. you are always welcome.
Hello,It is an absolutely sumptuous dish..Thanks a lot for sharing..i added some paneer as well,turned out great..Thanks once again.
glad you liked the stuffed capsicum adding paneer would taste great. you are always welcome radha and thankyou 🙂
Very easy steps of receipe.
thankyou varsha 🙂
Hi Dassana,
Thank you for this recipe. I want to serve it to a large group at work, and I wanted your advice on reheating (baking option).
Thanks,
Nidhi
to reheat, you can bake for some minutes at 180 degrees celsius before serving or you can microwave for some seconds.
Hi… Stuffed capsicum was awsome. i like it its amazing. i think only one part which taking longer is cocking of capsicum on low heat it took almost 30 minutes. I am very happy, i have pre pared it today.
Thanks. Yes cooking of capsicum takes time. You can also bake instead of cooking.
I loved this recipe! I used baby peppers instead of normal-sized peppers hence I only needed to bake it for ~12 minutes. It’s so great! I also added a little cheese right at the top of the stuffed pepper and I added 1/4th teaspoon tamarind paste to my potato stuffing and it turned out SO GOOD. Thank you for the great recipe, totally reminded me of my mom’s own recipe!
welcome urjitha. nice to know this. thanks for sharing your variation and positive feedback.
Very nice recipe and very very testy
nice and easy
Really a good recipe..
thanks anuradha
I made this stuffed bellpeppers today. It turned out good, but the bell pepper itself lacked any taste. Is that because there was no salt added to the peppers ?
Or is it supposed to taste this way ?
hi sharmilee, salt is sprinkled on the bell peppers. i forgot to mention this point. but even if salt is added, taste wise they taste the way bell peppers taste 🙂
Gorgeous recipe. Very tasty and available for cooking at home.
Elegant photos and wonderful description.
Nowhere have I seen such beautiful descriptions of recipes. Gratitude and respect to the author.
thanks lika for your generous and kind words. humbled and touched.
Hi…, the presentation looks awesome. M gonna try today as i am not a big fan of capsicum. This recipe has inspired me to cook capsicum &taste it. Hopefully it turns out well …. 🙂
Thank in advance
welcome runa. good to know this.
Hi, and thanks for these lovely recipes and photographs.
Can I use paneer instead of potato and follow exactly the same recipe?
welcome stuti. yes you can but add grated or crumbled paneer right towards the end and cook for 1-2 minutes.