Bell pepper dry curry with besan and a vent session

I promise I have a recipe today but I just to vent a little bit before I get to the recipe. Thanks for bearing with me, feel free to jump ahead or scroll down to get to the recipe directly :-).

It has been a busy couple of weeks with travel involved and I have spent less time on the blog than I would like to. For a natural home bird like me, travel is not something I enjoy very much. I love to go to places and see sights but the journey itself is what puts me off. I love to go driving but hate air travels, India trip is different though which I look forward to all the time in spite of the long flights. So when I have to travel, I am not a very happy camper. Two weeks back, when we all went to the east for DD's music program, I grumped and squirmed the entire 5 hours on the flight back making BH & DD sitting either side of me go bonkers. But then I had to travel alone for work last week and had only myself to complain to on the journey.

The trip itself was great, lot of work got done, met with my team and had a great time working in the familiar surroundings again while BH & DD did a wonderful job of taking care of home, school, sports practice, other activities and everything else. After a long work week, I headed back on Friday evening to leave the hotel room behind but was bummed when I missed my connection and had to stay overnight in a yet another unfamiliar city. The airlines did nothing to ease the distressed customer except for shoving a 800 number in my face and tell me to get a hotel room for the night. Though I was booked for a late afternoon flight the next day, I was adamant on getting in on one of those earlier flights, so I reached the airport early in the morning, established myself at the gate, kept talking to those agents and made sure my stand by status was well respected and recognized :-). Finally, they put me on an earlier flight to get rid of me. Reached home to be received by yells and shrieks and tight hugs and long licks (Flora) and all the travel sickness and tiredness vanished just like that :-), Great to be home again. Looking back at the additional time and the delay, it is just another character building experience.

To top it all, BH had cooked a wonderful lunch of menthya soppina anna and he said he just followed instructions from here, what more can I ask for? I cleaned the plate completely to wash away a week of eating bread and salads and such..This morning, I logged in to see inquiries and comments left by my blog visitors which just made my day completely, Thank you all.. Weather outside is beautiful, birds are chirping, our small vegetable garden is looking good. Life is good.

Whether you read through my vent session above or hopped directly to the recipe area, here is something that will not disappoint you. A yummy, quick to put together side dish for your rotis or rice. It is a dry curry and goes well with a plain rasam.

What do you need to make Bell Pepper Palya?
2 green peppers - deseeded and cut into bite size pieces.
1/2 medium sized onion - cut into thin long strips
2 heaped Tblsp of besan/gram flour/chick pea flour
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 Tsp red chili powder
1 Tblsp cooking oil
1 Tsp mustard seeds
1 Tsp chana dal/kadle bele
1/2 Tsp asafoetida
4-5 curry leaves

How do you make Bell Pepper Palya? 

• Heat a heavy bottom pan on medium heat and dry roast the besan frequently stirring. 
• Besan roasts and gives a wonderful aroma and turns slightly pink, switch off. Keep the roasted flour aside.
• Heat the oil in the same pan, add mustard, asafoetida and chana dal, roast till mustard crackles, add curry leaves. 
• Add the thin onion slices and fry for a couple of minutes until they become soft.

• Mix in the chopped bell pepper pieces, add salt and mix in. 
• Cover and cook on medium heat for 3-4 minutes. 

• Add the roasted besan, red chili powder and cook uncovered for 5-6 minutes until besan cooks and gets incorporated well. 

• Switch off and serve warm with rice or rotis. 

Notes: 

• You can mix & match bell peppers of different colors but I prefer the green ones for this recipe as they do not turn mushy when cooked. 
• You can skip roasting the besan initially but it will take longer for it completely cook and renders the bell pepper very soft.