Chilli poppers, take 1!

I am on a mission to live a healthier lifestyle. The saying that compares my body to a temple has somehow formed a loop appearance in the non-stop rat-race which is my mind and I have been somewhat obsessed with at least attempting to put only the “good stuff” into my mouth. That being said, nourishing the mind as well as the body has been my motto. I feel that the occasional block of chocolate melting on your tongue and dripping into the corners of your mouth, sending your taste buds into a state of euphoria is a necessity for the stressed out women of today. Every little pleasure helps. And where you find a way to bring health and taste bud heaven together, you write that sherbert down, make copies, file them in safe places and basically hold on for dear life.

One of my recent guilty pleasures is the culinary phenomenon known as chilli poppers. I know they have probably been around for ages, but I only discovered them about a year ago at a friend’s wedding. These were particularly strong but I loved them. Let’s just say, that after I had officially lost count of the number of poppers I had popped into my mouth, as the bride tossed the bouquet, the tears in my eyes weren’t entirely tears of joy.  Big, thick chillis, de-pitted and filled with an assortment of tangy cheeses that ooze out of a deep fried and crispy coating, generously dipped in a sweet chilli or coriander chutney makes my mouth produce water like a busted geyser. But “deep fried” and “batter” are not words that would make the Heart Foundation happy.

Subsequently, I attempted my own healthy version of the infamous chilli popper, using wholewheat flour and grilling them instead of deep-frying. The wholewheat flour may not be that much better, but it is better. Also, the batter slipped off my chillis during the baking and grilling process, and re-attached itself to the underside of the chilli making my final product something along the lines of green chillis stuck in a substance resembling organic cement.  Despite the somewhat deformed nature of the chilli poppers when I bit into the golden crispy coating, through the tangy chilli flesh and felt the warm soft cheese drip onto my tongue, my taste-buds high-fived me!

Deconstructed wholewheat chilli poppers, done!  

Ingredients

6 large green chillis

A mix of your favourite cheese, grated (I used cheddar, feta and gouda)

Wholewheat flour

2 eggs

Sweet chilli or Dhanya (Coriander) Sauce for dipping

Cut a slit along the length of each chilli and remove the seeds. Shove as much cheesy goodness into the chilli as you can and then squeeze the slit closed. Beat the eggs and ½ cup of wholewheat flour together to get a sticky but still fluid consistency. Then dip the filled chillis into the egg and flour mixture. Pour another ½ cup of flour onto a plate and roll the egg coated chilli in the flour. If you want to, you can repeat the process to get the chilli properly coated. Place the chillis on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and grill in the oven until the coating is golden brown (approximately 10 – 15 minutes). For added zing, add some of your favourite spice to the flour on the plate before rolling the chillis in it.

Yum!