Murtani

Murtani/ Upar Gaar/ Pepper Choka

Emily (a self-proclaimed “pepper mouth”) learns how to make Murtani aka Upar Gaar or Pepper Choka with help from Reshmi from Taste of Trini! Murtani is an Indo- Trinidadian dish that is made by roasting hot peppers and vegetables over an open flame and combining them to form a delicious side dish. Murtani is definitely on the spicy side and its bold, smokey flavours pairs perfectly with sada roti. Let’s how much of a “pepper mouth” Emily really is.

Adapted from Taste of Trini

Murtani Ingredients

• 3 tomatoes
• 2 baigan/ eggplant/ melongene/ aubergine
• 6 -8  small ochroes
• 1 – 2 scotch bonnet peppers or pimento peppers
• 1 whole onion
• 2 heads of garlic
• 5 shadon beni leaves
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons of Cuisine Soyabean Oil
• Salt – to taste

Method:

1. Thoroughly wash the tomatoes, baigan, ochroes and peppers. Dry completely.
2. Roast each vegetable (including the onion and garlic) on an open flame until the skins are entirely charred. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Slice the baigan and ochroes down the middle and carefully scoop out the flesh into a separate bowl. Peel the roasted onion and add it to the baigan and ochro mixture.
4. Peel the garlic, remove the stems from the peppers and smash together using a mortar and pestle. Add the shadon beni leaves and continue to grind the ingredients together.
5. Transfer the garlic/pepper/shadon beni mix to the bowl with the remaining roasted vegetables and mash together to form a paste.
6. Add lemon juice and salt, to taste.
7. In a small pan, heat the Cuisine Soyabean Oil to smoking point and carefully add to the vegetable paste.
8. Stir together and serve.

Check out the video here