Pindjur

If there's one thing I sincerely miss from my homeland, it would be pepper. Not the black pepper or the bell pepper or whatever. The one called 'banana pepper'. Subtle and mild taste, the lovely crunch and the yellow/green color. Oh, and the versatility!
In 12 or so years I have been living on this little rock, once only I found these peppers in supermarket. And that was it. Never again.


Just a couple of weeks ago, while shopping for fruit and vegetables, I found some green (bell) peppers that looked well, a bit strange. They were quite light of color and the flesh wasn't as thick. Got me a couple, I like throwing them into salads. Our summers aren't cook friendly.
So I was going through the fridge and thinking what to do for lunch, and then, I found my funny green peppers, 1 red and 1 yellow pepper. I decided to make my very favorite pepper dish, Pindjur (pronounced pin-joor for the English speaking world).
If peppers and tomatoes could dream, their dream would be to be made into pindjur. Yeah, it is THAT good. All you need is a piece of white (Feta style) cheese and some crusty bread. Forget forks, forget manners and dip your heart out. I know I did.
I'm not going to give you quantities and persons of number serving size, but there's a rule. The more-the better. Oh, and it tastes soooo lovely the day after... when all flavors have mixed.
The original recipe calls for the above mentioned 'banana' peppers, but nothing wrong with the regular green ones. 


3 large green peppers
1 large yellow pepper
1 large red pepper
1 chilli pepper (optional, for those that like it hot)
3 cloves of garlic 
4 large tomatoes
salt to taste
4 tbsp olive oil (any vegetable oil will do)


Method:


Roast the peppers in the oven until they have the skin blackened. Turn them several times, so they blister nicely on all sides. Close them in a plastic bag (or pot with lid) and let them cool down. Peel off the skin, remove the seeds and tear them into strips with your hands.
Cut up the tomatoes into small chunks and set aside.
In a mortar and pestle, ground the garlic with little salt into a paste. Add the pepper strips and pound and ground. Don't overdo it, you still need some texture. Add the tomatoes and continue pounding and grounding. 
Pour the contents into a deep dish and add salt to taste.
In a separate dish, pour the oil and bring it to sizzling point. Remove from heat and pour over the pindjur. Mix well. If you're using chilli, add thinly chopped chilli just before you add the oil.
Serve with crusty bread and a chunk of white cheese.