A few cars were parked outside as I stepped into the Fresh Market this morning, I love it when it is calm and peaceful inside the store.The fruits and vegetables were stocked up to the brim, untouched & fresh.I like to do my grocery early on Sunday morning when it all quiet and less crowded.
Pushing my shopping cart through the aisle, I picked a few items on my list. Was heading home in less than 20 minutes, keeping the grocery shopping short and sweet.The okra’s I bought home looked fresh. I started my cooking right away, needing to focus on preparing for the week ahead, later on in the day.
They say one ought to wash the Okra’s and pat them dry on a kitchen towel before cutting them into desired shape, coz trying to soak them in water to clean after cutting would make them slimy to touch. So i cleaned and patted them dry, before cutting them.
My plan today with the Okra was to try a dry preparation to go with the rice and dhal, I had already made earlier.This Okra/Bhindi Masala fry is a very tasty dish from a Punjabi cuisine. (Punjab is a northern state in India & has some very authentic dishes in their cusine, which are hot favorites world around, if you enjoy Indian food!).
Okra/Bhindi Masala
Ingredients
1 packet 1 ( 20-25 Okra’s) Okra/Bhindi
1 large 1 Onion
1 tbsp 1 Coconut Oil
1 tsp 1 Cumin seeds
1 tsp 1 Ginger Garlic paste
2 2 Tomatoes – (cubed)
1 tbsp 1 Chilli powder
1 tsp 1 Coriander Powder
1 tsp 1 Turmeric powder
1 tsp 1 Amchoor/Dry Raw Mango powder
Salt- to taste
Directions
- In a thick bottomed or a cast iron pan, warm the coconut oil, to this add the cumin seeds, when they splutter, add the thinly sliced onions
- Saute the onions till golden brown
- Now add the ginger garlic paste & stir a little till the raw smell disappears
- Now add the cubed tomato pieces to the above & saute till the tomatoes turn soft and mushy
- Now add the cut Okra/Bhindi pieces to the above along with the spice owders of Chilli, coriander, turmeric & Amchoor/Dry mango and stir it will, so the ‘masala’ of all the spice pwders coast the Okra’s well.
- Add the salt to taste, last, coz salt releases moisture and since this is a dry preparation, the less the water content, the better it tastes.The same reason why one would cook this dish without a lid.
- Stir for a few minutes and then switch off the stove.
- Garnish with cilantro/coriander leaves and lime juice.
- Serve hot with rice or chapati’s /Indian flat bread
Notes
- The Amchoor/Dry Raw Mango powder is a souring agent which helps in reducing the slimy nature of Okra’s as well as keep the greens crispy during the cooking process. One can substitute it with lime juice,vinegar or even tamarind, if Amchoor Powder is not available.
My other recipes published earlier using Okra/Bhindi are listed below, if you want to try out different recipes using Okra.
Here is the list :
STUFFED OKRA BOATS
OKRA/BHENDI KADHI (SPICED OKRA BUTTERMILK CURRY)
Vendakai/Okra Puli Kuzhambu
OKRA / BHENDI MASALA