Aloo Bhindi / Potato Okra Dry Sabzi

Fact: Okra is slimy

Another fact: Potatoes are delicious

Fact 3: When delicious and slimy get together, it creates a pretty great dish. 

When I go to the nearby supermarket, I run out of vegetables to buy. There are about 5 rows of green leafy vegetables which I can't bother with over weeknights, and there are the usual suspects like beans and carrot and broccoli and capsicum. I just have to reach for the okra packet on those nights. 

Aloo Bhindi Sukhi Sabzi Recipe

Adapted from: Sailus Food

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 potato, cut into small cubes
10 okra, cut into 1/2" discs
1 tbsp tamarind water (add a small piece of tamarind to 1 tbsp water. Extract juice, discard pulp)
~ alternatively, use freshly squeezed lemon juice or a generous pinch of amchoor / dry mango powder

1 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
A generous pinch of hing / asafoetida / perungaayam
1/2 tsp jeera / cumin seeds
1-2 tsp dhania / malli / coriander powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to taste)
1/2 tsp garam masala or curry powder (whatever you have in hand)
A pinch of ginger powder (optional)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
A few curry leaves
Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they pop, add the rest of the ingredients below in the order given.

2. Once the masalas have been fried for about a minute, add the cut vegetables and the tamarind water. Mix well until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

3. Cook covered, stirring frequently, until the potatoes are tender and the okra is cooked, non-slimy, and has learnt a thing or two from the potatoes. 

Serve hot with steamed rice and gravy of choice. 

Hyderabadi Dahi Bhindi Masala - Step by Step Recipe

I have been posting way too many dessert recipes of late so here's something to offset that. I have talked about my dislike towards the sliminess of Okra in my Okra Fry with Peanuts recipe post so you can rest assured that if I use Okra, the final dish will show no signs of sliminess. This is another one of them.



Hyderabadi Dahi Bhindi Masala
Source: Monsoon Spice
Serves: 2 - 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:
3 cups Bhindi/Okra, washed, dried and cut into small pieces
8 shallots, sliced fine (or use 1 large onion)
2 tomatoes, finely chopped (or 1 tbsp tomato paste)
1 tsp ginger garlic Paste
A pinch of sugar (optional)
1 cup yogurt, beaten
1 tbsp grated coconut, fresh/frozen
8 cashew nuts, soaked in warm milk for at least 10 mins
A generous pinch of kasuri methi / dried fenugreek leaves
1 tsp garam masala
½ -1 tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp amchur / dry mango powder
1 tsp coriander powder / malli podi
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

For Tempering:
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Urad Dal/Split Black Lentils
2-3 Dry Red Chillies, halved
A Pinch of Hing/Asafoetida
Few Curry Leaves
1 tbsp Oil

How I Made It:

1. Sia's tip: Sprinkle little salt to okra pieces and mix well. Keep it aside for half an hour. This helps in reducing the sliminess while frying the okra. I did this and it worked!

2. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and add okra pieces to it. Fry them continuously at high flame till they turn brown retaining their crispiness, about 7-10 mins. Alternatively you can also deep fry them. Transfer these fried okras to a plate lined with kitchen/paper towel and set aside.

3. Grind soaked cashews and coconut to smooth paste adding the milk used for soaking. Set aside.

4. Heat oil for tempering in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When they pop, add cumin seeds, urad dal, dry red chillies, hing and curry leaves and sauté it for a minute till the dal turns golden brown in colour.

5. Now add finely chopped onions and fry till they turn light golden. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for another minute. Add all the dry masalas - garam masala, red chilli powder, amchur, turmeric and coriander powder - along with kasuri methi and fry for a minute in sim.



6. Mix in finely chopped tomatoes (if using) and sauté till they turn pulpy and release their juice, about 2 minutes (or add the tomato paste at this stage). Now add ground cashew-coconut paste and mix well. Keep stirring for a minute.



7. Add yogurt, sugar and salt to taste and stir well. Depending on the consistency of gravy required, add ½-1 cup of water and mix well. Simmer the gravy and let it cook uncovered for another 5 minutes.



8. Mix in fried okra and adjust salt. Add little more water if you think the gravy is too thick and simmer for another 3-5 minutes.



9. Done! Serve with rotis or any mixed rice.

Vendakka Thayir Pachadi / Okra Curd Pachadi Recipe

I had forgotten how easy and quick it is to put together a thayir pachadi and call it a side dish. Now that summer has officially set in in Singapore (its technically summer here throughout the year!), our consumption of buttermilk and curd has gone up significantly - as if TH wasn't guzzling down enough of it already.

Pachadi, especially vendakka pachadi is a very common part of a sadya or wedding meal. Its simplicity balances out the heat of the other curries and side dishes that are seen as more important. I have always had a soft corner for the simple pachadi.

Vendakka Thayir Pachadi
Serves 2

What I Used:

10 vendakka / okra
1 small onion
1 tsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp roasted jeera / cumin
1 green chilli (or to taste)
1 cup thick plain yogurt
1/4 to 1/2 cup water
Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Cut the okra into thin rounds. Chop the onion finely and the green chilli into small pieces (or crush using a pestle and mortar).

2. Heat oil, add mustard seeds and when they pop, add the onions, green chilli and okra. Fry for 8-10 mins until the onions are golden and the okra is fried and crisp. Drain and leave aside to cool.

3. Beat yogurt with salt and jeera. Dunk in the fried okra mixture and mix well.

Serve with rice and side dish / kozhambu.

This goes to JFI - Wedding Treats hosted by Priya of Akshayapaatram, originally conceived by Indira of Mahanandi.

Okra Fry With Peanuts

Ok, I know what you are thinking. After all that hue and cry I made about being an okra-hater and all that, I go ahead and post 3 okra recipes in a span of 2 months. Well, the reason is, its one of the 'Indian' vegetables that I see always in the wet market and end up buying it thinking I can make something passable with it. After all, we both really liked the Okra with Besan curry that I made, TH more so because it resembles usili.

This is a dish I have tried in our office cafe when I was in Hyderabad. I always found it an interesting combination - ladies finger and peanuts. The crunch the peanuts gave to the curry was quite nice and though I wasn't sure what recipe the chef there used, I tried to replicate it the other day and it did come very close in taste.

What I Used:

Okra/ladies finger/vendakka - 15 (number of okras)
Raw shelled peanuts - 3 tbsp
Shallots - 4, chopped
Garlic - 1 tsp, minced (optional, but add for more flavour)
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves - a few (optional)

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil in a pan and lightly fry the shallots and garlic. When it starts browning, add the chilli powder and fry for another 10-15 seconds.

2. Now add the okra and peanuts and fry on sim till the okra turns soft and the peanuts are done.

3. Finally, mix the salt and curry leaves in and remove from fire.

Serve with hot rice and some gravy.

Related Posts

Fried Okra with Besan
Vendakka Aviyal
Kovakka Mezhukkupuratti

Fried Okra with Besan

As I had mentioned before, TH and I are not huge fans of Okra (Vendakka/ladies finger. But I feel guilty if I leave out any vegetable completely (except for Pavakka/Karela!) so I bought it the other day just to try and make something different. This is a spontaneous recipe that happened just like that and it came out really well, so much so that TH didn't even realise it was Okra :) And its really simple too, using minimum ingredients.

  

What I Used:

Serves 2

Okra/Vendakka/Ladies finger - 10 nos
Besan/chickpeas flour - 3 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - a pinch
Hing - 1/4 tsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil

How I Made It:

1. Mix the besan with chilli, turmeric, hing, jeera and salt. Add enough water to make a thick batter.

2. Cut the okra into thin discs and add to the besan batter.

3. Heat about 2 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan and add this mixture. Keep stirring occasionally until it starts separating into small bits and the okra is cooked. 

The final dish was soft and spicy with a sweet tinge. We loved it!

Vendakka Aviyal/Okra Cooked in Tangy Coconut

TH and I are both Okra (vendakka in tamil and malayalam) haters. Well, maybe hate is too strong a word, but definitely its a strong dislike. But being my mother's daughter, ignoring any vegetable is not my thing, so I still continue to buy it and make things that take out the slimy feel from it, cuz that's what we both hate. My mom frequently makes the traditional aviyal, with all possible vegetables and a generous amount of coconut. So I wasn't too familiar with this particular version of aviyal until I asked her for recipes with Okra (that takes out the sliminess!).



The only considerable difference in Vendakka Aviyal is the addition of tamarind. It gives it a nice tangy flavour and disguises the undesirable parts of the vegetable beautifully.

Serves 2

What I Used:

Okra/Vendakka/Ladies finger : 10 nos.
Grated coconut : 1/2 cup
Shallots : 5-6
Tamarind paste : 2 tbsp
Powdered Jeera/Cumin : 1 tsp
Chilli powder : 1 tsp
Curry leaves, mustard : for tempering
Coconut oil : 2 tbsp
Salt : to taste

How I Made It:

1. Chop the okra in 1" pieces and cook in some salted water till soft.

2. Coarsely grind the coconut, shallots, jeera and chilli with very little water.

3. Heat coconut oil in a kadai and temper with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add the ground paste and fry for 10 seconds. Then add the okra pieces and the tamarind paste. Keep covered and cook for 2 mins till the curry has mixed well.

4. Adjust salt and remove from fire.

Serve hot with rice.

This special aviyal dish using tamarind, goes to JFI - Tamarind hosted by Sig this month.