Bhindi Sabji (Okra)

This is one of my favourite vegetables and my eyes light up at the sight of the bhindi sabji. It is cooked in many different ways in many countries of the world. It is also called lady’s fingers (the green seed filled pod that is edible). The variety is slightly different in Australia than in India and UK. The vegetable is thicker and bigger than what I have been used to in the past. When I first saw it here I wondered if it would be actually tender. I was pleasantly surprised that it is nice and soft but the seeds do tend to be bigger. I also have to get used to the cooking time.. for some reason the change in variety and also electric hob makes my sabji turn to mush! So I would suggest that one keeps a sharp eye on the pot while it is cooking to get an estimate of the time. Having a heavy non-stick pan is good too as when I had thinner pans they burnt the bhindi very quickly. Another thing I love the taste of potatoes with it and so usually add that to it. 

Ingredients

300 gms of bhindi

2 medium potatoes

1 medium onion

2 small green chillies

1 inch piece of fresh ginger

Half spoon of mustard seeds

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt to taste

Half tea spoon of red chilli powder

Half teaspoon of turmeric powder

2 teaspoons of coriander powder

1 teaspoon of cumin powder

2 cloves

Small piece of cinnamon

1 small dry red chilli

Preparation

Finely chop onion, ginger and green chillies. Chop the okra in 1 to 1.5 cm size pieces. The potatoes are to be chopped to a similar size.

Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they start to pop add the cloves, dry chilli and cinnamon stick to it. It will heat up within a few seconds. Next add the finely chopped onion, ginger and green chillies. Fry until the onions are soft and golden. Then add potatoes to the pan. When the potatoes are half cooked add the bhindi into the pan. Leave the lid off the pan when cooking. Stir but not often as the bhindi starts breaking up when cooked. Once the bhindi is added you can wait a few minutes and add the spices to the sabji. The spices take a few minutes to cook and this time also allows the vegetable to all cook together. The bhindi should be just cooked but still crunchy. The spices have nicely blended in as well. Add freshly chopped coriander to garnish.

You can make it the same method but without potatoes. If you wish to have really crunchy bhindi then you can add more oil and so more or less shallow fry the bhindi. I have known people to add a table spoon of plain yogurt just before the sabji finishes cooking and this makes the bhindi less sticky. I have also known people to add fresh tomatoes along with the spices. This does add a sour flavour which tastes well. But alternately you can use some lime or lemon juice to give that sourness. Of course you can increase or decrease the amount of ginger and other condiments to suit your palate.

http://www.indianfoodforever.com/vegetables/bhindi-bhaji.html

 

http://www.tarladalal.com/recipesearch.aspx?term=bhindi this website gives about 59 different recipes for bhindi. I must say that I rarely make it any different as I prefer to not add any fluid to the bhindi as it increases the stickiness and can make the sabji pulpy if cooked a little too much.

http://indianfood.about.com/od/vegetarianrecipes/r/bharvaanbhindi.htm stuffed bhindi is another good recipe but not the one I attempt often as it is best when having all similar size bhindi for them to cook together. In this reciepe you find that a paste is made from stuffing. However, gujarati style you mx all the spices together (without any flour) (coriander, cumin, salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder and a couple of spoons of oil plus optional is a pinch of sugar) This mixture will allow you to fill the bhindi though the lengthwise slit that you make, going  just over half way deep into the bhindi. The onions and ginger can form the base like the earlier version and add the bhindi to the pan after the onions are softened. If any mixed spices are left over then they can also be added into the pan. Again leave the lid off the pan and do not stir the sabji much. You can toss them in the pan though to keep the heat even through the bhindis.