Whole Bhindi Sabji (whole 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. However, I find this thicker skin variety does not suit my stomach and have had to resort to using the Indian variety as that come in frozen packs. This recipe is similar to the bharva bhindi but since I have frozen bhindi and cannot cut and stuff it, I have to crisp the bhindi with enough masala to coat the bhindi.

Ingredients

• 300 gm of whole small bhindi
• 1 large onion
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger
• Half spoon of cumin seeds
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt to taste 
• A pinch of sugar
• Half tea spoon of red chilli powder
• Half teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoons of coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon of cumin powder
• ½ teaspoon of garam masala
• 1 tablespoon of sattu atta or besan/gram flour
• Some lemon juice to taste
• Chopped fresh coriander to garnish

Preparation

• Chop onion – half it and then cut lengthways in about ½ to 1 cm chunks. These will cook down but still be visible and form the part of the masala around the bhindi. Chop ginger too into match sticks.
• Heat the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. It will heat up within a few minutes with the seeds darkening in colour. 
• Next add the chopped onion and ginger and sauté for a couple of minutes.
• Add the bhindi into the pan. Leave the lid off the pan when cooking. 
• Once the bhindi is half cooked add the salt, sugar, chilli powder, coriander and cumin powder, turmeric and the sattu atta /besan/ gram flour.
• Continue cooking with occasional stirring till the bhindi is cooked to almost crispy and spices plus the sattu atta and onions has blended to coat the bhindi.
• Add the garam masala last and cook for a minute longer.
• Add lemon juice and freshly chopped coriander to garnish.

Broccolini and Snake Bean Stir Fry

I got some good broccolini as it is in season. I also had some snake beans that I had bought to cook with potato for a dry curry as usual. Some days I just need to take it easy and working hard over a hot hob is not welcome specially when the outside temperature is pretty high. I ran over the list of veggies I had in my fridge and freezer and decided that I would use the broccolini and the beans. If this was not enough, I would take out some of the mixed frozen vegetables to add into it. Once everything was chopped, I did not need to add the other vegetables. But just for those interested the vegetable mix I have is French beans, broccoli, snow peas. Just as I started out flexibly with the vegetables, I also made up the other ingredients as I went along.  I would add a half inch of fresh ginger cut into matchsticks the next time. The end result could not have been better. I had this stir fry with a pile of creamy mashed potatoes. Some left over stir fry was reheated and had as a filling of a sandwich the next day. It is nice to have found a different veggie dish that I like. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Ingredients

• 2 bunches of broccolini (generally about 8 stalks per bunch)
• 1 bunch of snake beans (generally about 10 – 12 beans per bunch)
• 1 medium onion
• 3 – 4 cloves of garlic (you can have more of less according to your taste or indeed omit it as well)
• 1 table spoon of pine nuts
• 1 teaspoon of crushed wattle seeds (I used the wattle seed tea which is coarse rather than powder)
• 1 tablespoon of hemp seeds
• 1 ½ tablespoons of green chillies sauce (I used Byron Bay Jalapeno Chilli Sauce which is tangy and not very hot. You can adjust this to your taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons of Olive oil for frying

Method

• Chop the broccolini and the beans at an angle to about 2 inches long pieces. I kept the tender tops of the broccolini separately from the stalks.
• Finely slice the onion and garlic cloves.
• In a wok or large heavy frying pan heat up the olive oil.
• Once the oil is really hot, add the onion and garlic and stir.
• As it gets semi cooked add the pine nuts.
• Stir the nuts and onions a couple of times and ad the beans and the broccolini stalk first.
• Add the salt at this time.
• Once they begin to soften add the broccolini tops and continue to stir.
• Add the chilli sauce and pepper
• Stop cooking when there is still a little crunch left in the vegetables.
• Put it out in a serving dish and sprinkle the wattle seed and the hemp seeds as garnish.

The Great Re-Potting

Over the last couple of weekends we have had rain and so have not needed to water my pots every day. The very windy weather also was annoying as I have to keep running out into the garden to check on the pots. Twice I found my 2 large tomato plants lolling about in the grass. The soil spilt out and the small tray under it was all the way around the house in the front garden. I ended up tucking all my plants behind the big dustbins that we have. There is a smallish bin for regular rubbish and two big ones for garden waste and for recycling.

The potato plants are shooting up and even the fourth potato that I tucked into the soil later has got leaves coming up. The lavender plant has perked up after I put a tray under it so that it can get more water. The pot has soil that just drains the water away and without the dish under it the plant was not getting enough water. I had wished to put the plant into the ground but I think we will be moving soon so have left it in the pot. The coriander while delicate and lying horizontal in the windy weather have also grown with good watering. The basil at last seems to have 4 leaves but I am sad that only 5 of the seeds have sprouted. Did some of the seeds float off when I was watering the plant?

The tomatoes are more than double their height and have been propped up with sticks as they were leaning over and branches got bent when the plants fell over. All of them have got little yellow flowers and am hoping this means a good crop. The broccoli was up for re-potting as I could not put it off any longer. I got 2 long planter pots and filled up with soil especially for vegetables. I have too many seedlings and so planting 20 cms apart is not going to be possible. I have planted all the seedlings ( I cannot bear to chuck any away) and hope that as they grow I can think out the plants by harvesting the young shoots. I always buy these young vegetable which tastes nice just steamed or also boiled. When boiled I use the water as a broth by adding some seasoning. So I am waiting for a nice crop of some tender shoots and eventually nice full head of broccoli.

The chilli pot appears to be suddenly taking off. I had 10 seeds sown and one day there were some seeds from my green chillies which also got thrown onto the pot, so there was a mixture. AT first there were only 8 seedlings but now there seem to be a lot more. I think once they grow a few inches I will have to re-pot these as well. I have got a few big plastic basket kind containers which can be used to plant after making a few holes for drainage at the bottom. Maybe I shall plant the chillies in one of these. I am so excited that my plants are growing. I want to plant more things but am being patient to see how these grow. I have planted another 4 potatoes in the second grow bag as this will mean I have got the second crop going. The first harvest should be in November – December while the second one should be ready in January – February. Oh yea have got 2 leaves coming from 2 of the onions I sowed. The methi leaves are proving to be hard as I have got a couple of them having small leaves. One was dried out and I had to remove it. Fingers crossed I get something from each of my plants.