Bhindi Fry – Indian Style Fried Okra

Simple and Easy Crispy Okra with Fried Onions

Okra is loved by my household and is a staple in my kitchen. This method of making okra is simple, uses very few ingredients and is simply delicious. Frying the okra beforehand helps remove the sliminess of okra and adds to the flavour of the dish.

What we need:

Okra – ½ kg

Onions – 2 nos sliced thinly
Garlic – 4 cloves sliced thinly
Chillies – 5-6 (I used Thai red chillies)
Cumin – ½ tsp
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Chili powder – ½ tsp
Cumin powder – ¼ tsp
Asafoetida – a pinch
Oil – 4 tbsp
Salt – as required

How we do it:

Wash the okra well and once dry, chop them up. Okra gets slimy on contact with water, so if you chop up the okra while it’s still wet, the chances of it getting slimy are higher. I always ensure its properly dry before I chop my okra.

Add 2 tbsp. oil to a pan and heat. Add the chopped okra to the hot oil. Add salt, chili powder, asafoetida, cumin powder and ½ tsp turmeric to the okra and mix it well.

Keep stirring the okra on medium flame until it gets nicely fried. Initially when you add the spice powders, the okra will start to get slimy but keep cooking on a lower flame and the slime will dry up and the okra will start to get crispy. Once done, remove the okra onto a clean and dry bowl.

In the same pan add the remaining oil and first add the cumin, once it sputters fry the garlic and chilly.

Then add the onions and fry until it turns a golden brown. Add more salt as required and the remaining turmeric powder.

 

Once done, add the crispy okra to the pan and mix well with the onions. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes and take it off the pan.

Serve hot with roti or parantha.

 

Love to hear what you think!

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My Grandmother’s Special Tomato Yoghurt Curry

A simple, easy-to-cook, yummy Tomato Curry with Yoghurt

Yoghurt is very popular in Indian Cuisine and is a staple in our kitchens. Not only are the probiotics in yoghurt good for your tummy, it’s also a good source of proteins, vitamins B6 & 12 and calcium. Low fat yoghurt can also lower your cholesterols and help in reducing weight.

This Tomato Yoghurt curry has the right amount of spice and tart that makes it perfect with rice, roti or bread. This is one of my grandmother’s recipes and is a favourite of mine. Just before my marriage, I was advised to learn some basic cooking and this curry was the only one that I wanted to cook. It was while heating the oil for tempering this dish that I dropped the boiling oil and badly burnt almost my whole lower arm. This was just 2 weeks before my wedding and resulted in my wearing bandages on my wedding day (hideous!!). I remember that my grandmother was devastated and blamed herself for the mishap. The burn was unbearably painful and with every tear I dropped it was my grandmother's heart that burnt.

Since then, I use very little oil when making this. I don’t think I can ever make this dish to taste as good as her cooking, but I hope it’s close. Try it out but be careful with the oil.

What we need:

Tomato – 2 whole

Onion – 1
Green Chillies – 4
Curry leaves – A few
Ginger – ½ inch piece
Thick Yoghurt – 1 cup
Oil for tempering
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
Asofotida (hing) – a pinch
Corriander leaves for garnishing

How we do it:

Make slits in the tomato and boil in water till the skin comes off separate. Alternatively you can also microwave it on high for 5 minutes.

Remove the skin and mash up the tomato pulp until it becomes a smooth puree.

Beat the yoghurt with a cup of water to give it a smooth runny texture.

Chop the onions, ginger and green chillies.

 

Heat oil in a saucepan and add the mustard. Once mustard sputters, add the curry leaves, onions, chillies and ginger. Fry until onions turn translucent and add salt, turmeric and asafoetida.

 

Now add the tomato puree and cook for a few minutes.

Take the pan off the heat and add the yoghurt.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

You can choose the consistency of the dish by adding more or little water to the yoghurt. This is my favourite accompaniment to Paranthas especially Aloo Parantha. 

 

Love to hear what you think!

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