Bhindi is a thing of beauty when available farm fresh
Bhindi / okra / ladies fingers as they are called can be the most delicious when they can be found young, tender and farm fresh. As the bhindi grows bigger and longer we believe it is not as saturated in flavors but also starts getting woodier and more fibrous. However you can’t always find such tender bhindi but when you do it can be quite a treat. We had a wonderful harvest of Bhindi on the BreakingNaan farm.
We plucked the okra when they were quite young and after that the gardners job was done and it was over to the cook
But will the okra be sticky and slimy?
Okra is very high in cellulose. This when cooked can create an undesirable mucus like texture which makes the dish sticky and slimy. This can be useful in thickening sauces like gumbo’s but in a dish where we want to celebrate and make okra the star, this is not the way to go. Here we provide a few tips to avoid this
- Use fresh okra. Avoid using frozen okra as this extra moisture is your enemy
- Wash your okra but then make sure to thoroughly pat the okra dry with paper towels
- After cutting the okra put it in the refrigerator spread out and uncovered in a plate. the refrigeration cools and dries theokra surface to give you more time to handle it in the pan without getting sticky when cooking
- Start the okra on high heat tossing to coat it with oil even before it has had a chance to cook
- After that cook on low controlled and patient heat while trying to stir or toss the okra at the minimum
With these tips we washed, patted dry and chopped the bhindi and set it to cool in the fridge. Our moms also tell us that a touch of acid from ingredients like amchur powder, squeeze of lemon, a dash of chopped tomatoes can also help. And this is delicious as well since we cook our bhindi many different ways. However this is the simplest of the recipes and really we wanted to keep the seasoning at the minimum to truly enjoy the flavor packed ingredient. Look at how many tiny seeds are packed inside these one inch long marvels. They are packed with flavor and pop like a burst of caviar when you bite on them!
A small video to show our recipe
As mentioned we start on a very searing hot pan to toss and coat the cold okra with oil and then cook on low heat. Whenever i go back home usually my flights take me to my mom’s house at 5 am in the morning. However even this early in the morning i always cajole ma into making me this okra. She cooks it as i sit at her table and this is the first thing i always have her make for me when i get to see my parents in India. This also reminds us of a conversation with Chef Vikas Khanna. He is a very talented and celebrated chef and we are proud of him earning the michelin star with his restaurant Junoon in NYC. When we were dining there last year we managed to chat with him for a few minutes. Turns out he has a similar relationship with bhindi and his mom! He told us how our mom’s have very few spices on hand and yet when they make bhindi it is magical! It indeed is and here we also use simple seasoning of mustard seeds, asafoetida, turmeric, and chili powder. My mom would sometimes add a dash of chopped peanutes for texture in the end but with the bhindi so fresh in this case we did not need it.
We made a small video of how we make our okra for you to enjoy.
We suggest that you enjoy your bhindi with chapati or with small grain rice that is coked well and sticky with light seasoning of salt and lime. If you are using large okra, you can make thin slices of the okra on a bias (we will add a picture soon).
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Bhindi
Description
We make use of farm fresh bhindi (okra) to create a very quick dish which stir fries the bhindi with seasoning
Ingredients
- 20 fresh and tender okra
- 2 tsp roughly chopped onion (optional)
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 0.5 tsp turmeric
- 0.5 tsp asafoetida
- 0.5 tsp chili powder
- 0.25 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Wash then thoroughly dry the bhindi with a cloth or paper towel
- Chop the stems of the bhindi and cut them into two slices vertically
- Spread the chopped bhindi in a plate and place in the refrigerator to cool and dry. This will help avoid the resulting dish from being sticky and slimy
- Heat oil in a large pan on high heat
- Add mustard seeds and as they crackle add the bhindi and onion and stir fry on high to coat the bhindi with oil
- Reduce heat to low, add turmeric, asafoetida and toss and then cover with lid
- Cook on low undisturbed for two to three minutes
- Then take lid off and toss and check if bhindi is cooked
- If not cooked continue to cook on low trying not to stir it often
- When cooked sprinkle red chili powder, add salt for seasoning, add sugar and toss to coat
- Garnish with cilantro leaves
- Category: entree
- Cuisine: Indian
Very nice and simple recipe of Okra Fry