Bhindi Masala

Bhindi also known as Bendakkai, Vendakkai, Okra or even Ladies Finger to a few was the least preferred vegetable when I grew up. I detested it even more when I was forced to eat it as being good for your brain and for your mathematical skills!! However all that changed when I had Bhindi masala in Bangalore. If you have been following my posts I can't thank Bangalore enough for opening up my taste buds especially for North Indian food. So here is my re-creation of Bhindi Masala - hope you like it and try it.

Ingredients

1. Bhindi/Okra - 1 kg
2. Red Onions - 2
3. Tomatoes - 2
4. Tomato paste - 1 table spoon
5. Ginger garlic paste - 1 table spoon
6. Cumin seeds - 1 table spoon
7. Kashmiri Chilli - 1 table spoon (or less as per your level of spiciness)
8. Cardamom / Elaichi - 1 table spoon
9. Turmeric - 1/2 tea spoon
10. Kasoori methi - 1 table spoon
11. Cashews - 7-8
12. Garam masala - 2 table spoons
13. Milk - 1/2 cup
14. Salt - to taste
15. Coriander / Cilantro (chopped) - for garnishing
16. Any form of vegetable oil

Method

1. Slit the bhindi along the slides and cut the head off. 
2. Heat a large sauce pan / kadai with vegetable oil and sautee the cumin seeds for a few seconds.
3. Add onions and garlic and sautee until they become soft and mushy. You can add a pinch of salt to quicken the process.
4. Add cashews and cardamom and sautee for a minute and set aside to cool down.
5. In the same pan heat about half a cup of oil and shallow fry the okra for about 10 minutes until they brown up on the sides, filter the oil and set aside.
6. Blend the tomato and onion mixture into a smooth paste and filter the contents into a bowl.
7. In the same pan (remove a bit of excess oil) and saute the filtered onion tomato paste along with ginger garlic paste, tomato paste and turmeric powder.
8. As the oil separates add the garam masala and crushed kasoori methi and mix it well.
9. Add the milk and bit of water to required consistency (should not be too watery) and bring it to a boil.
10. Add the shallow fried bhindi and mix it well for about a minute.
11. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with roti / rice.

Enjoy Cooking!!

C