Bhindi Masala (Semi dry)

Hi everyone! ..... here's another Bhindi recipe.... a semi dry version of the sabzi....called BHINDI MASALA (Semi dry) after my earlier recipe of SOOKHA BHINDI SABZI. I have added every minute details of the preparation so that even anyone who is new to cooking will be able to cook it easily.

BHINDI MASALA (Semi dry)

This is another way of preparing bhindi sabzi in a semi dry form using onions and tomatoes.

BHINDI / OKRA / LADY's FINGER

INGREDIENTS :

1/2 kg of Bhindi / Okra / Lady’s finger
2 medium sized Onions
2 medium sized Tomatoes
2 whole green chillies
1/2 tea spoon Jeera / Cumin seeds
1/4 tea spoon Mustard seeds
2 table spoon of oil , either Vegetable oil or Mustard oil
1/2 tea spoon of Turmeric powder
1/2 tea spoon of Kashmiri Red Chilli powder
1 tea spoon of Jeera / Cumin powder
1 tea spoon of Dhania / Coriander powder
1 tea spoon of Garam masala powder
1 tea spoon of Ginger / Garlic paste
Salt to taste

Time required : 35 mins (15 mins for preparation and 20 mins for cooking)
Cuisine : North Indian
Serves : 4 - 5 persons

PREPARATION :

1) Rinse 1/2 kg of Bhindi / Okra / Lady’s finger thoroughly in water and dry them on a plate on their own or wipe with a kitchen towel.

2) Cut the base and stalk of each Bhindi pod and then chop the Bhindi into 1 inch pieces as shown in the image.

CHOPPED BHINDI

CHOPPED BHINDI

3) Chop the whole green chillies into small pieces.

4) Chop the onions into thin long slices and the tomatoes into small cubes.

CHOPPED VEGETABLES - BHINDI, GREEN CHILLIES, ONIONS, TOMATOES

METHOD :

1) Heat 1 table spoon of oil in a kadhai / wok or a pan.

2) Add 1/4 tea spoon of Mustard seeds to the warm oil and then also add 1/2 tea spoon of Cumin / Jeera seeds. When they splutter, add 1/4 tea spoon of Turmeric powder.

3) Add chopped onions and stir fry till they become translucent. Add chopped green chillies.

4) Add chopped tomatoes and sauté till they are soft and mushy.All the above cooking process is done in an open kadhai / wok and there is no need to close the lid till this step.
5) After stir frying onion and tomatoes, which took me 7 mins, take the onion tomato mixture in a bowl and keep aside.

6) All the oil will be used up, so add 1 more table spoon of oil in a kadhai and add the 1/2 kg chopped bhindi pieces to the warm oil. Stir fry till the Bhindi is half cooked, for about 10 mins. Check the images how it looks.

7) Then add the onion tomato mixture to the half cooked Bhindi. Mix well.

8) Now its time to add all the dry spice powders.

Add 1 tea spoon of Jeera / Cumin powder, 1 tea spoon of Dhania / Coriander powder, 1 tea spoon of Garam masala powder, 1/2 tea spoon of Kashmiri Red Chilli powder, 1/4 tea spoon of Turmeric powder and 1 tea spoon of Ginger / Garlic paste in a sprinkling manner as shown in the image. Now gently mix so that the powders along with the onion tomato mix coats the Bhindi well.

9) Gently stir fry for 3 mins so that they don’t stick to the bottom of the kadhai. Add salt to taste and mix well.

10) If the mixture is too dry, you may sprinkle little water and then close the lid for 5 mins. Stir fry in between. When the lid is closed the spice powders and salt blend well with the Bhindi.

11) Open the lid and stir fry for 2 mins.

12) The Bhindi masala is completely cooked by now. Transfer them onto a serving bowl.

BHINDI MASALA (Semi dry)

13) This can be served with phulkas or rotis as vegetable dish or as a side dish with rice daal or any rice curry combo.

Aloo Parwal dry sabzi

Parwal / Pointed gourd is a tropical vegetable that is grown throughout North and East of India. Pointed gourd plant is a perennial and is a creeper. This vegetable is known as Pointed Gourd in English, Parwal in Hindi, Pottol in Bengali, Parval in Gujarati, and it has many other names.

ALOO PARWAL DRY SABZI

PARWAL / POINTED GOURD

It looks similar to Ivy Gourd or Tindora and people often get confused between the two. However both are completely different in taste. Parwal is thicker and longer.

Young and fresh Parwal is bright green in colour and from inside it is whitish in colour. The seeds are very small and so tender. The Parwal that are mature are little yellowish from inside and have seeds that are hard. While shopping you may end up getting a mix of both young and mature Parwal pieces. You may discard the seeds of the mature Parwal pieces while chopping as they are hard to eat.

This vegetable can be cooked alone or with combinations of other vegetables.

Pointed gourd is a good source of vitamins and it has many other medicinal values like … it controls blood sugar levels, it controls cholesterol and keeps the heart healthy. Pointed gourd helps in improving digestion, treating constipation and losing weight. It purifies blood and fights with ageing.

This sabzi is liked and often cooked at my in - laws place and my hubby likes it too. So after marriage I started cooking this vegetable regularly. Before my marriage, I frankly never tried preparing this vegetable.

The Pointed Gourd / Parwal sabzi is very easy to prepare and here is a step by step recipe of this yummy sabzi. I prepared semi dry version of this sabzi using Aloo along with Parwal. I used onions and tomatoes also for preparing its semi dry gravy. 

INGREDIENTS :


(1) Parwal 400 gms - Peeled and lengthwise sliced
(2) Potato - 4 small sized pieces, peeled and chopped into long slices
(3) Tomato - 1 medium sized piece , chopped in pieces
(4) Onion - 2 medium sized, coarsely chopped.
(5) Oil - 2 tablespoon (Vegetable oil or Mustard oil)
(6) Cumin seeds - half tea spoon
(7) Mustard seeds - half tea spoon
(8) Turmeric powder - half tea spoon
(9) Kashmiri Red Chilli powder - half tea spoon
(10) Coriander / Dhaniya powder - 1 tea spoon
(11) Cumin / Jeera powder - 1 tea spoon
(12) Garam masala powder - half tea spoon
(13) Salt to taste.

Cuisine - North Indian
Serves : 4 - 5 persons.
Time required : 25 mins ( 10 mins for preparation and 20 mins for cooking )


METHOD :

(1) This is a dry Aloo Parwal sabzi made by stir frying Onion, Tomato, Potato and Parwal.

(2) First rinse the Parwal thoroughly in water, cut the ends.

(3)Then peel off its skin using knife.

(4) Now cut the Parwal into half vertically as shown in the picture and remove the seeds from it. Clean all the Parwal like this and then start cutting them up and make slices lengthwise.

The lengthwise chopped slices of parwal is ready.

(5) Similarly cut the Potato into long slices.

POTATOES, peeled and chopped lengthwise

(6) Also cut Onions in long slices. We also take 3 whole red Chillies as given in the image.

Chopped Potatoes, Onions and 3 whole red Chillies

(7) Chop the Tomatoes as shown in the image.

(8) Heat 2 tablespoon of oil in a kadhai / wok and add Cumin seeds (Jeera) and Mustard seeds (Rai). Let the seeds gets crackled. Add Onions and stir fry till it is translucent. Add the three whole red Chillies.

(9) Once the onions turn soft and slightly change colour, add Tomatoes. Cook the Tomatoes until they become soft.

(10) Add all the dry spice powders like Coriander powder, Cumin powder, Garam masala powder and Kashmiri red chillie powder.

(11) Add Ginger Garlic paste.

(12) Now add sliced Potato and Parwal. Both Parwal and Potato take almost same time to cook, hence we are adding them together. Mix well.

(13) After 3 mins add salt. Adding salt at this stage instead of later will accelerate the cooking process and the Potato and Parwal will get cooked faster.

(14) Mix the sabzi well and cover the lid of the kadhai / wok. Cook the aloo Parwal for 10 mins till the aloo and Parwal are properly cooked. Covering the lid will also cause the spices to blend well with aloo and Parwal. But in these 10 mins you will have to open the lid, stir the sabzi and cover again to ensure that the vegetables do not stick to the bottom. You may add a little water if the oil seems to be less.

 (15) Once the sabzi is cooked and ready, take it on to a serving bowl.

ALOO PARWAL DRY SABZI

Sookha Bhindi sabzi

Bhindi, also known as Lady’s finger / Okra is a popular and nutritious vegetable available in India. It is used in cuisines all over the world.

SOOKHA BHINDI SABZI

BHINDI / OKRA / LADY's FINGER

CHOPPED BHINDI / OKRA

If you freeze bhindi and cut it when it is frozen, it will be less slimy than when you cut it fresh.

Soak the bhindi in vinegar for half an hour before cooking it. Rinse it and pat dry before cooking. This is another way of reducing sliminess of the bhindi.

A lot is dependant on how you cook the bhindi. Cooking at high heat eliminates the slime. Also do not close the lid of the kadhai / pan while dry frying the bhindi sabzi as closing the lid will generate steam which in turn will create more slime and make the sabzi mushy.

Bhindi is used in the preparation of vegetable dishes in various ways. It is prepared in dry, semi dry and with gravy versions.

I begin with dry bhindi sabzi preparation.

INGREDIENTS :

(1) 1/2 kg chopped Bhindi / Okra pieces

(2) 2 tbsp Vegetable oil. You may use mustard oil too.

(3) a pinch of Fenugreek / Methi seeds

(4) 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

(5) 2 tsp Jeera / Cumin powder

(6) 2 tsp Dhaniya / Coriander powder

(7) 1 tsp Amchoor / Dry Mango powder

(8) 1 tsp Chilli powder

(9) Salt to taste

Time required : 25 mins ( 10 mins for preparation and 15 mins for cooking )

Cuisine - North Indian

Serves :  3-4 persons.

METHOD :

(1) Some hybrid varieties of okra may be subjected to insecticide/ pesticide sprays. Thats the reason, we first wash the pods thoroughly in cold water in order to remove dirt, soil and any residual insecticides. Keep them on a plate to dry on their own or wipe with a kitchen towel. Drying up the okra pods will make them less slimy when cut.

(2) Remove the base and stalk while chopping the bhindi, chop into half inch pieces.

(3) Heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a kadhai / pan. Add a pinch of fenugreek seeds and when they splutter, add turmeric powder. 

(4) Now, add chopped bhindi and fry for 2 to 3 mins. 

(5) Add all the dry spice powders one by one - 2 tsp Jeera / Cumin powder, 2 tsp Dhaniya / Coriander powder, 1 tsp Amchoor / dry Mango powder, 1 tsp Chilli powder and Salt to taste. Mix well.

After mixing ....

(6) Stir fry for 10 mins. When the crunchy bhindi becomes soft, that means they are cooked. 

(7) Transfer the sabzi to a serving dish.

(8) Serve Sookha Bhindi as a vegetable dish with Phulkas or Chapatis or as a side dish with rice dal or any Rice Curry combo.

FAQ :
Question : Why does my Bhindi / Okra sabzi become slimy / sticky?

Answer : 

The sticky fluid or slime that oozes out of the Okra/Bhindi/Lady’s finger pod /piece when it is cut is known as mucilage. It is found present around the seeds on the inside of the okra pod. It is made of protein, carbohydrates and fiber. Many don’t like stickiness of the bhindi sabzi and find it annoying. So, they avoid cooking and eating bhindi sabzi. Even if they cook, they cook it without cutting, leaving the pods whole or dry cook using frying method. There are ways of reducing the slime that bhindi produces and thereby making the sabzi less or no sticky at all.

As the slimes oozes out from the cuts on the bhindi, we minimise the cuts by cutting the bhindi as less as  possible, that is little larger sized pieces. Before chopping also, we follow the drying of the pods. That is wash the pods for cleaning them and then pat dry using a clean kitchen towel or place the pods on a place and air dry on it own. Water contact of the bhindi when cut also causes it to produce more slime and get sticky. Drying the pods will reduce the slime and resulting stickiness.

Soak the bhindi in vinegar for half an hour before cooking it. Rinse it and pat dry before cooking. This is another way of reducing sliminess of the bhindi.

Adding salt while cooking also bring out the water from the bhindi and cause it to stick together. So we must add salt after the bhindi is half cooked.

Adding a tea spoon of lemon juice to any bhindi dish will reduce the stickiness.

A few drops of butter milk can also be added to the bhindi sabzi while cooking to avoid stickiness.