Bharwa Bhindi (Stuffed Okra)

Okra is a vegetable, you either love it or hate it. In my family, everyone loves Bhendi. For Okra lovers, one more Indian recipe from my kitchen. I love this Stuffed Okra with Dal Rice and Papad.

Ingredients:
Okra/Lady's Finger/Bhindi - 300 gms
Raw Peanuts - 1/2 cup
Sesame/Til Seeds - 1 1/2 tbsp
Finely Chopped Onions - 1 1/2 tbsp
Coriander Seeds - 1 tbsp
Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp
Cayenne Pepper/Red Chilli Powder - 2 tsp
Jaggery or Brown Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Tamarind or Aamchur - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Oil

How to cook Indian Stuffed Okra:

Wash okra and pat them dry. Let the okra dry for 2 - 3 hours. Slit the okra lengthwise twice, just enough to fill the stuffing.
Roast the peanuts in a pan till they slightly darken in color. Let them cool.
Grind roasted peanuts, sesame seeds, coriander seeds, turmeric, cayenne pepper, asafetida, jaggery, tamarind and salt to a fine or slightly coarse powder. To this powder add finely chopped onions and mix. Add few drops of water and mix again.

Stuff this mixture in the slit okra.
Heat a pan and add 1 - 2 tbsp oil. Spread it to coat the pan with oil. Shallow fry the stuffed okra at low heat till they turn slightly brown and crisp. Keep turning to roast all sides well.

Serve crisp Bharwan Bhindi with dal rice.

Indian Dal / Lentils

Lentils, known as Dal are a staple in an Indian diet, especially vegetarian. For me, dal is comfort food. 5 different dal varieties - Toor, Moong, Chana, Masoor and Urad are commonly used in Indian sweet and savory delicacies. You can cook dal with just one kind or a mix of two or more. I generally cook dal with 1:1 Toor and Moong dals. But then, we like Panchmel or Panchratna Dal too, which is made of all five. Most dal recipes have Toor dal as the primary ingredient. It is also known as Toovar or Arhar dal or Split Pigeon Peas . Some of our family favorite dal recipes are Dalitoy (Konkani Dal) Tadka Dal Among all lentils, moong dal and masoor dal take lesser time to cook. Moong dal is also known as Split Green Gram or Split Mung Bean . Moong dal is also used in making sweet dishes like Mung Dal Kheer Mung Dal Puranpoli Chana dal is also known as Split Bengal Gram or Split Chickpeas . Chana Dal takes a little more time to cook as compared to toor dal....

Naval Kol Bhaji / Kohlrabi Stir-fry

Green Kohlrabi called as Navalkol in Marathi and Navilkosu in Kannada, belongs to the cabbage family. My Mom used to make this stir fry very often. Just like cabbage, this vegetable in available in two colors - green and purple. I was quite hesitant about the purple one, as I haven't seen that back in India. Anyway, I picked the green bulbs and Navalkohl Bhaji with Chana Dal was part of our healthy vegetarian meal today.

Surti Val Papdi Bhaji

My Mom used to make Val Papdi Bhaji in a simple way with few ingredients. This is the first time I gave it a try here in my US kitchen. This stir fry does require little more oil, as no water is added for cooking. Dal Rice tastes great with this sauteed Papdi. I tried this Bhaji once with frozen Surti Papdi and I was not happy with the result. I prefer fresh Papdi for this recipe, which I can only find in the local Indian store. I am not sure if Val Papdi is called as Navy Bean or Fava Bean in English.

One Day At A Time!

Search This Blog