Bhindi (Okra)

Another simple recipe for an achi gori bivi, is Bhindi (Okra).  Nothing that I would have ever made for myself under the typical American diet.  In fact, I am pretty sure that I had never even eaten it prior to meeting my husband, let alone even heard of it living in Chicago!  This slimy green vegetable is AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS. Once my mother-in-law made it for me, I was hooked.

Start by cutting the caps and tails off of a pound of fresh okra.  You can use frozen okra, but I find it is too mushy.  Fresh okra maintains the firmness of dish without it feeling like you are eating slime.

Your okra should look something like this.

Then chop up a small onion (or half onion if you're using large mega food grocery store onions) and add about a quarter to a half cup of oil in your pot.  Cook the onions until they are soft.

You don't have to add a tomato, but I like to add a chopped tomato.  Add half a teaspoon of tumeric powder and a teaspoon of red chilli powder.  Add almost a tablespoon of salt.  Cover and cook on low heat for about 20 minutes.

You'll notice that after 20 minutes it will become liquidy, and you'll be like, "let's boil out all that water!"  You can (and should until it looks like the above picture), but notice that when you turn off the heat, it will thicken.

By the end, it should look like the picture below when stirred.

 And that's it!!!  Can you believe it?  Easiest dish ever.  You COULD serve this as a side dish at a davat ("invitation" -- when you have guests over) or just eat it yourself for lunch.

*Note:  Be careful not to stir the okra too much or it will become slimy and mushy.  Try to use a spoon gently while stirring.

Enjoy with naan or paratha.



Ingredients:

• 1 small onion
• 1/4-1/2 cup of vegetable or canola oil
• 1 pound of okra
• 1 small tomato (if desired)
• 1/2 teaspoon of tumeric powder
• 1 teaspoon of red chili powder
• Almost 1 tablespoon of salt