Bharwan Bhindi Masala or Stuffed Okra Masala. And yes, I just cooked that much, the amount you see on that plate. But this is the most special Bhindi or Okra that I ever cooked. Do you want to know why, because I grew them? On a blessed day sometime in April, I followed my husband to Home Depot on one of his many pleasure trips to the store (yes, that’s the guy’s weekend den, place you will find him hanging out and being on a first name basis with everyone who works there, courtesy our house reconstruction project. He is deep into the purchasing-returning circle of life when it comes to that store). I picked up a few veggies from the plant stand including the okra. And on another blessed afternoon, I could convince our gardener Victor who specializes in playing hooky among other things to plant these (Victor is a gem of a guy and has been with us for almost 5 years now). And yet another very blessed afternoon the following week, I could again convince Victor to set up the sprinkler drip system on the newly made plant beds. You see, getting these three things done in a span of say fifteen days is nothing but involuntary natural forces taking over the universe kind of an event. It is an act of God and me making Bharwan Bhindi Masala was predestined.
Bhindi is not something we eat often considering that Sam does not like it but I wanted to delve into uncharted territories with my gardening ambitions this year 🙂 Have grown eggplant, jalapeno, cucumbers, spaghetti squash, bottle gourd, beans and zucchini (well almost). I say almost because this one-year, we had a ton of zucchini flowers but no fruit. Our Zucchini plants had serious infertility issues. The bees were probably vacationing and cross-pollination did not happen. It required either Sam or me, to play the zucchini pimp. One did not care and the other was confused (read not educated enough). So our zucchinis never happened. But that was that! This year, I did not go the zucchini way and tried okra instead and we got a decent crop.
The Bharwan Bhindi Masala is a North Indian recipe and given that my growing up years saw the advent of Sanjeev Kapoor’s Khana Khazana on TV, I grew up with Maa’s several failed attempts to recreate something North Indian from the show. Reason: the aamchur or the anar dana powder or the chaat masala was something that would not be seen in my Maa’s pantry. She is not into cooking, you may already know if you have read my blogs and there is no question she would get a full pack of aamchur when it has no use in our daily dal-bhat-machherjhol (staple everyday Bengali food). So here comes my food angel, my elder sister and the complete antithesis of the aforementioned scenario would be the fact that Didi loved giving North Indian twists to many of her dishes, be it the alu sabji with citric acid or the sonth (ginger powder) in saag (spinach or greens). And I loved what she made. Today Maa in a very matter-of-fact way declares that she has no idea how and when both her daughters became such domestic divas, cooking, baking, and cleaning (the latter not true for either of us). Now if you were me, you would not miss the slight hint of the inferred sarcasm “Can you do something better than thinking about food all day” in her voice.
Anyways, long story short, I always wanted to try the Bharwan or stuffed something, so here it is. The Bharwan Bhindi Masala.
The recipe is super easy and super fast, and both works for me. About 20 mins from start to finish. Well, I cooked a super small batch too. But even with a big batch, it should not be a super tedious or a time-consuming thing. Desiccated coconut and along with a few basic spices and chaat masala works as a rub and then you cook the whole thing over a medium-low flame for about 15 mins. And voila, you have a delicious concoction of the okra and the spices with just the right amount of tartness coming in from the Chaat Masala. And the written recipe is for about 300 grams of okra. Try it and let me know if you like it.
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Bharwan Bhindi Masala – Stuffed Okra Masala
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
A fast and delicious curry especially for busy weeknights.
Ingredients
- Okra – 300 grams
- Salt – 2 tsp + To Taste
- Turmeric – 11/2 tsp
- Dessicated Coconut – ½ cup
- Red chili Powder – 1 tsp
- Cumin Powder – 2 tsp
- Coriander Powder – 2 tsp
- Chaat Masala – 1 tbsp
- Garam Masala – 1 tsp
- Sugar – 1 tsp + To Taste
- Lemon Juice – 2tsp
- Vegetable Oil – 2 tbsp
Instructions
- Slit the washed and rinsed okra longitudinally with cutting it in half.
- In a bowl, mix together all the spice, 2 tsp of salt, and 1 tsp of sugar.
- Use it as a rub and press it within the slit okra gently. Keep the okra aside for 45 mins.
- In a wok, add the vegetable oil and let it get warm.
- Add the bhindi/okra along with all the masala. Turn and flip gently after 3-4 mins and let it cook the other side for the same amount of time.
- Sprinkle a little water and cover it and let it cook over medium low flame for 3-4 mins. Keep turning the okra and scraping of the masalas from the side. Keep sprinkling water if it looks too dry and be cautious that the masala should not burn.
- Add salt and sugar to taste when it looks almost done and soft to the touch.
- Sprinkle lemon juice on top and remove from the stove.
- Serve alongside roti or parantha.
- Category: Curry
- Cuisine: Indian