Bhindi Fry (Ladies Finger Fry)

It is said that Okra was one of the favorite vegetables of two most beautiful women in the world, Cleopatra of Egypt and Yang Guifei of China. I wonder whether the name ladies finger got coined from this scenario. :) But undoubtedly it is a vegetable loved by most of us. The aroma it sends out, when it is put into frying, is very much appetizing.

The best out of Okra comes when it is deep fried. It gets tastier when its done with gram flour.

This recipe which I'm going to share now is a tried and tasted recipe from a cookery show of Anjum Anand. I couldn't get the youtube link somehow. But the procedure I've followed is the same as I had watched on her show.

The recipe goes as thus,

Ingredients (For 2 - 3 servings)

12-13 Ladies finger (Okra)

1 cup gram flour (Besan Powder)

2-3 tsp red chilly powder

Oil for deep frying

Salt to taste (1 tsp)

Method

Wash and chop the Okra.

The chopping should be as shown above.

Add gram flour over the chopped Okra.

Do not add water. The vegetable will release a bit of its water content and hence the gram flour will stick to the Okra.

Bind the two ingredients well.

In the mean time heat oil on a wok.

Add the Okra and gram flour mixture once the oil is heated.

Let the Okra become crispy and reddish brown in color.

Remove the Okra off the oil and drain the excess oil on a tissue.

Sprinkle salt, red chilly powder on the fried Ladies finger.

Mix it well and serve hot. You can make it more spicier by adding chat masala and more chilly powder.

That was one easy recipe. I'm sure this could be tried by anyone. :) 

Do give it a try this weekend.

Take care till I write my next post.

Till then,

Happy Cooking :)

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Beans palya / fry

Good morning. :) Today's recipe to be learnt is a palya / fry made from beans. Beans are much tastier made this way. This is probably one of the best possible ways to hide the tasteless taste of beans. :)

The recipe goes as follows:

Ingredients (For 6-7 servings)

Around 20 sticks of beans (Chopped)
3/4 cup grated coconut
Jaggery (Lemon sized)
1/2 tsp corinader powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp red chilly powder
1/4 tsp rice flour
A pinch of asafoetida
Water (About 2-3 cups)
Salt to taste

Note: You can add Sambar powder as the masala instead of cumin, coriander, red chilly,  rice powder and asafoetida. The ingredients are the same.

Seasoning

1 tbsp cooking oil / Ghee
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 dry red chillies (Broken into half)
5-6 chopped curry leaves (I usually prefer chopping the curry leaves)
1/2 tsp urad dal

Method

Add oil into a vessel and let it heat. Then add the seasoning ingredients i.e. cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves and urad dal. Let the mustard seeds stop popping.

Then add the chopped beans and stir fry for about 5 minutes.

Now add water to the beans. The quantity should be such that the beans are fully submerged in the water as shown in the picture below.

Then add jaggery to the mixture. It is better to break the jaggery and add it.

Mix it gently and keep covered with a lid until all the water is drained off. Keep it on a medium flame. Keep checking every now and then whether it is done. Also keep mixing it so that the mixture doesn't get charred.

After water is drained it will look as follows.

Now add salt and mix well. Then you need to add coconut and mix it properly.

The palya is ready to be served. :) Serve it hot with Tomato saaru

Prepare this and quickly send me your suggestions and feedback. Even if you don't prepare it, send me your feedback :) :)

Take care till I write :)

Happy cooking :)

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Snake gourd palya / fry

Good day :) Along with the tomato saaru it was snake gourd fry for the lunch. It is extremely simple to make :) It takes some time to cook, but ingredients are really easy to remember. This palya / fry has a slightly sweet taste :) It is a very good combination with the spicy saaru :)

The recipe goes as follows :)

Ingredients (5-6 servings)

2 snake gourds (Chopped)
1 cup coconut (Grated)
2 tsp saaru powder (Refer here to make the saaru powder)
A little bigger than lemon sized jaggery
½ tsp of turmeric powder
2 cups of water
Salt to taste

NOTE: If you don't have saaru powder. Add 1 tsp of coriander powder, 1 tsp of cumin powder and 1 tsp of red chilli powder.

Seasoning

1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp urad dal
5-6 curry leaves (Better to be chopped)
2-3 tbsp ghee / cooking oil

Method

You need to cut open the snake gourd as shown in following steps.

This is the snake gourd.

Take two of these kind.

Slit it into half (lengthwise)

Remove the inner soft white portion completely.

It will be as shown below.

Now chop these into small pieces as shown below.

Take a vessel and add oil / ghee. Let it heat. Then add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and wait till the mustard stops popping.

Then add the chopped snake gourd. Stir fry it for 5 minutes;

Then add jaggery and two cups of water.

Close it with a lid and let it boil on a medium flame till all the water drains.

After it is boiled add salt, turmeric powder, saaru powder and mix well.

Cover it with a lid for 5 minutes on a low flame.

Then add the coconut and mix well.

The palya is ready. :) Serve hot with Tomato saaru and white rice for lunch :)

Try this :)

Take care till I write :)

Happy cooking :)

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Potato side dish

Before I start off, I wish you all a Happy Holi. Today I just prepared a potato side dish for lunch. Mother had prepared a sambar of beans for lunch, so I made an addition to it which took me only 15 minutes. Infact this is one of the recipes that I tried on my own. :) As potatoes are liked by all, and there are hardly any people who dislike it, I think this recipe will be liked by most of you all. Well I’ll directly share with you how I prepared it.

Ingredients:

2 medium sized potatoes
4 green Chillies
1½ tsp Sugar
2 tsp Red chilly powder
½ tsp Garam masala
½ tsp Turmeric powder
5 tsp Water
Salt to taste

Seasoning:
2 tsp Vegetable oil
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Urad dal
Few curry leaves

Method:

Wash, peal and dice the potatoes. Chop the green chillies.

Heat oil in a dish.

Once that’s done, add urad dal, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves. Let the mustard seeds start popping.

After this add the potatoes and green chillies.

Add sugar, red chilly powder, garam masala, turmeric powder and mix them well. I know some of you may not like the addition of sugar here. But it actually tastes good if you do add sugar :)

Now add around 5 tsp of water and keep the dish closed and let it boil on a low flame for 10 minutes.

After it is boiled add salt to taste and mix well.

Serve hot with rice, curd rice.

PS: I prefer having it with curd rice. Tastes really good. :)

Do Try out this and give me a feedback.

Till then take care and happy cooking :)

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