Bhindi Masala / Okra Masala Recipe
Bhindi Masala/ Okra masala recipe is a light , savoury, spicy and crispy Okra recipe cooked in mustard oil, with onions and a few spices and coated in chickpea flour to make it deliciously crispy.
This can be a part of your meal, or a perfect healthy snack.
This bhindi masala recipe is very simple to make and it tastes delicious.
This recipe requires a very few basic Indian Ingredients and dry spices (This list for dry spices in Indian cooking is always so long… never lets me mention that the ingredients are few) !! So I just take the dry spices as one ingredient .
Bhindi Masala/ Okra Masala 👩🍳
Bhindi/ Okra is one of the favourites in Indian homes during the summers.It is light, savoury, spicy and crispy at the same time, and of course healthy.
It can be served as a side dish with any of the Daal’s/ lentils or beans , or even on its own with soft fresh roti’s/ paranthas or poori’s.
Just complement it with a side of any yummy Raita(Yoghurt with fresh vegetables or fruit).
In India Bhindi is easily available, but here in UK you do not find it as easily. I have a few asian stores around and I get it whenever they have it available.
Also my nearest Tesco has started selling bhindi or Okra, so at times I get it from there, this vegetable is surely starting to get international now.
How to buy Bhindi/ Okra ? 🛒
While selecting bhindi / okra from any grocery store just make sure of the below-
1.It is nice green and fresh looking.This goes for all vegetables without saying.
2.The slices should not be too thick , and hard.Pick up the pieces which are nice, small, slender and firm.
3.It should be free from any blemishes and holes. Check thoroughly as there might be some worms eating your okra.Im sure you don’t want that happening.
How do i like to cook bhindi ? 💁🏻♀️
There are lots of ways to make bhindi/okra. You can make it dry like bharwan bhindi (stuffed bhindi), masala bhindi, achari bhindi, fried bhindi.
You can even cook bhindi in gravy. I always like the dry versions of this, because I like it crispy!!! So I’m sharing the below bhindi masala recipe, that I have from my mum.
I cook it in my cast iron pan, to increase the iron content in my recipe. Not so sure of this ,though my mum always cooks dry vegetables in iron Kadhai saying that it increases iron content.
Now I’m reading about this all over the internet as well, i do believe that your vegetables cook better and taste better if you are cooking in cast iron pans.
Ingredients required to cook bhindi masala 📝
This recipe requires Bhindi(Okra), Onions and Green chillies.
The dry spices you need are salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder,a pinch of asafoetida(hing powder), coriander powder, kasoori methi(crushed dry fenugreek leaves), amchoor(dry mango powder) and besan (chickpea flour).
Adding Kasoori methi is optional, this really enhances the flavour of any Indian vegetable and curries. You will find almost all my recipes have kasoori methi as one of the ingredients. But if you do not have it handy, you can skip adding this.
Amchoor (dry mango powder), is another important spice to be used in this dish. It adds the required tanginess to this recipe, and also any sour ingredient will help cut the sliminess of the Okra.
People add tomatoes in bhindi, but I avoid using tomatoes as I feel, it makes bhindi a little soggy . So this is a no tomato bhindi recipe. Amchoor is a perfect spice to add that tanginess to your bhindi recipe. If you do not have amchoor, you can add juice of fresh lemon- It does the job as well as amchoor (dry Mango powder).
Extra tips for cooking bhindi masala💡
If you like your bhindi to have this crispness and crunch, then adding chickpea flour does the trick. Once the dish is almost cooked, add besan (chickpea flour). It will coat the bhindi slices, and will cook into a nice crispy layer on the outside.
The extra tablespoon of oil added , will help cook the flour. If you are not adding besan, you can reduce the qty of oil added in the beginning.
I have used long slit bhindi/okra in this recipe, you can even cut it in round slices and make it the same way. This can be made without the onions, but adding onions adds a little crunch and sweetness to this.
When I was young, I had my mum add more onions to this than the bhindi, because i loved onions and only took out the onions and had it , and left the bhindi for the grown ups to eat.
But now i love bhindi , and it is one of my favourite veggies for any meal.
If you are looking for some vegan vegetable inspiration, then this recipe for bhindi or okra is just perfect.
Serving suggestions
Masala bhindi is best served with fresh rotis , paranthas or naan bread.My daughter loves having it with pooris .Check out the palak poori recipe on the blog.
It can be added as perfect filling for your sandwiches, toasts, wraps or pita. I always use leftover masala bhindi to make toasts the next day.
It stays perfect in the fridge for almost 5-7 days.
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Bhindi masala recipe / Okra masala recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp Oil Mustard/ any preferred cooking oil
- 250 gms Okra/ Bhindi/Lady Finger Long Slit in halves
- 1 medium Onion Thick Slices
- Salt as per taste
- 1/2 tsp Red chilli Powder can adjust qty as per taste
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder/ haldi
- a pinch asafoetida/ Hing powder
- 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp dry fenugreek leaves / Kasoori Methi crushed
- 1 tsp Dry Mango powder/ Amchoor powder Can replace with fresh juice of half a lemon
- 2-3 pieces slit green chillies
- 1 tbsp Chickpea flour/ besan
Instructions
- Wash the Okra thoroughly in water, and pat dry with kitchen roll. It should be completely dry before cooking.
- Cut the edges on both ends, and slit the okra in half or three slices, depending on the size of each piece. Keep them aside. Cut round slices almost 1/4″ if you do not want the long slices..Your call.
- Heat the oil, and add the cut onions.
- Saute the onions for 2-3 minutes (do not brown the onions). Then add sliced lady finger/Okra, and mix.
- Add Salt/ Haldi (Turmeric powder), red chilli powder, Hing powder (asafoetida),Coriander powder,Kasoori methi (dry fenugreek leaves), and amchoor powder(dry mango powder).If you are replacing amchoor powder with lemon juice, add the same.
- Add the slit green chillies.
- Saute on full heat, without covering.You need to keep stirring, till the sliminess/ stickiness is all gone. You can taste it, and if the okra is now soft and tender, it is cooked.Adjust seasoning if you want to.
- Add the besan/ chickpea flour, mix it thoroughly with Okra, and cook for 4-5 minutes till the Bhindi is all coated with flour and the it is nicely cooked and crispy.
- Serve it hot with Fresh Rotis/ Paranthas/ poori’s !!!!
Notes
Pin it for later– If you wish you try this recipe later, click on any of the pictures to pin the recipe.
Superb
Sarvesh is a huge fan so I get bhindi every other week from the stores. While I do cook it in several ways, this bhindi masala recipe is my absolute favorite. It s a simple recipe and tastes so good with rotis and paratha.
I am glad to hear that. Thank you so much for trying this out.