Okra or bhindi is one of my favorite vegetables, prepped the Indian way. The preparation is very simple with spices, and potatoes. So my brother and I would fight for how the vegetable should be prepared, because it was both our favorites! He wanted it without potatoes and I wanted it with potatoes. He wanted it burnt with a lot of charring, and I did not like it so burnt! My dad was pretty much stuck in the middle, and had to eat however it was prepared for one of us :). So mom would take turns and prepare it sometimes how I like it and sometimes how he liked it.
The vegetable is a staple in my home too now, and has become my kids favorite indian vegetable to eat too! I cook it in onions, which my mom did not. I love onions in anything , hence I prepare it with onions. My favorite combination with the bhindi-aloo sabzi is Gujarati daal. I have these memories of going to Indian weddings, which I hated going to, but the food there was authentic and fantastic! My mom would force me to go to these weddings, but one thing I looked forward to was the gujarati daal. It is sweet, spicy, salty and sour – all in one spoonful of daal! It has a lot of cilantro, peanuts, kandh or yam cut into small pieces and prepared just beautifully. My mom’s daal would turn out similar and I loved drinking it just by itself. It contains jaggery which is the rawest form of sugar, and so good for you. It also has kokum or lemon for the sour taste. I ate lemon juice because it is better for health than kokum.
One way I love eating the daal is with rice, papad and pickles! So good and mouth watering! I am leaving this blog post short and sweet. This vegetable and daal are one of my favorite combinations with rotis, and whenever I make this meal it transports me home, where I have fond memories of my mom and I sitting on the sofa and eating, and my brother and dad sitting on the dining table. That was our dynamic and I miss those days.
I hope you get to try making this vegetable and daal. They are very easy to make, and super healthy and tasty too. If you do make it, please do not forget to tag #thejamlab on Instagram and/or leave a comment below on this blog post.
October is here, meaning lots of festivals including Navratri, Diwali, Halloween, school events for halloween and autumn, pumpkin patch visits and more! Looking forward to an action packed month :).
Cheers,
Amisha
XO
Ingredients
- Okra-Potato Vegetable:
- 1 pound okra
- 1 medium sized potato cut into small cubes
- 3/4 cup chopped onion(you can omit onions if you like)
- 2 tsp grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- a pinch of asafoetida
- 1 heapful teaspoon of turmeric powder
- 1 heapful teaspoon of cumin powder
- 1 heapful teaspoon of coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon of red chilli powder(or depending upon your taste)
- 1 heapful teaspoon of garam masala
- 1 teaspoon salt(or to taste)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2-3 tbsp of finely chopped cilantro
- 3-4 tbsp vegetable oil
- Gujarati Daal(Pigeon pea lentils):
- 1 cup pigeon pea lentils(wash it 2-3 times)
- 3 cups water
- 3/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- For the daal:
- 1 green chilli
- 1/2 inch ginger
- 1 medium tomato finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder
- 2-3 kokum for sourness or you could use 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2-3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
- 2 tbsp grated jaggery OR 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 cups water
- For tempering:
- 3 tbsp ghee
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- pinch of asafoetida
- 3-4 cloves
- 3 pieces of 1/2 inch cinnamon sticks
- 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 6-8 curry leaves
Instructions
- Okra-Potato Vegetable:
- For the okra, never wash it under water, else it will become sticky. Take a wet kitchen towel, and rub each one down to clean them. Cut off the ends, and chop into 1/2 cm thick pieces.
- In a large saucepan, on medium heat, add the oil, asafoetida, cumin seeds. Let it heat for 30 seconds and you will hear to splattering. Add in the onions and saute for 5 minutes until translucent. Add in the ginger and saute.
- Now add in chopped okra and potatoes, and all the remaining spices, except cilantro. Saute to mix well for 30 seconds, and cover it 3/4's of the way with the lid and let it cook. Saute every 5 minutes, upto 20 minutes, and scrape from the bottom as to not to let it burn. It should have reduced and the okra should be soft to the touch after 20 minutes. Switch off the gas. Garnish with cilantro.
- Enjoy with rotis/naan or rice!
- Gujarati Daal:
- In a pressure cooker on medium to high heat, add in the washed lentils, along with the turmeric/salt, tomatoes and water. The salt increases the boiling point and cooks the lentils faster. Cook for about 4-5 whistles on the pressure cooker, approximately 10 minutes. Once done, switch off the gas. Now with a hand blender, blend the lentils until it becomes soupy.
- In a chopper, finely chop the ginger and the green chill into a paste. Add this paste, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder, lemon juice, garam masala, jaggery, water to the daal, and let it simmer on medium to low heat.
- On the side, in a small saucepan, on medium to low heat, add in the ghee, asafoetida, curry leaves, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, cloves, cinnamon sticks and let it splatter for a minute. Add this mixture to the daal and stir to mix. Now let it boil once at medium heat and let it cook for about 7 minutes. The daal should be done. Garnish with cilantro. The daal should be a soupy consistency.
- Have the daal with rice, or with rotis and okra-potato vegetable.
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