When preparing Spiced Okra and Onions or Bhindi do Pyaza, I don’t use Olive Oil but instead use an oil with a high smoking point such as Canola or Peanut oil, since I’m cooking on medium-high to high heat. It’s important to cook at a higher temperature so that the Okra cooks quickly. I add the green chillies whole to impart a bit of bite and flavor to the dish and I remove it when I serve the dish so one of my guests doesn’t unwittingly bite into it, because that would surely take the enjoyment out of this flavorful dish! But if you like it spicy then you can even slit the chillies when you add them to add more heat.
The onions are added later after we cook the Okra for sometime and not at the same time as the Okra since we want to keep them soft and translucent so you can enjoy their texture along side the crunch of the Okra.
This dish pairs well with lentils (“Daal”) and Indian flatbread (“Roti”)
Ingredients
1 lb Okra
1 cup Sliced Red Onions
2 Whole Green Chillies
1 inch piece of Ginger cut into juliennes
2 tbsp Canola Oil
2 tsp Coriander Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Dried Mango Powder (“Amchur”)
1/2 tsp Sea Salt (adjust to taste)
Preparation
Wash the Okra and dry it thoroughly. It is very important to dry the Okra thoroughly before you chop it because otherwise the insides of the Okra turn sticky and that will make a mess of the dish. The trick I use is to wash the Okra, dry it as much as possible with paper towels and then let the Okra finish drying under the breeze of a table fan which saves me the effort of making sure each individual Okra is dried. Neat idea, huh? When the Okra is dry cut it up into small 1 centimeter long cylindrical pieces.
Wash the Okra in a colander
Cut off the heads and the tips of the Okra
Cut the Okra into roughly 1 cm long cylindrical pieces
Cooking
Heat the oil and add the ginger juliennes and fry for 1 minute on medium-high heat. You’re going to be cooking on medium-high the whole time.
Add the the Okra and fry for about 10 minutes stirring frequently about every minute or more frequently.
After about 10 minutes you’ll notice that the Okra starts browning and shrinking as it cooks. It’s time to add the onions…
Add the sliced onions along with the spices and salt and cook for another 10 minutes and turn off the heat.
After about 10 minutes you’ll notice that the onions become translucent to lightly browned and that some of the Okra pieces start to char on the edges. You can taste a piece of the Okra to confirm it’s cooked to your liking and to adjust the salt as needed.
Enjoy!
- 1 lb Okra
- 1 cup Sliced Red Onions
- 2 Whole Green Chillies
- 1 inch piece of Ginger cut into juliennes
- 2 tbsp Canola Oil
- 2 tsp Coriander Powder
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- ½ tsp Dried Mango Powder (“Amchur”)
- ½ tsp Sea Salt (adjust to taste)
- Wash the Okra and dry it thoroughly. It is very important to dry the Okra thoroughly before you chop it because otherwise the insides of the Okra turn sticky and that will make a mess of the dish.
- Heat the oil and add the ginger juliennes and fry for 1 minute on medium-high heat. You’re going to be cooking on medium-high the whole time.
- Add the the Okra and fry for about 10 minutes stirring frequently about every minute or more frequently.
- After about 10 minutes you’ll notice that the Okra starts browning and shrinking as it cooks. It’s time to add the onions…
- Add the sliced onions along with the spices and salt and cook for another 10 minutes and turn off the heat.
- After about 10 minutes you’ll notice that the onions become translucent to lightly browned and that some of the Okra pieces start to char on the edges. You can taste a piece of the Okra to confirm it’s cooked to your liking and to adjust the salt as needed.
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