Okra Stir Fry:(Lady's Finger/Bindi/Vendaikkai)

Semi-Cooked Vegetables Retaining its Color and Flavor(Okra)

Vendaikkai Poriyal. Bindi Sabzi. Bendakkai Koora.

My mommy cooks all the veggies in a similar fashion. Like she tries to retain their natural color. So the veggies vitamins are not lot is cooking. She hates to chop finely or mince veggies. She tells...veggies nature are lost in finely chopping. Although it could not be practiced all the time...I cut heavy chunks whenever possible. Anyway....she makes it simple and tasty.

But cooking okra fry is an art as I told you earlier...only few cooks are aware of the fact. Okra is sticky....so key to get-rid of that stickyness, without using excess oil is using a very wide non-tick chinese wok! For the quantity of 250 grams I use very wide griddle. So cook over medium heat, with lid for few minutes. Then over high heat for few minutes, without lid. The stickyness will be lost. Hope this helps!

Ingredients:

Okra diced each piece into 1/2 inch size
Oil few spoons
Garlic 5-6 cloves finely chopped
Mustard seeds 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
Chana dal 2 spoons
Urad dal 2 spoons
Salt
Pepper powder 1-2 spoons

Method:

In a large non-stick pan, heat oil. Add mustard and cumin seeds. Let them splutter well.

Now add urad and chana dal. Immediately followed by garlic( No need to fry urad and chana dal till they turn color...as we do usually.)

Fry them for a while & add diced vegetable to this. Add salt and pepper too. Cover and cook over medium heat. Don't add any water. Let this get cooked with its own water content.

Once it is done. Remove the lid and stir fry over high heat for few minutes. Let the okra loose its stickiness and get separated well. One can add few spoons of oil now. Don't do this for long time as the vegetable may loose its color.

Serve hot as a side dish for regular South Indian meals. It tastes good with simple curd rice.