Stuffed Okra (Bhindi)

I know I know..what you must be thinking! Well, Its not really my invention :p. Invention is the wrong word. I should have written good old recipes with a twist. Well, I generally mix the procedures of different recipes into one and try my hand at it. There haven't been any disasters till date. You can be rest assured about the taste as it is tried and tested on my husband and our two friends :)

Ingredients would be:

Fresh tender okra - Try to get the ones which are smaller in size. Test for tender and fresh okra as taught by my mom - try bending the tip - it should snip off easily. If it lousily bends, its not fresh! After washing it dry it completely with a cloth as it will be sticky when cooked if not dried well. Cut the head and make a slit lengthwise. Be careful not to slit it through and through, remember we need to stuff it. For a meal of 4, you will need around 400 gms.

green chillies - one or two as per the hotness desired.
Fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves - two handfuls!
one garlic petal(Not really necessary. Only for garlic lovers)
Cumin seeds - half tsp (teaspoon)
Sesame Seeds -one fistful
Roasted Coriander seeds - half tsp
Roasted Peanuts - one fistful
Salt to taste
Cooking oil


Method: To prepare the stuffing, take the green chillies, coriander leaves, garlic, sesame seeds, peanuts and churn them in the food processor or blender. Just churn for 5 to 10 seconds. It should be slightly coarse and not a fine paste. If you have a mortar and pestle (khalbatta in marathi and musli in Hindi, I had to google this :P), using it freshly grind the roasted coriander seeds and cumin seeds. If you don't have it, you may add these in the blender itself before. However, I prefer the mortar and pestle as it gives out the true aroma and taste of the coriander seeds. Mix it with the rest of mixture. Now taste the mixture. The salt should be slightly high as we aren't adding any salt separately.

Stuff the okras carefully with stuffing. Take a wide pan and add  very thin layer of oil covering the pan. Now, if you like it nice and slight crispy, don't be thrifty in adding oil. Place the stuffed okras keeping the slit side facing you and not the pan. Well, the mistake I made was I placed the okra with slitted side on the pan the first time. The stuffing cooks faster than the okras. So if placed the first time with the slit side down, the stuffing starts burning. So take note of my tip. Cook it on the other side first on a medium flame till it is slightly brown and then turn all of them and cook on the other side. Do NOT put a lid on the pan as the steam accumulating in the pan will make the okras moist.

Garnish it with chopped coriander. Goes well with chapatis and I like it as a side dish with plain dal rice too. Trust me, its an awesome dish and it made my husband start eating okras. Do try it and let me know how did it come out. Enjoy!