Bhinid Do Pyaza :Okra in a bed of onions with yogurt base

November 1, 2006 at 6:28 am · Filed under North Indian Gravies

Bhindi/Okra/Lady’s finger is one of the vivacious vegetables in the produce section of the Indian store.Back home, this elegant, vividly green veggie is a favorite in my family. My amma makes either crunchy okra fry or delicious okra sambar. Recently my friend Pinal had subscribed to the famous Tarla Dalal’s recipes and enthusiastically forwarded all of them to me. One of the recipes was Bhindi Do Pyaza which was different from the one’s I had tasted. In her websiteTarla Dalal says: “Do pyaza” denotes presence of double the quantity of onions than that found in any other style of preparation. The curds added towards the end of this dish add more sharpness to this dish.

I followed mostly the original recipe except that instead of slicing the bhindis I cut them into 1/3″ pieces because I didn’t notice the word “sliced” in her recipe until I saw the picture in the website.That is why I like great pictures of food which speak volumes more than just the recipe; or you could just say that I was impatient and overlooked the writing:-))But anyway no harm done since they are very tasty this way too! I added about 1/4 tsp of garam masala in the end because I like the mouth-watering fragrance it immediately generates!! The garnish of cilanthro in the picture is also my addition to bring more color and flavor. The picture of the curry in her website, looks crunchy while mine looks a lot softer. I am blogging this recipe for my sister! I confess that I like this dish because it is a simple,tasty and healthy one pot meal which I can cook easily after a tiring day’s work!! This is also my hubby’s favorite curry and goes well with parathas and rotis. Thanks to Pinal for forwarding this wonderful recipe to me.

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 cups bhindi (ladies finger), cut into 1/3″ pieces

1 and 1/2 cups onions, chopped

3 teaspoons cumin seeds (jeera)

1 teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji)

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)

3 teaspoons ginger paste

1 to 2 green chillies, chopped

1/2 cup yogurt, whisked

3 tablespoons oil

1/4 tsp garam masala (optional)

roughtly chopped cilanthro to garnish (optional)

salt to taste

Method

Heat the oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds and nigella seeds
and allow the seeds to crackle.

Add the onions, turmeric powder, ginger paste and green chillies and cook till the onions are tender.

Add the bhindi and salt and cook over a medium flame till the bhindi is tender.

Add the whisked yogurt and cook till the yogurt dries out.

Add 1/4 tsp garam masala,turn off the stove and serve hot with parathas or rotis.

Handy tips by Tarla Dalal

1.Bhindi tends to get sticky while cooking. Do not cover the pan while cooking and the stickiness will dry out without the presence of steam.

2. Cook the bhindi over a slow flame for best results.

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