Bhindi fry

Bhindi or Okra is a favorite of both Salil and I.  With its tremendous potential to become slimy, okra need to be handled with some love and care.  This is my version of a popular Indian vegetarian okra dish.  Its simple, yet packs some good flavor and great nutrients. 

Before I go into the ingredients, I wast to introduce everyone to Fenugreek seeds.  Known as "methi" in India, this is a green vegetable - a bit bitter and honestly, not my favorite.  The seeds also have the same bitterness but if used in reasonable small quantities, it adds a complexity to the flavors.  Below is the wikipedia link for the geeks - notice that its packaged and sold to many "supplement-loving-healthy-eaters" and it will be nice instead to just incorporate in our diets in some tasty way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenugreek

Now coming to the ingredients:

1 pound okra, cut legthwise into long thin strips
15 fenugreek seeds crushed into a corse powder in a mortar
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon asafoetida or hinga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asafoetida)
2 TBS vegetable/ canola oil
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/4 teapsoon sugar
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
salt
coriander leaves for garnishing

In a flat and wide saute pan, heat oil.  Test to see if it is hot enough - drop a cumin seed and the oil is hot if it foams.  To the hot oil, add the cumin, methi powder, hinga and turmeric.  Once the oil foams move things around for about 15 seconds and add the chopped okra.  Saute the okra for about 10 minites stirring occasionally.  By this time, there will be mucousy strings going through the pan.  Add salt, sugar and chilli powder, mix well and cober for about 10 minutes.  The duration of cooking will vary depending the okra.  I personally never use the frozen okra - its too wet for me and the point of bhindi fry is to get a semi-crisy end product. 

Remove the lid and add lemon juice.  The acid gets rid of the slimyness and helps to dry things up a bit. Let the okra sit on slightly high heat to crisp up.  The surface area of the pan and thin-ness of the vegetable will be the key here! Garnish with chopped coriander/cilantro.

Lemon juice and sugra cut through the bitterness of the fenugreek/methi seeds and makes for complex, multiple layers of flavor.