Masala Bhindi Tamatar (Okra and Tomato Curry)

I needed a vegetable curry that I could throw together on short notice with ingredients on hand. This worked. It did not achieve Iyer's result with his students of converting the dubious to okra lovers. But I was a perfectly acceptable vegetable side that got the job done.

Photo goes here.

Masala Bhindi Tamatar

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 2 dried Thai or cayenne/arbol chilies
• 450g okra, sliced 1-2cm thick
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cayenne (or Kashmiri chilies)
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 small (~400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the cumin and sizzle for 10-20 seconds.
3. Add the chilies and toast for 5-10 seconds.
4. Add the okra and cook until skin begins to blister (~10 minutes).
5. Add the coriander, salt, cayenne, and turmeric and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
6. Add the tomatoes and water and stir to combine.
7. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for ~15 minutes.
8. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Baingan Bhindi ki Subzi (Eggplant and Okra Curry)

Eggplant curries are apparently unheard of here in NZ! Indian cuisine and curries are common, just not eggplant ones. Which is fine, but was a little disappointing when I was craving a nice baingan bharta a few weeks ago. Eggplants are in season now though. And I have a curry cookbook! So I figured that it might be nice to make an eggplant curry to supplement our takeaway dinner last night.

I'm really happy with how this one came out. I mean, it's not may favourite curry or anything. It's not even my favourite eggplant curry. But it's very quick and easy to throw together and has an excellent deliciousness-to-effort ratio, so I was very happy with that. It also only needs a handful of spices: just fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, and some fresh chilies.

The original recipe calls for four fresh green Thai or serrano chilies. But due to Reiver's nightshade sensitivity, I wanted to limit it to just one chile in the dish. So I picked out a fairly serious-looking long red chile from the freezer and just tossed that in. It definitely had some kick to it! I quite liked the level of heat that the final dish came out with, but I think it may have been a bit too punchy for some of the others. So... adjust the type and number of chilies according to your taste. I enjoyed this as a somewhat spicy dish, but it's not one of those curries that really relies on the fiery heat as a core component. You can definitely get away with making it milder if desired.

Baingan Bhindi ki Subzi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 1-4 fresh green Thai or serrano chilies, thinly sliced
• 225g frozen sliced okra
• 1 small eggplant (225-275g), peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. fenugreek seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds, ground
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro¹

Directions

1. Heat the oil ove medium heat.
2. Add the onion and chilies, cover, and cook until the onion is soft and well-browned (10-15 minutes).
3. Add the okra and cook until okra gets a bit of colour on it (10-15 minutes longer).
4. Add the eggplant, salt, fenugree, mustard, and turmeric and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
5. Add the water and deglaze the pan.
6. Cook, uncovered, until sauce thickens (~15 minutes).
7. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until veggies are tender (~5 minutes more).
8. Sprinkle with cilantro (if using) and serve.

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¹ I omitted the cilantro in my rendition of this curry because I knew that it might be served to someone who has the "cilantro tastes like soap" thing going on. It's one of those things that's nice as a garnish for a bit of extra colour and flavour, but not hugely necessary in this particular case. Two tablespoons is a pretty finishing touch, but doesn't make a huge difference to the final dish, so you can safely leave it out if necessary. ^Back

Masala Bhindi Tamatar (Spiced Okra and Tomato Curry)

We had ragada samosas for dinner last night. They're tasty, but not really a complete meal on their own. You've got protein and starch from the chickpeas, but it's a little light on the veg. Unfortunately, my fridge is also a little light on veg right now, so I had to have a dig through the freezer to see what I could do with that.

Masala Bhindi Tamatar

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 400g okra¹
• 1-2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 2 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cayenne or Kashmiri chilies
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 c. diced tomato
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

¹ The recipe calls for fresh okra, but I had a bag of frozen okra on hand, so I just used that. The frozen okra was already chopped and ready to go, but if you're using fresh, you'll need to rinse it, carefully trim off the caps, and cut them into 2cm pieces. ^Back

Vendakkai Kozhumbu (Okra Sambhar)

Today got off to a bit of a late start and I was left scrambling to put together a meal plan and assemble a dinner for tonight. As I often do when I'm in a bind for dinner plans, I picked a couple simple curries that I could make with ingredients on hand and decided to give 'em a whirl!

I've had sambhars once or twice before, but not often. I've found that they can be a little hit-or-miss for me, so I wasn't sure what to expect from this one. Doubly so since its main ingredients is okra which isn't something I have a lot of experience with. It was actually pretty good though! It wasn't as good as the other curry we made tonight, but it was solid. And now that I've had a chance to sit down and think about the flavours a bit, it occurs to me that adding some hot pickles probably would've helped fill in some of the missing notes for me since I did feel like it needed slightly more heat and acidity.

Vendakkai Kozhumbu

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. skinned split pigeon peas (toovar dal)
• 5 c. water, divided
• 350-450g okra¹
• 2 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. tamarind concentrate
• 1 Tbsp. sambhar masala
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. ground asafetida
• 15 fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Thoroughly rinse the pigeon peas, then cover with 2 c. of the water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Skim off any foam, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for ~20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, if using fresh okra, rinse and thoroughly dry the pods, then carefully cut the caps off (without cutting into the pods), and then cut each pod into 2-3cm pieces.
4. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add the mustard seeds to the oil, cover, and cook until they've stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
6. Add the okra and stir-fry for ~5 minutes.
7. Add the onion and stir-fry for another 5 minutes or so.
8. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two.
9. Stir the tamarind, sambhar masala, salt, turmeric, asafetida, and curry leaves into the remaining water and add this mixture to the pan.
10. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for ~8 minutes.
11. Once the pigeon peas are cooked, transfer the legumes and their cooking water to a blender and purée.
12. Pour the pigeon pea slurry into the pan with the okra, stir in the cilantro, and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
13. Serve over rice with pickles and/or flatbreads of your choice. Drizzle with ghee if desired.

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¹ Iyer calls for 450g of whole fresh okra which you then wash, trim, and cut into pieces before cooking. I had a 350g bag of okra pieces in the freezer, so I just used that. ^Back

I believe that Sambar is usually more of a breakfast food but, what can I say, I'm a rule-breaker! I needed something to add to the dinner spread to round things out and this looked like a good bet. It's full of delicious veggies and pigeon peas. I used a mix of carrot, tomato, onion, okra, and green beans, but you could use just about any veggies you wanted depending on what's available.

Sambar

Slightly adapted from Vegetarian Indian Cooking with Your Instant Pot by Manali Singh

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. split pigeon peas (toor dal)
• 2 1/2 c. water, divided
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric, divided
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1 c. diced tomato (fresh or canned)
• 1 carrot, cut into coins
• 1 onion, diced
• 5 okras, cut into 2cm pieces
• 1 c. green beans, cut into 2cm pieces
• 1 tsp. jaggery
• 4 tsp. Sambhar Masala
• 1 tsp. tamarind concentrate
• 1 Tbsp. mustard oil
• 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp. asafetida
• 15 curry leaves
• 1 fresh green Thai chile, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Place pigeon peas in InstantPot along with 1 c. of the water, 1/4 tsp. of the turmeric, and 1/2 tsp. of the salt.
2. Close the lid and set to pressure cook on high for 8 minutes.
3. Allow a 15 minute natural release and then remove the lid and add the tomato, carrot, onion, okra, beans, jaggery, sambhar masala, tamarind, remaining 1/4 tsp. of salt, and remaining 1/4 tsp. of turmeric.
4. Close the lid and set to pressure cook on high for 5 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, heat oil over medium-high heat.
6. Add mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they've stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
7. Stir asafetida, curry leaves, and chile and remove from heat.
8. Once the vegetables have finished cooking, do a quick release and stir in the tadka (oil-curry leaf mixture).
9. Garnish with cilantro and serve with idli or dosas for breakfast!