Bhinda Ni Kadhi/Okra Yogurt Curry

EVENT: FOODIES_ REDOING OLD POSTS #29

Updated on 10/07/2020

I have so many old posts that need a new look. However, when I cook the regular dishes like Bhinda ni Kadhi I tend to forget to take new clicks. I’ve now got sticky labels on my kitchen wall depending on what veggies or fruits I get from my online shopping. Yes this world pandemic has changed lives drastically. I just can’t wait to experience the riot of colors at my local market place. By joining the  group  The Foodies_Redoing Old Posts, I get the opportunity to redo old recipes. This time I remembered to take fresh clicks of Bhinda Ni Kadhi.

What is Bhinda Ni Kadhi?

Bhinda is the Gujarati word for okra, ladies’ finger, bhindi. Kadhi is simply a yogurt based curry word in Gujarati. Bhinda ni kadhi is a family favorite and features on our dining table every 10 to 12 days. Sometimes I serve with wheat parathas or with bajri na rotla (pearl millet flatbread).

More about Bhinda

Bhinda, is a popular vegetable (or should say a fruit),  with most Indian families. Yes you heard me right it actually is a fruit. Simple stir fried, stuffed with a spicy filling, cooked in different curries right from tomato to tamarind ones, Bhinda or okra is a versatile vegetable. These green seed pods are mostly available throughout the year in Kenya and am sure in India too. Rainy season means that the okra is much more fresher and tender. That’s when I prefer to use them to make my favorite stuffed okra or bhinda na bharelu shaak.  It usually baffles me how toddlers and kids love the stir fried okra sabji or side dish. I would have thought that the sliminess or mucilage would put them off. However, the sliminess is removed by adding an acidic agent like lemon juice, vinegar, tomato, tamarind or sour yogurt. The mucilage contains soluble fibre.

 

My Memories

When my in laws were here in Mombasa, I would make the bhinda ni kadhi and Nunu my mother in law would make the rotla as we all loved the curry with the millet flatbread. Nunu and Dada emigrated to India and I still couldn’t make rotla! So the next best thing to serve with the delicious curry was paratha. However, whenever we went to India, Nunu would make rotla and bhinda ni kadhi for us. One time I had to learn how to make the rotla after many trials and tribulations as Nunu stopped cooking.

 

How can you use Okra/Bhindi/Bhinda/Ladies’ Finger at home?

From simple stir fries to soups, okra is used in many different world cuisines. Outside India, think or okra and you will remember gumbo. Its high is dietary fibre, rich in magnesium, folate, vitamins and anti oxidants. I tend to cook bhinda in some form or the other at least once a week if not more;

• Bhinda nu Shaak (Stir Fried Okra)–a simple way to prepare okra and enjoy it with some roti.
• Bhindi Masala– With tomato, onion, garlic and spices
• Stuffed Bhindi or Bharela Bhinda – my family’s favorite, okra is stuffed with roasted chickpea flour, peanut powder, coconut and spices
• Baked Kurkuri Bhindi/Crispy Okra– an excellent appetizer or starter, the best part that instead of deep frying them I bake them
• Bhindi Do Pyaza – Geetha likes to prepare okra with finely chopped onion along with finely chopped tomato, spices and adds more onion chopped into large chunks.
• Chinch Gula Chi Bhendi Bhaji – a Maharashtrian way of preparing okra, Archana adds tamarind to prepare the sabji
• If you’re looking for a vegan way to prepare okra then Uma’s Vegan Okra Curry is perfect
•  Want to include Okra in a Salad? Then you’ve got to try Mireille’s Fried Okra Salad.
• Jagruti likes to make Spicy Okra, Capsicum and Peanut Stir Fry without onion or garlic as a farali dish.
• Vendaikaai Mandi/Ladies Finger/Okra Mandi – Chettinad Special Tamarind gravy, a very long name but such a delightful curry with beans and using water in which rice has been washed is a traditional recipe by Priya.
• Usha’s Okra Tomato Stew is creamy and usually served with rice.

 

Ingredients required for Bhinda ni Kadhi/Okra Yogurt Curry

• Okra – bhinda, bhindi, ladies’ finger. To choose tender okra take an okra and try and break the tail end with your thumb, If it snaps easily then the okra is good for cooking. As the okra gets old, it becomes fibrous and doesn’t cook well.
• Chickpea Flour – besan, chana atta, required to thicken the curry slightly
• Sour Yogurt – plain yogurt either home made or ready made
• Oil – any cooking oil of your choice
• Ghee – optional but adding a bit gives a pleasant aroma.
• Mustard Seeds – rai
• Cumin Seeds – jeera, jiru
• Carom Seeds – ajmo, ajwain, goes well with okra
• Cloves –
• Cinnamon –
• Pepper corns – black ones
• Curry Leaves – kari patta, limbdi, an essential ingredient for kadhis. Whenever I visit my son in Montreal, I take dried curry leaves powder as getting fresh curry leaves is difficult. However, many Indian Grocery Stores have the fresh one.
• Turmeric Powder – haldi
• Asafetida – hing (optional) don’t use if you need to prepare a gluten free curry
• Fresh Ginger – some like to add thin julienne of ginger but I prefer to mince it into a paste
• Fresh Green Chillis – again some add chopped chillis but I prefer to mince it into a paste
• Garlic – either finely chopped or minced. If you get fresh garlic, the ones with the leafy green stalks, use that as the kadhi tastes awesome.
• Jaggery – gur, gud or brown sugar. A little bit is required according to your taste and how sour the yogurt is. I usually add just about 1 tsp. Some prefer to add more.

Dietary Tips:

• For Gluten free curry, don’t add asafetida as it usually contains wheat flour.
• For Satvik version omit adding garlic.
• Healthy and nutritious.