Tomato Masala Bhindi / Tomato Okra Fry

Just like Aloo / Potatoes , Bhindi /Okra/Ladyfinger is also very good option for side dish in the meal. Bhindi can be made in various ways but mostly dry as it gets slimy when left with moisture. I make Bhindi mostly as a side dish with Daal and Rice or With Paratha for morning breakfast.

In this Bhindi recipe I used tomatoes as well for the first time. I was bit skeptical at the first place but since I've bug of experimenting in kitchen, so I just went for it. To compliment moisture from tomatoes I added some gram flour in the dish. Also to avoid Bhindi get slimy or wet while cooking, clean, wash and dry it in advance, so when you are cooking it, it fairly dry.

When I was little, we use to get Bhindi in our lunchboxes with Puri/Paratha. Sometimes on weekend, we ate Bhindi with Dal Rice and Chapati in lunch. Using fresh green chilies, thinly sliced onions and sliced garlic enhances its taste. Crisp the bhindi by shallow frying it a tspoon or so of oil and it will be the best side dish for your meal.

Lets have a look at my way of making "Tomato Masala Bhindi / Tomato Okra Fry". It's fairly simple recipe like most of my recipes. Not any exotic ingredient , just the everyday ingredients from your kitchen and the dish will be ready for time of Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner. Hope you all will try to make it and let me know how everyone liked it at your home.. Until next time..................., Happy Cooking Friends, Saumya

Pictorial Method of Making "Tomato Masala Bhindi / Tomato Okra Fry":

Wash bhindi/okra in water thoroughly. Wipe them with a kitchen towel or just spread them on chopping board to allow them to dry naturally.
Cut off the crown and base tip of each bhindi, vertically slice them keeping a width of your choice in thickness. I kept them almost 0.45inch.

Slice Onions thinly,  chop tomatoes finely and cut green chilies very fine.
Heat 1 tblspoon oil in a thick bottomed shallow frying pan.
Add the sliced Okra and fry them until golden n crisp. Take them out on a paper towel lined plate.

Now add sliced onion and green chilies in the same pan with another tablspoon of oil.

Saute onions till they start turning light brown.        

Now add the chopped tomatoes. mix well.        

Now add powdered spices , Turmeric, Coriander, Garam masala, Salt, and Amchur with gram flour in the pan.

Mix the spices and gramflour well. Cook this mix until the tomatoes become soft and mushy and you start to see oil releasing from the sides.

Now add the fried crispy bhindi/okra. Mix well but gently to avoid pressing it too much.
Put the flame on high and fry the Okra and Masalas well to avoid any moisture in the dish.
Don't burn the dish in order to dry the moisture, if starts to burn switch off and take it away from the hot burner.
Once you can't see any moisture in dish, switch off the flame and immediately turn it out in a serving dish.

Garnishing with coriander is optional, as very few people eat Okra with fresh coriander.
Serve Tomato Masala Bhindi as a side dish in any of your meal like with chapatis, dal, rice or may be parathas.

Ingredients:

Okra/Bhindi/Lady finger                         - 500grm
Onion                                                       - 2 medium , thinly sliced
Tomato                                                     - 2 medium , finely chopped
Green Chilies                                            - 2 thinly sliced
Asafetida/Hing                                          - a pinch
Turmeric powder                                       - 1/2 tspoon
Coriander powder                                      - 1 tspoon
Raw Mango Powder/Amchur                    - 1/2 tspoon                                  
Garam masala                                            - 1/2 tspoon
Salt                                                             - to taste
Gram Flour                                                - 2 tblspoon
Oil                                                              - 2 tblspoon


Method:

Wash bhindi/okra in water thoroughly. Wipe them with a kitchen towel or just spread them on chopping board to allow them to dry naturally.
Cut off the crown and base tip of each bhindi, vertically slice them keeping a width of your choice in thickness. I kept them almost 0.45inch.
Slice Onions thinly,  chop tomatoes finely and cut green chilies very fine.
Heat 1 tblspoon oil in a thick bottomed shallow frying pan.
Add the sliced Okra and fry them until golden n crisp. Take them out on a paper towel lined plate.
Now add sliced onion and green chilies in the same pan with another tablspoon of oil and saute them till they start turning light brown.
Now add the chopped tomatoes. mix well.                      
Now add powdered spices , Turmeric, Coriander, Garam masala, Salt, and Amchur with gram flour in the pan.
Mix the spices and gramflour well. Cook this mix until the tomatoes become soft and mushy and you start to see oil releasing from the sides.
Now add the fried crispy bhindi/okra. Mix well but gently to avoid pressing it too much.
Put the flame on high and fry the Okra and Masalas well to avoid any moisture in the dish. Don't burn the dish in order to dry the moisture, if starts to burn switch off and take it away from the hot burner.
Once you can't see any moisture in dish, switch off the flame and immediately turn it out in a serving dish.
Garnishing with coriander is optional, as very few people eat Okra with fresh coriander.
Serve Tomato Masala Bhindi as a side dish in any of your meal like with chapatis, dal, rice or may be parathas.

Vegetable Rice Stuffed Tomatoes

When I was a little girl, my Mum use to make stuffed vegetables, to be honest I never liked them. Everyone use to eat them and sing praises for my mum but I always thought why mum has to burn these.

Now are the days when I understand why everyone sang those praise songs for my mum. I kissed her hands when I first tasted those stuffed vegetables. Since the day I first had those variety of stuffed vegetables made by mum and till now, I'm in love with the concept of stuffed vegetables.

I've in last 10 years, tried so many variety of stuffed vegetables like stuffed bell peppers, stuffed bitter gourd, stuffed zucchini, stuffed ivy gourd, stuffed apple gourd and many more. This time while planning to make stuffed vegetable, I thought of trying tomatoes.

Luckily, I've had few big size salad tomatoes, ripe but hard. Perfect, I thought, lets give it a go. Checked the fridge, had some leftover rice, some par-boiled veggies and boiled potatoes. Hurray, I yelled inside me and started preparing "Stuffed Tomatoes". Have had few bell peppers as well, so grabbed two of them and tomatoes have two friends now.

My family loved eating these stuffed tomatoes just like all other vegetables. I'm sure your family will love them as well. And for that you need to get into the kitchen and try making them. Don't forget to comment below and tell me your experience. Until next time.......Happy Cooking Friends, Saumya

Ingredients:

Tomatoes                   - 4 big size (preferably fresh and tight ones)
Cooked Rice              - 1 cup
Boiled Potato             - 2 small finely diced
Mix Veg                     - 1/2 cup par-boiled (Peas, corn, beans and carrots)
Tomato pulp               - 1/2 cup (extracted from 4 tomatoes)
Peanuts                       - 1/4 cup (optional)
Onion                         - 1 chopped
Garlic                         - 4 finely chopped
Ginger                        - 1 tspoon grated
Green Chilli               - 1 finely chopped
Turmeric Powder       - 1/2 tspoon
Coriander Powder      - 1 tspoon
Amchoor Powder       - 1/2 tspoon
Garam Masala            - 1/2 tspoon
Salt                             - to taste
Red Chili                    - to taste
Oil                               - 2 tblspoon


Extra:

Green Bell Pepper      - 2


Method:

Wash the tomatoes and core them. Extract all the pulp out from Tomatoes. Try not to cut/rip them. Handle the tomatoes gently. Do the same with Bell pepper as well if using.

Keep the extracted pulp in a bowl, we will use it later in the filling.

Heat 1 tblspoon oil in a Karahi, add onions, garlic, ginger and green chilli. Fry until golden.

Add peanuts and fry them until start popping.

Now add diced potatoes, fry for 1 minute.

Add par-boiled mix veggies and mix well.

Now add tomato pulp, we extracted from 4 tomatoes. Mix well.

Now add the dry spice powders, Turmeric powder, salt, Garam masala, Coriander powder, Amchoor and Red chili powder, mix very well.

Add the cooked rice and mix everything well.

Now fill-up the emptied tomatoes and bell peppers with the rice mixture.

Arrange them into a roasting/baking tray. Spray some oil spray/coat the 1 tblspoon of oil on the filled tomato and bell pepper.

I added some sliced onions, to get cooked in their juices and they go very well with these stuffed vegetables.
Bake these stuffed tomatoes and bell peppers in pre-heated oven on 200c for 30-35 minutes or until you see the skin getting brown and top getting crusty.
Once baked serve them with salad, dip and breads on side.
These stuffed tomatoes are the best dish as a whole, they have rice, veggies, and nuts in them.

I'm sending this recipe at Tinned Tomatoes for Meat Free Mondays. Have a look at another awesome vegetarian recipes on Meat Free Mondays