Super simple & Quick Bhindi (Okra) Stir Fry just the way my mom makes it way back home in India. Its so good as a side dish served with steamed plain rice or with some bread and needs just 8 total ingredients!
Hey guys today’s recipe is a special one. I feel there are 2 kinds of people – one who love love eating bhindi (okra) and others who hate it. I, obviously, love this vegetable and out of all the different ways I have tried eating it – my mom’s simple okra stir fry ( sharing today), okra stir fry with onions, stuffed okra, southern style fried okra – this is my ABSOLUTE favorite way to eat it! I love okra (bhindi as we call it in Hindi) so much that I always make a big batch and eat leftovers warmed up in microwave (if I have the patience) or cold from fridge standing by the kitchen counter. So BLISSFUL!
It’s seriously simple to make ->>
All you need is fresh or frozen okra. I have never really cooked with frozen okra but if you can’t find any fresh, do what you have to do! The most time consuming part here is washing, cleaning, drying and chopping okra. I wash by scrubbing okra gently and then lay wet okras onto paper towels. I let the okras air dry overnight. In the morning, I thinly slice okras few at a time and store them onto a paper towel lined bowl.
Then in a deep bottom skillet, add oil. Once oil is hot, I add carom seeds (ajwain) and finely chopped serranos ( you can use jalapenos or Indian chilies if you like). I get really spicy serranos from this Mexican grocery store near us and love using it in Indian recipes.
Once the carom seeds start to sizzle, add chopped okra along with spices. Stir it and cook covered for 5 minutes on medium high heat. After 5 minutes, uncover and stir again. Cover and cook for another 3-5 minutes. At this stage you can try few pieces and make a judgement by yourself and decide if you like it more cooked or not. I like it not too well done as I don’t like it mushy. So this timing works out for me but it will also depend on how hot your stove is . So keep checking. It cooks really fast! Also if your okra is fresh with almost no seeds, it will cook faster as compared to being ripe which means you might have some seeds inside which might prolong the cooking.
Serve it with fresh steamed rice or bread! So delish! Sometimes I would also make daal along with this to make a complete meal.
- 1 lbs fresh okra (bhindi)
- 3 tbsp oil ( I used high heat olive oil)
- 1 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
- 2 serranos, finely chopped (or as per your taste)
- ¼ tsp red chili powder or more if you like spicier (My serranos were really spicy so I didn't use much chili powder.)
- Salt to taste
- 5 tsp dry coriander powder (dhaniya powder)
- 2-3 tsp mango powder (aamchoor powder) or as per taste
- Prepping okra night before if possible. This way you won't need as much oil to cook okra and still you will get each piece separated.
- I wash by scrubbing okra gently and then lay wet okras onto paper towels. I let the okras air dry overnight. In the morning, I thinly slice okras few at a time and store them onto a paper towel lined bowl.
- Then in a deep bottom skillet, add oil.
- Once oil is hot, add carom seeds (ajwain) and finely chopped serranos ( you can use jalapenos or Indian chilies if you like).
- Once the carom seeds start to sizzle, add chopped okra along with salt, red chili powder, coriander powder.
- Stir it and cook covered for 5 minutes on medium high heat.
- After 5 minutes, uncover and stir again.
- Cover and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
- At this stage you can try few pieces and make a judgement by yourself and decide if you like it more cooked or not.
- I personally like it not too well done as I don't like it mushy. So this timing works out for me but it will also depend on how hot your stove is . So keep checking. It cooks really fast!
- Also if your okra is fresh with almost no seeds, it will cook faster or ripe which means you might have some seeds inside, which might prolong the cooking.
Some more simple Recipes ->>
I love okra.
I love this recipe already. Definitely giving it a try.
One of my favorite!!