Okra peanut fry

Ingredients:

Tender Okra/Lady's finger - 200 gms
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Salt to taste

For peanut powder
Peanuts - 2 heaped tbsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Jeera / cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Dry red chillies - 3 or 4

Note: This recipe can be made with brinjal or tindora/kovakka instead of okra. Add the peanut spice powder after the veggie is cooked.

Preparation:

1. Dry roast the peanuts till the skin starts turning black here and there. Let it cool and then remove the skin and keep aside.
2. Heat 1 tsp of oil and add jeera, urad dal and dry chillies. Roast till urad dal starts turning brown. Coarsely pound this along with peanuts using a spice grinder/mixer.
3. Remove the ends of the okra and cut into small pieces. Heat a tbsp of oil and splutter mustard seeds. Add okra pieces and fry well till the stickiness goes off. Add the peanut spice powder and enough salt and fry well for a few minutes.

Serve as side dish with rice or roti.

Events:

Show me your HITS @ Spicy Treats

Puli Kuzhambu

The second Blog Hop Wednesday is here and this time my partner is Sangeetha of Sangeetha's Kitchen. It was my first visit to her blog and I directly went to the Recipe Index and got lost in the long list of yummy recipes. It was very difficult to choose a single dish to try, because there were many I liked. I was more attracted to the tamilnadu style recipes and finally decided to try Puli Kuzhambu. I have tasted this at 'Annachi' restaurant in Bangalore a few years ago and I still remember my taste buds relishing its tangy and spicy taste. In this recipe, Sangeetha has not added any vegetables, but she mentioned that Okra,Brinjal,Drumstick etc can be added. I decided to go with Okra. Me and my husband loved this kuzhambu and it was a treat to our taste buds...

Ingredients:

Sambar onions/shallots - 8 to 10, peeled and sliced

Garlic - 6 to 8 cloves, peeled and chopped

Okra/Ladies Finger - 8 to 10 (optional). 

Tamarind - a lemon sized ball

Tomato - 1 small, finely chopped

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Chilly powder - 1.5 tsp

Coriander powder - 2 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp for frying okra

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Fenugreek/Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp

Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Hing/Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Pepper corns - 3 nos

Sesame oil - 1 to 2 tsp (I didn't have it, so I used sunflower oil itself)

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Salt to taste

Getting ready

1. Soak tamarind in warm water for 10-15 mins and extract the juice.

2. Trim the ends of okra and cut to 1 inch pieces. In a non stick pan, add 1tsp of oil and fry the okra peices for few mins till they are coated well with oil. Keep aside.

Preparation:

1. Heat 1 tbsp  oil in a pan and splutter mustard and fenugreek seeds. Add jeera,hing and pepper corns and saute till you get  the aroma.

2. Add onions,garlic and curry leaves and saute till onion becomes transparent. Add tomatoes and saute till they are soft.

3. Add turmeric,chilly and coriander powders and saute on low flame taking care not to burn it.

4. Add the tamarind juice, and 1 to 1.5 cups of warm water and bring to boil. Add salt to taste.

5. Cook on medium flame for about 10 minutes and the gravy thickens.

6. Now add the okra pieces and drizzle sesame oil and cook for few minutes. The oil starts appearing. As Okra takes very less time to cook, do not overcook as it turns mushy. Kuzhambu is ready, you may garnish with chopped coriander leaves

Serve with hot rice and pappad.

So, here it goes to Blog Hop Wednesday - Week 2. Meet the other blog hoppers here...

Also Sending to Herbs and Flowers - Garlic event hosted by Vardhini this month. Herbs and Flowers is a monthly event initiated by PJ of Seduce Your Tastebuds

Okra Stir Fry

Wondering why I have posted such a simple and ordinary recipe? Well, following the launch of my blog, many of my friends have been asking me for simple recipes for day-to-day cooking. Most of these friends are new to the kitchen and are experimenting with recipes from the internet. So, I decided to help them with some simple recipes. Almost all my recipes are simple, as I don't like to spend more than half an hour in the kitchen :-)

So, here is the recipe

Ingredients:

Okra/Lady's Finger/Bhindi - 250 gms
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Onion -1, finely chopped
Turmeric powder - a pinch or two
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Salt
Oil

Preparation:
1. Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds.
2. Add onion and saute for a minute.
3. Add turmeric powder, chilly powder,chopped okra, salt, curry leaves and combine well.
4. The okra will appear very sticky in the beginning, keep stir frying on medium-high flame till they become non-sticky, dry and cooked.

Note: Do not cover the pan with a lid while cooking this. It has to be stirred continously till cooked.

Linking this to Life is Green Event