Curried bindi (okra)

This is a childhood favourite of mine, I absolutely love okra (ladies fingers).  It’s important to fry them off before making them too wet, otherwise they can get a bit slimy.  I usually add a bit of green pepper but it is not essential. This is great as a side dish for my tandoori cod loin recipe.

Gear

• 1 chopping board
• Large saucepan/chef’s pan/wok
• Wooden spoon
• 1 sharp knife

Curried Bindi (okra)

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, peeled and sliced into half moons
• 3 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
• 1 thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
• 2 green chilli (either finger or birdseye) thinly sliced lengthwise.
• 2 tbsp of vegetable oil (e.g. rapeseed oil)
• ½ tsp of hot chilli powder
• ½ tsp of turmeric powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 200g fresh okra/bindies, head removed, chopped in half.
• 1 large green pepper, sliced into roughly 2 cm lengths
• 6 decent sized tomatoes (try and buy decent ones on the vine if you can) chopped into chunks.
• 100ml water
• Sea salt

Method

1. Add the oil to the pan and place on a medium heat.
2. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and fry for 4 minutes, do not let the onion brown.
3. Add the garlic, ginger and sliced chilli, fry off for one minute, do not let the garlic brown either. Increase the heat to medium/high and add the okra. Fry this off for about 4-5 mins, you should see sticky white ‘goo’ come out of the okra, but this should then disappear again.
4. Then add the chilli powder, turmeric, paprika and 1tsp of  the garam masala.  If the mix appears too dry add another ‘slug’ of oil. Stir and fry into the mix for 30 seconds or so.
5. Add the tomatoes and the green pepper with a pinch of sea salt.
6. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes until the tomatoes break down a bit. Add the water and raise to a gentle simmer.
7. Taste and add salt as required.
8. Mix in 1tsp of garam masala before serving.