Bharwa Bhindi or Stuffed Bhindi is a delicious and flavourful Punjabi Cuisine prepared by stuffing Bhindi and then cooking this stuffed bhindi under low heat. The stuffing in Bhindi includes various spice powders along with different ingredients. Bharwa in English means stuffed and Bhindi means Okra or Lady Finger, so the name is Bharwa Bhindi. It has many variations and hence there are different ways of preparing it in different parts of the country.
We can prepare Bharwa Bhindi in two ways. One is by simply cooking the stuffed bhindi in oil properly under low flame till it is crispy. The other way is by cooking the stuffed okra with an onion and tomato masala to prepare Bharwa Bhindi Masala. In this process, we first cook the stuffed okra in oil and then add to tomato onion masala. Today we will be preparing the Stuffed Bhindi from the first method. I will share the second method process in my coming post.
Here the stuffing has the combination of Roasted Peanut Fine Powder along with different Spice Powder. There are various ways of preparing the stuffing of Stuffed Bhindi. You can try any of them to prepare the stuffing. You can also mix one or two of these ingredients for stuffing.
- Groundnut (Peanut) Powder Stuffing: Dry roast the Peanut and then allow it to cool. On cooling prepare fine smooth powder. Mix this powder with other spice powder to prepare the Peanut stuffing.
- Gram Flour Stuffing: Dry roast the Besan in a pan and then allow it to cool. On cooling, mix it with other spice powder to make the Gram Flour stuffing.
- Spice Powder Stuffing: In this type of stuffing, mix all type of Spice Powder together to prepare it.
- Sesame Powder Stuffing: Dry roast the Sesame Seeds and then allow it to cool. Prepare a smooth fine powder on cooling. Mix with spice powder to make the Sesame Powder stuffing.
- Grated Coconut Stuffing: In this type of stuffing, mix the Grated Coconut with spices to prepare the coconut stuffing.
We can prepare the above stuffing in two ways:
- Dry Roasting: In this method, the ingredients are roasted without the use of oil and is mixed together to make the stuffing.
- Oil Roasting: In this method, all the ingredients are roasted together in oil to prepare the stuffing.
Here I am going to prepare the stuffing by using Peanut (Groundnut) through dry roasting. To make variations, along with peanut, you can also add small amount of dry roasted besan or small amount of grated Coconut. If you want you can roast the ingredients in oil to make the stuffing and it totally depends on how you want to make the stuffing. Different stuffing will have slightly different taste. In this recipe, we will be using dry roasting process. To prepare Stuffed Bhindi using Gram Flour, please visit Besan Bharwa Bhindi.
To prepare Stuffed Bhindi, wash and rinse the Bhindi. Allow it to dry so that there are no moisture left on the surface of the bhindi. It is one of the essential steps of preparing this recipe. If possible pat dry them using kitchen towel. Cut the edges of both sides with the help of knife and discard them. Now slit the okra lengthwise without cutting into two halves. It should be intact and should hold the stuffing. Also it should not split. Keep the slit okra aside and let’s start preparing the stuffing. To prepare authentic and traditional Bharwa Bhindi, use Homemade Masala Powder to prepare the stuffing.
First dry roast the Peanut in fry pan on low heat. Once it becomes crispy, switch off the stove and allow it to cool. On cooling, transfer it to a mixer grinder jar and then grind it to prepare smooth fine powder. Take out the Peanut smooth powder in a large bowl and add all the Spice Powder into it. Then mix them uniformly to prepare the stuffing. Take the slit okra and start filling the stuffing into them properly. Do it for all the okra. Once it is done, heat Oil in a pan and place the stuffed bhindi on single layer in the pan. Cook the stuffed bhindi properly by stirring it at intervals of 3-4 minutes such that it is roasted from all sides evenly. Bharwa Bhindi is ready to serve. Serve with Roti, Paranthas or Rice and Dal.
Please try our other Curry Recipes & Masala Recipes.
Bharwa Bhindi/Stuffed Bhindi/Stuffed Okra/Stuffed Lady Finger
Equipments:
- Heavy Base Thick Pan or Kadai
- Spatula
Ingredients:
For Bharwa Bhindi:
- 250 grams Bhindi (Okra/Lady Finger) (Around 20-25 small to medium size Bhindi)
- A pinch Hing (Asafoetida)
- 3 tablespoon Cooking Oil
- 2 tablespoon Chopped Coriander Leaves
For Stuffing:
- 6 tablespoon Groundnuts (Peanuts)
- 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1/2 tablespoon Cumin Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Fennel Powder
- 1 tablespoon Coriander Powder
- 1 tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- 1 teaspoon Aamchur Powder/Lemon Juice
- Salt to taste
Instructions:
Preparation:
- Take the Bhindi and wash with Water by rinsing it with the help of hand. After rinsing, drain the Water from the Bhindi.
- Spread the Ladies Finger in a plate and allow it to dry naturally. You can also dry it by wiping the Bhindi with kitchen towel. Bhindi should be completely dry before stuffing.
- With the help of knife cut the edges of both the sides of Bhindi and discard the edges.
- Now slit the Bhindi lengthwise without cutting it into two long halves. It should be intact and should not split. Slit all the bhindi and keep it aside.
Stuffing of Bharwa Bhindi:
- To make the stuffing, switch on the stove and heat pan under low heat. Add the Peanut into it.
- Dry roast the Peanut under low flame till it becomes crispy. Take it out from the pan and spread them in a plate. Allow it to cool.
- On cooling, transfer them into mixer grinder jar and grind it to make smooth powder.
- Take out the Peanut Powder in a large bowl. Add all the spices to it such as Turmeric Powder, Cumin Powder, Fennel Powder, Coriander Powder, Ginger Garlic Paste, Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder, Garam Masala and Aamchur Powder.
- Also add Salt to it. Mix them uniformly to prepare the stuffing. Check the salt before stuffing it in bhindi.
- Take one slit bhindi. With the help of spoon or hand, stuff the masala into it. Repeat this step for each slit bhindi. Keep it aside.
Preparation of Bharwa Bhindi:
- Now heat 3 tablespoon Oil in a pan over medium heat.
- On heating, reduce the flame to low and add Asafoetida into the oil. Mix it.
- Immediately add the stuffed bhindi into the oil and arrange them in single layer.
- Cook the Bhindi under low flame so that the bhindi does not burn.
- While cooking, stir the bhindi gently at regular intervals of 3-4 minutes to cook it evenly from all sides.
- While stirring the Bhindi, stir it gently so that the stuffing does not come out.
- If there are any masala stuffing left, you can add it to the pan.
- The Bhindi should be cooked evenly from all the sides. In between check Salt in the bhindi. If the salt is less, you can add extra salt.
- When the Bhindi is cooked properly from all sides, switch off the stove. Bharwa Bhindi is ready to serve.
- Serve Bharwa Bhindi by garnishing with Chopped Coriander Leaves. Serve it with Parantha or Roti or with Dal and Rice. You can also squeeze Lemon Juice over Bhindi before serving.
Notes:
- Before cutting and stuffing the bhindi, there should not be any water in bhindi. Wipe the bhindi completely dry otherwise the bhindi will become soggy.
- Bhindi should be slit length wise properly. It should be intact and should not break. It should hold the stuffing properly so that it does not come out while cooking.
- There are various ways of preparing the stuffing. If you want you can skip the addition of Peanut. If you are not using the peanut, then add extra amount of other spices. Other way of preparing stuffing is by using Besan. I will share this in my coming posts.
- While frying, spread the bhindi in the pan in a single layer so that each and every bhindi fries properly.
- Cook the bhindi under low flame so that it does not burn and is cooked properly.
- To make the Bharwa Bhindi more spicy and tangy, add more Chilli Powder and Dry Mango Powder.
- While cooking, do not over stir the bhindi or else it may break and stuffing may come out.
- Cook the Bhindi uncovered.
