Bhindi Masala Recipe or Okra Masala is a popular Indian recipe prepared by frying Bhindi and Onion along with various spices. It is one of the most preferred vegetable in most Indian homes. There are different ways of preparing bhindi. We can prepare it in dry form or in curry form. However dry Bhindi Masala is the most preferred one and most people love to have it in their meal.
Bhindi Masala is one of my favourite bhujiya recipes (Semi Dry Recipe). I love it to have with paranthas. At home, my mom prepares Bhindi Masala and I am very fond of it. In my earlier days of student life, when I use to stay away from my family, I tried preparing this recipe a number of times, but it never came out good. Then one day I saw a video in YouTube on how to make Bhindi Masala. After seeing the video, I gave it a try and it came out good. Today I will be sharing this recipe with you in the same process only.
One of the most important things that you must be careful while preparing Bhindi Masala is that it doesn’t gets sticky. After you wash the bhindi, dry it completely before cutting. If you cut it while it is still wet, it can turn sticky and will change the taste of it.
To prepare Bhindi Masala, first we will be frying the Lady’s Finger (Bhindi) in Mustard Oil. After frying the bhindi, add Chopped Onion and spices into it. Fry them till the onion and bhindi becomes soft. Here I will be adding the salt at the end after all the other ingredients are cooked properly and the bhindi and onion becomes soft. After adding the salt, cook it by covering the kadai with lid. The reason for covering with lid is that it helps in making the bhindi softer. Also covering with lid produces steam which helps the spices to enter inside the bhindi. It makes the bhindi taste even more flavorful. Also adding of Aamchur powder brings tangy taste to the recipe.
Here we will be preparing the recipe without using tomatoes. Tomatoes give a tangy taste to bhindi. Some people love to have tomatoes in their recipe. If you want you can add it. Also we will be using Mustard Oil to cook the bhindi. If you do not have mustard oil you can skip it and use any other refined oil. Initially while preparing this recipe I used to add the onion before adding bhindi into the oil. The taste was good but not better than the way that I am preparing today. I will suggest you to follow the same process as I have followed.
While preparing Bhindi Masala, we have added the onion after frying the bhindi. You would be wondering as to why we have added it later on. Many people add the onion either before frying the bhindi or along with bhindi. But here we will be adding afterwards. The reason behind it is that the onion doesn’t get completely fried and it gives some sweet taste and gives a different flavour to it.
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Bhindi Masala Recipe/Masala Bhindi/Okra Masala
Ingredients:
- 500 gm Bhindi (Lady’s Finger or Okra)
- 1 medium Chopped Onion
- 1/2 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 1 teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste
- 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder: 1 teaspoon
- 2 teaspoon Coriander Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala
- 1/2 teaspoon Aamchur Powder
- 4 tablespoon Mustard Oil
- A pinch Asafoetida (Hing)
- Salt to Taste
Instructions:
- Take and wash the Lady’s Finger (Bhindi or Okra) properly with water. Allow it to dry.
- Chop the bhindi in small pieces of 3/4 inches approx. by removing the head and the tail part of it. Keep them aside.
- Heat ample amount of Mustard Oil in Kadai over medium flame. Add Cumin Seeds and allow it to crackle.
- When the crackling stops, add a pinch of Hing into it.
- Now add the chopped bhindi and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Keep on stirring in between so that it doesn’t stick and burn.
- After 10 minutes, lower the heat and again cook for 5 minutes. By this time, the bhindi is almost halved cooked and it becomes soft.
- Now add Chopped Onion into the semi cooked bhindi. Mix it properly.
- Also add the spices such as Turmeric Powder, Red Chilli Powder, Coriander Powder, Garam Masala, Aamchur Powder and Ginger Garlic Paste.
- Mix all the spices so that it is evenly spread over the cooked bhindi. Cook it for 5 minutes. Onion will start becoming soft.
- Now add Salt as required. Mix it. Cover the kadai with lid and cook for almost 3 minutes.
- After 3 minutes, remove the lid and mix the vegetable. Cover it again with lid and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Remove the lid and mix it. Masala Bhindi is ready to be served. Serve it with roti or with your favourite parantha.
Notes:
- Here I have used Mustard Oil to prepare Bhindi Masala. You can also use any type of refined oil in place of mustard oil.
- While preparing the recipe, we have added salt at the end after frying the bhindi with the spices. After adding salt cook the bhindi by covering with the lid. It will make it soft.
- To give the recipe a tangy taste, you can also use chopped tomatoes. Add it while adding spices.
- If you do not eat onion you can skip it and directly add spices into the cooked bhindi.
- We have added Aamchur Powder to give sour taste to bhindi. Sweet taste of onion and sour taste of Aamchur powder makes the Bhindi Masala taste more awesome.
