Easy Indian dish made with okra, double the amount of onions, spices and tomatoes. This restaurant style bhindi do pyaza is delicious, flavorful and easy to make. Serve it with roti

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Cuisine: North Indian

Ingredients

  • 300 grams bhindi ((okra))
  • 1 medium onion ((100 grams or shallots) (diced, layers separated))
  • 2 tablespoon oil
  • 2 dried red chilies
  • ½ inch ginger ((julienned))
  • 1½ tablespoon oil
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon carom seeds ((ajwain))
  • 2 medium onions ((210 grams, 1 cup fine chopped))
  • 1 teaspoon garlic ((chopped) (3 medium))
  • ¾ teaspoon ginger ((chopped) (½ inch))
  • 2 medium tomatoes pureed ((200 grams, ¾ cup puree))
  • ¾ to 1 teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder ((adjust to taste))
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  • ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt ((adjust to taste))
  • ½ to ¾ cup water ((use as needed))
  • 1 teaspoon kasuri methi ((dried fenugreek leaves))
  • ½ teaspoon amchur ((dried mango powder or lemon juice))

Method

Preparation

  1. Rinse okra very well under running water and drain them completely. Wipe them with a clean kitchen towel and chop to 1 inch pieces.
  2. Fine chop 2 onions. Puree 2 tomatoes in a blender. Fine chop ginger and garlic.

How to make

  1. Heat a non-stick pan with 1 tablespoon oil and fry okra on a medium high flame for 5 minutes stirring often.
  2. They would be partially cooked & most of the slime goes away. Remove them to a plate.
  3. Pour 2 tablespoon oil to the same pan. When the oil becomes hot, add cumin and carom seeds. Take care not to burn the spices as the pan is too hot at this stage.
  4. Then add onions and saute until they turn golden.
  5. Stir in the ginger garlic and saute for 30 to 50 seconds. Then add tomato puree.
  6. Cook until most of the moisture in the tomato puree dries up. Then add red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and salt.
  7. Mix all of these and cook the masala on a low heat until a nice aroma comes out. This takes about 3 minutes.
  8. Then pour ½ to ¾ cup water and cook the masala until it turns thick.
  9. Transfer the fried okra, amchur and kasuri methi. I poured another 4 to 6 tablespoons water to bring it to a curry consistency.
  10. Stir and cook covered until okra turns tender. Taste test and add more salt if needed.

Tempering

  1. In a small pan, heat 1 tbsp oil. Add the onions (layers separated) and fry them on a medium high heat until a nice sweet aroma comes out. This takes about 2 to 3 mins. Do not overcook the onions, they should remain crunchy.
  2. Then add dried red chilies and stir. The chilies will begin to emit a strong pungent aroma. Turn off quickly and pour this to the bhindi do pyaza. If you fry the chilies longer, they will burn and will impart a bitter flavor.
  3. Also add ginger juliennes. Stir and cover the pan.
  4. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve bhindi do pyaza with basmati rice or roti.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.