Stuffed Okra Recipe | Stuffed Bhindi Fry | Bharwa Bhindi with step by step photo/Video. Okras or Bhindis are stuffed with a few spices and shallow fried in a little oil. Can be served as an accompaniment with rice, roti, dal or as a starter.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in December 2014 and has been updated with Video and replaced with better edited pictures for comprehensiveness and freshness.
First of all let me describe my love for Okra. It’s my favourite vegetable after potato, scratch that, equal to potato. I love and relish each and every preparation of Okra. This tender vegetable is believed to increase analytical ability and that’s how my mom made me develop a love for this vegetable as a kid. This Stuffed okra recipe, with a punch of flavours gets juices flowing in your mouth.
This dry, shallow fried, spicy masala stuffed okra (also known as Bhindi) is a heavenly experience in every bite and can be served as a starter or main course accompanied with rice, roti, dal, …..it also tastes awesome as a starter. This vegetable might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but when prepared right, it can be one of the best things you have ever eaten. I love to explore different variations with this beloved vegetable. This stuffed okra recipe calls for some investment of time and effort, but trust me it’s worth the effort.
Let’s quickly move on to the process for Stuffed Okra Recipe.
Step by Step process to follow for
Stuffed Okra Recipe
Prepping Okras:
- This recipe works best with small sized tender okras. Wash and pat dry Okras with a kitchen tissue or a cloth. There should not be any traces of water on okras, this is very important while cooking with okras, otherwise they become slimy while roasting.
- Trim both the ends of okras. Using a sharp knife, make an incision in the okra, starting from the top and stopping just before the tail. Do not cut all the way through the Orka, it has to still be intact in one whole piece. It is through this incision that we are going to fill the okras with stuffing.
Let’s prepare the stuffing:
- To a pan heated over medium heat, add chana dal, urad dal, Coriander seeds and some sesame seeds.
- Dry roast until the spices get fragrant and slightly change colour, but do not burn them.
- Finally add some desiccated coconut and turn off the heat. The heat in the pan is good enough to roast coconut.
- Blend roasted spices to a coarse powder. To this, add ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder (Feel free to adjust spice levels to suit your taste), thick tamarind extract and required salt to taste.
- Mix well. Add a little oil or water if needed to bind the mixture. The stuffing is now ready.
NOTE: When working with large quantities, you can dry roast each ingredient separately to ensure even roasting.
- Stuff okras with the above stuffing through the incisions.
- We will be using any left over stuffing later, set it aside.
Let’s shallow fry Stuffed Okras:
- Heat oil in a wide skillet over medium heat and season with mustard seeds. It is better to use a wide skillet, as there should be enough room for the okras to fry evenly.
- Once the mustard seeds splutter, arrange okras carefully in the pan.
- Cover and roast stirring occasionally. When you shallow fry okras, cook it long enough so that the slime disappears. Frying okras for 8 to 10 minutes should be enough to do the trick. You should not add any water to the dish while cooking, as that will increase the sliminess of the dish.
- Once okras are half way done, you can just sprinkle the left over stuffing just to cover the okras and continue to fry.
- Shallow fry on medium heat until the okras completely roast and turn golden brown. This may take around 10 min. Frying over medium low heat is the key to perfect crispy okras.
- Finally add curry leaves for that aroma and fry for another 2 minutes. Turn off the heat.
Stuffed Okra Recipe - Stuffed Bhindi Fry | Bharwa Bhindi Recipe
Ingredients
Main Ingredient:
- 250 grams Okra/Bhindi
For the powder:
- 2 tbsp Chana Dal Bengal Gram Dal
- 1 tbsp Urad Dal Black Gram
- 1 tbsp Coriander Seeds
- ½ tbsp Sesame Seeds
- 1 tbsp Desiccated Coconut
Other Ingredients For Stuffing:
- 1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- 1 tbsp Tamarind Extract From gooseberry size tamarind soaked in water.
- Salt to taste
For Seasoning:
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
Instructions
- Wash, pat dry and trim both ends of okras/Bhindis. Using a sharp knife, slit each okra vertically without cutting into two halves.
Preparing the Stuffing:
- Dry roast over low heat all the ingredients under the heading “For the powder” until the spices get fragrant and change colour.
- Blend roasted spices to a coarse powder. To this, add ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, mix red chilli powder, thick tamarind extract and required salt. Give it all a nice mix. The stuffing is now ready.
Stuffing Okras:
- Stuff the okras with the above stuffing through the incision made. Any leftover stuffing will be used later.
Shallow Frying Okras:
- Heat oil in a wide skillet over medium heat and season with the mustard seeds.
- Once the mustard seeds splutter, arrange okras carefully in the pan and stir occasionally for about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Once okras are half way done, you can just sprinkle the left over stuffing to cover the okras and continue to fry.
- Continue to fry till the okras are cooked and turn golden brown. This may take another 10 minutes.
- Finally add curry leaves and fry for another 2 minutes and turn off the heat.
Recipe Video
Notes
- There should not be any traces of water left on the okras, otherwise they become slimy while cooking.
- When preparing large quantities, it is advisable to dry roast each ingredient separately to ensure even roasting.
- You can substitute tamarind pulp with amchur powder (dry mango powder), though I personally prefer tamarind pulp.
- Feel free to adjust spice levels with red chilli powder to suit your taste.
- A wide pan works best for this recipe as the okras need enough room while frying.
Hope you enjoyed the recipe!!
Check out other Vegetable Dry Curries, Indian Vegetarian Recipes and Regional Indian Cuisines from blog!!
Many more to come!!…..STAY TUNED!!
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Happy Cooking 
Cheers!!
Padma.
