Aloo Bhindi Sabzi- Spiced Potatoes & Okra

Aloo bhindi is a vegan dry sabzi (curry) made with potatoes & fresh okra. I make it punjabi(north indian)style. It is an incredibly simple sabzi to make. Some people also called it bhindi-aloo bhujia. Aloo bhindi is delicious with rotis, paratha or dal-rice.

My Bhindi Aloo Recipe

• Simple & quick one pot sabzi. Add potatoes to oil, cook them till fork tender. Add onions, spices and okra and cook together. Aloo bhindi is ready. It takes barely 20 minutes to make this sabzi.
• Healthy - No shallow or deep frying potatoes and okra. It is a healthy dish cooked in less oil. You can make it for everyday meals.
• A good make ahead dish- You can pack it in lunch boxes for make wraps with paratha while traveling. It tastes delicious with pooris too.

Ingredients

• Fresh Okra- Easily available during spring or summer months at indian or asian markets. You can use frozen okra in this recipe as well however shallow fry the okra in that case.
• Potatoes - I like using yellow or gold potatoes.
• Mustard Oil - Punjabi dishes taste better with mustard oil. But you can use avocado or any neutral cooking oil.
• Onions - I like using red onions.
• Spices - Cumin, fennel, Red Chili Powder, Coriander, Garam Masala and Amchoor. Amchoor is dry mango powder which is used to add tang to most punjabi dishes. It is easily available at indian stores. If you dont have, simply squeeze a lemon at the end.

Tips To Cook Okra

• When you are buying okra, select slender, dark green color okra. Light green, chubby okra have high moisture content and usually are more slimy.
• Whenever you plan to cook okra, wash it 3-4 hours ahead and dry completely. I wash it and layer in on a kitchen towel to air dry.
• Avoid chopping the okra too thin. Whether you are cutting in round discs or lengthwise, the thinner you chop okra, the slimy it gets while cooking.
• Choose a wide pan or large kadai to cook okra. The less piled up okra is while cooking, the less chances of it getting slimy.
• Dont skimp on oil. Some vegetables like okra or eggplant need a little extra oil than others. If you reduce oil quantity, okra will start steaming instead of stir frying and get slimy.
• When you are cooking okra, try not to cover it. If the okra is fresh and good quality, cooking on medium stove is enough to cook it through. This preserves the color okra as well.
• While the okra is cooking, avoid stirring it too much. The more we stir, slimy it gets. I stir it maximum 3-4 times to mix with spices and potatoes.

How To Make Aloo Bhindi

• Thoroughly wash okra under running water. After washing spread them on a kitchen towel and let air dry for at least 2-3 hours. If you are in a hurry, thoroughly wipe out the okra with paper or kitchen towel so that they are completely dry.
• Cut the okra lengthwise. Cut the potatoes lengthwise too.
• Heat up the oil on medium in a wide pan.Temper the oil with cumin seeds. Let crackle. Add garlic and the potatoes, sprinkle a pinch of salt,stir around to coat the potatoes. Keep heat on medium and let potatoes cook for 5-8 minutes until about 80 percent cooked.

• Add the sliced onions next ,fry for 3-4 minutes till they start to soften and starts turning brown on the edges.
• Powdered spices (except garam masala) go in next. Mix well. Add okra, sprinkle salt mix everything gently. Let cook uncovered on medium heat. The okra will soften and start looking deep green and you might notice little slime. Dont stir.
• After about 3-4 minutes you will see faint crackling sound, stir gently once and let cook again till the okra is soft. You will notice that the slime has gone away. We like to keep okra tender with a bite. You can cook for 2-3 minutes extra for softer okra.

• Finish with garam masala and amchoor, bump up the heat to high and stir fry for a minute. Done!

Few Notes (Variations)

1. You can add tomatoes to the sabzi if you want. Add one chopped tomato to onions before adding okra. Let tomatoes soften and then add okra. I prefer the tang of amchoor with okra.
2. I recommend using lohe ki kadai for making this sabzi. However once the sabzi is cooked, immediately take it out in a bowl. Dont leave it in the kadai after adding amchoor.
3. Sometimes I adding fennel seeds along with cumin. We love the taste with okra, you can try.
4. You can skip the red chili powder and add chopped green chilies instead. They taste amazing and add grassy heat.

Serving

Serve aloo bhindi as a side dish with daal (lentils ) and rice or with roti and paratha. You can add a bowl of yogurt and pickle too. So delicious!

Try These Okra Recipes

• Bhindi Zunka
• Bhindi Pyaz Kadhi