bhindi fry, ladies finger fry

Bhindi fry, a quick and crispy veg side dish stir fried using okra pieces and makes a good side dish with roti or chapati.

The bhindi is a common term for okra or ladies finger in most of the Indian regions and it is easily available in India during winter months.

There are quite a few bhindi recipes on the blog such as bhindi ki sabji and shall be adding more if my readers request for more okra recipes.

How does Okra look like?

The okra is usually finger shaped in size and is light green to green in color. It is also commonly known as ladies finger.

About ladies finger fry?

The okra is cut into pieces, given a tempering of cumin seeds, green chillies, curry leaves, sliced onions and then the cut pieces of okra are cooked in the tempering for some time.

Once the okra appears to be cooked, adding dry spices such as salt, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, black pepper powder, mixing everything and cooking for few minutes gives an instant and quick sabzi to be eaten with phulka, chapati etc…

Other stir fry recipes including veg and non veg on the blog are prawn fry, chicken legs etc…

How to choose bhindi for cooking purposes:

• The okra should always be tender if touched using hands or fingers.
• Tender okras are good in taste and cook quickly just by stir frying them for few minutes.
• The okras which are hard and firm do not taste that good to eat and should be given a second preference while buying.
• Always go for fresh tender okras while buying from the markets or vegetable stores.

Tips before using bhindi to cook:

• Wash the okra well under running water 2-3 times to get rid of any dust or particles on them.
• Take an absorbent cloth and wipe the bhindi well to remove any water droplets present on the sabzi.
• Take a knife and chop off the head and tail of the veggie.
• Cut the okra into small pieces.
• Make sure to always use the vegetable in its dry state as the okra tends to get sticky while cooking and becomes thread like if the bhindi is not wiped well and cut before cooking it.

Ingredients used to make the fry:

Oil: Oil is the base for any stir fried dish and any edible oil goes well to make the okra fry. Sunflower oil, olive oil or vegetable oil can be used to make the veg stir fry.

Sliced onions: Onions that are chopped or sliced go well with the recipe and it actually enhances the plain flavor of the bhindi because of the addition of onions.

If this is not preferred then the ingredient can be skipped.

Cumin seeds and curry leaves : Stir fried dishes smell good if it has the flavors of jeera seeds or cumin powder as well as adding curry leaves in tadka.

Okra: This is the main vegetable ingredient to make the veg stir fry and they are cut into round pieces and sauteed until it is done.

Dry spices: The bhindi fry appears plain and light in flavor without these dry spices and therefore adding spices such as salt, red chili powder, jeera powder, dhania powder and pepper powder enhances the flavors and gives balanced flavors to the recipe.

Coriander leaves: Like any other dish this ingredient is added as garnishing the dish and also gives a pleasant aroma to the whole veg recipe.

Below are the step by step details to make the recipe and a video too would be updated soon as soon as I am done editing the video…

Check out the recipe below and also check out related bhindi recipes or veg recipes such as bhindi masala, bhindi ki sabji etc…

How to make bhindi fry with step by step procedure and photos:

• Wash the okra well under running water .
• Wipe them well with an absorbent cloth in order to get rid of water on the okra.
• Cut them into round pieces and discard its head and tail. Doing these steps makes the bhindi less sticky.
• Take a wok, add oil and heat it.

• Into it add the cumin seeds, add slit green chilies.

• add sliced onions.

• add fresh curry leaves. It can be skipped if not preferred but gives a pleasant fragrance to the fry recipe.

• Saute the ingredients until the onions turn slightly soft.

• Add the cut bhindi/okra pieces into it and mix. Stir fry them for few minutes on medium flame.

• Keep stirring and keep stir frying for 5 minutes.
• Cover the lid and cook for 5 minutes on medium flame.

• Remove the lid and stir in between.
• Cover the lid again and cook for another 6-7 minutes on low flame.

• Remove the lid and stir them well in between cooking.

• When the okra is almost tender and stir fried, add the dry spices such as salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, black pepper powder.

• Mix everything well delicately.

• Cook for another 6-8 minutes uncovering the lid on low flame and stir in between.

• Garnish with coriander leaves.

• turn off the heat when it is stir fried well.
• Do not stir fry on high flame as the outer part gets burnt if cooked on high flame and remains raw inside.
• Serve hot with roti or chapathi.

Video procedure for the recipe:

FAQ’S for the fried okra or bhindi fry:

How to make bhindi less sticky and completely free from sticking?

This process starts from cutting the okra. The tips to be followed are that the okra should be washed thoroughly and wiped without a drop of water attached to the bhindi.

The bhindi should then cut by using knife which too has to be totally dry,. If wet hands and wet knife are placed on the okra then the stir fry turns out sticky.

Always add dry spices in the end as salt releases water and makes the fry sticky. The bhindi is better cooked if cooked on low heat without the lid and stir fried in between.

How long bhindi takes to cook?

Bhindi always cooks in not more than 15 minutes if it is extremely tender while buying and fresh.

If hard bhindi is used then it takes longer time to cook that is about 25 minutes. When the bhindi turns soft during cooking then it is a sign of cooked bhindi.

The taste of the hard and firm bhindi never tastes good.

It is always better to buy bhindi that is soft, small in size and tender.

Additional tips:

While nearing to the end of the recipe, roasted besan flour can be added to the bhindi or peanut powder can also be added which enhances the taste as well as makes the bhindi less sticky by absorbing the stickiness.

Peanuts in the tempering can be added as they are used in andhra style bhindi fry and also can be used as powdered form in the end. To check andhra style of making okra check out bendakaya fry which is similar to this recipe.

Lemon too can be sprinkled in the end to make it less sticky.

Recipe card for crispy bhindi fry or ladies finger fry: