Monday, February 04, 2008

Bhendyacha Bharit



Bhendyacha Bharit is a Koli classic that everyone loves. It falls in the category of elaborate cooking and lot of oil which is a quality standard for old world good food. There are very few Kolis who will complain about Bhendyacha Bharit though they might about the bhaaji. As I have said before in Koli Bharit means stuffed. So here you go with a stuffed ladies finger recipe.


Ingredients

1/4 kg Ladies Fingers of the vegetable kind
1/2 fresh mature coconut grated
2 onions
1 cup chopped cilantro
2-3 green chilies
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon oil to saute
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt to taste

More oil to shallow fry

Wash the ladies fingers and pat dry them with a napkin. Make sure they are dried well. This will help to reduce the slime will cooking them. Cut up into finger lenght morsels if the vegetable in longer else keep whole. I made this dish with slightly bigger ladies fingers so I cut each one into two. Slit them lenghtwise as a provision to stuff with the chutney we will make later.

In a shallow pan add the oil and saute the onions to translucent. Add the grated coconut and saute. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 mins befor grinding the chutney. Grind the suateed onions and coconut with cilantro, green chilies, turmeric powder, cumin seeds and salt. Do not add water, grind coarse so that the chutney has a nice texture. Now mix in the lemon juice. Stuff all the morsels with the chutney and keep aside.

Use the same shallow pan that we used before. Add oil to get a nice layer of oil at the bottom enough to fry the ladies fingers. Line up the stuffed ladies fingers in the pan and cook till done. Do not shake or stir else the stuffing will come out. Ladies fingers get cooked in about 7-8 mins. To check if they are done see if they are slightly browned at the bottom. Be careful not to char them. Never cover the vessel while cooking ladies fingers, it makes them slimy. This is one dish that one has to be generous with oil while cooking.

We used to love to wrap Bhendyacha Bharit in hot Chavlachi Roti and chomp on the roll.

Stamp of Koli authenticity!

9 comments:

  1. i dont like okra but this certainly looks interesting :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. this looks fab. i love bhendi and so does jai.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Anon,
    How does it matter what she calls it, so long as everyone understands.

    We make it with dry masalas like coriander, cumin, amchoor, red chili haldi. Love it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Reva

    Humm you want it desi :)...I do understand you have been away too long...everythiing desi has a special meaning..but you know most of my readers are in the US or one or the other way using american english...girl u are missing out on the changes happening here in India...buddy catch up....It is no more British Raj.....It is now american orientation...so you see it reflecting here too.

    Vimmi dear you seem like a protective one...Reva is a dear friend ....she demands everything desi...as she is pardesi;).

    ReplyDelete
  5. this looks so good, I have to try it. We both love okra!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That's right - the Queen's English is dead (in India) - long live the Queen, and Uncle Sam, of course! :D

    Reva, you should hear the newscasters on the Indian channels - esp. NDTV! Even our own names are now pronounced the way an American would. Shameful, that.

    ReplyDelete
  7. thats nice dish with bhindi.
    i am okra lover , will try it sometime when i will get good okra here .
    thanks for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. ooops! Seem that I have started this noce topic of desi and gora american stuff hmm. Need a nice hot chilli topic fro blog anjali??
    Love reva

    ReplyDelete

Thank You for taking the time to leave your thoughts here.

On Trail