Bhindi (Okra) Jhunka - Blog hopping for taste

Oh Boy! time really flies, it seems like only yesterday when I did my last blog hop post about Cajun potatoes and here I am with another one. Exciting journey, exciting explorations and lots of fun.

Radhika who has been running the blog hop Wednesdays, paired me up this time with Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes. Now, here is a person I have only met online in the context of food blogs and i have visited her blog for the last month or so since I discovered her on the previous hop. She has amazing energy, cooks a wide array of dishes and going by the number of posts she has blogged in the last few days, you would think she is on a mission (incidentally she is really on a cooking marathon). Priya has been blogging for a while now and has a wonderful collection of recipes on her blog. I do honestly admit, I had short listed 4 recipes from her blog and finally gave into this okra dish. I am glad I did as we all enjoyed this side dish very much.

Okra/ladies fingers/bhindi/bendekayi is one of my favorite veggies, I know I say this for most vegetables. What can I do? I am just a regular veggie lover. Look for other okra recipes here and here. Okra is unique, not very tempting to look at and slimy when you cut into it but properly cooked, this makes for some of the tastiest dishes you would have had. I am familiar with jhunka and make it plain or sometimes with bell pepper but had never thought of making it with okra. The addition of ajwain in this recipe was a clincher and we loved the flavor pop in the mouth.

Thanks Priya for a keeper recipe :-)

What do you need to make Okra Jhunka?
2 cups thinly sliced okra roundels
1/2 cup thinly slices onions
1/2 cup gram flour/basan
1/2 Tsp ajwain/om seeds
1 Tsp mustard
1 Tsp red chili powder (adjust to taste)
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
2 Tblsp cooking oil
3-4 curry leaves
2 green chilies - slit lengthwise
1 Tblsp chopped cilantro/coriander leaves for garnish

How do you make Okra Jhunka? 

• Wash, pat dry okra - make sure every okra is completely dried. 
• Trim the ends and cut the okra into 1mm thick roundels.
• Heat a pan on medium and dry roast the gram flour constantly stirring for 8-10 minutes or until the flour turns light brown and you get the nice roasted smell. Keep aside.
• In the same pan, add oil, mustard seeds, ajwain, green chilies and curry leaves. Let mustard pop. 
• Add the onion slices and let it fry for a couple of minutes until onion sweats and turns pink. 

• Add the okra pieces, salt, turmeric powder and cover and cook undisturbed for 3-5 minutes. 

• Once the okra is soft, add the roasted gram flour, red chilies powder and mix well.
• Continue to cook on medium low heat for another 5-8 minutes, the gram flour when comes in contact with oil gives out a wonderful aroma. Priya says the oil leaves sides, I didn't see it since I hadn't used a lot of oil to start with. But the taste was perfect. 

• Take off the heat and garnish with chopped cilantro or coriander leaves. 
• Serve with rotis or hot rice. we had ours with rice and rasam. 

Notes: 

• Roast gram flour on medium heat and constantly stirring so it doesn't burn. 
• Make sure okra is cooked before adding the gram flour.

This delicious okra jhunka goes to Radhika's Blog Hop Wednesday