Defattened Daily Delhi type meal


In my parents' home in Delhi, we were access to some great cooks, and Prema aunty was one of the most formidable cooks in that little neighbourhood of ours. Living alone, she had learned to leverage her hobbies of rearing dogs and cooking to earn her livelihood. While I don't really know much about the first, but boy was she a good cook or what!
I especially remember her typical punju dishes, cholay, rajma chawal, bharta, aloo gobhi et al. Now while I was never a big fan of bhindi, especially the soggy, sticky version I usually came across, I loved Prema aunty's bhindi, until I discovered that she fried and heavy handedly coated it with a rich pyaaz tamatar( onion-toato) gravy. However, the last time I picked up Okra, I decided to defatten Prema Aunty's bhindi recipe and was pretty satisfied with the result. In keeping with the low fat theme , I made oil free kadhi and steamed rice, to round off the meal. Simple additions such as rotis, papad, salad and pickle would all complement the meal, for those who like slightly more elaborate spreads.
Here are the recipes:
Kadai Bhindi
250 gms okra, washed & wiped dry
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
salt to taste
Halve the bhindis lengthwise, if they are big, else just top and tail them. As always, the smaller variety of okra tends to be more flavourful and tender than the larger .
Drizzle around 1 tbsp oil on the okra, toss well to mix and roast in a preheated oven till done ( I used my tiny toaster oven which has imprecise temperature settings, so just approxiamated the time, which can be anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes). While the okra is roasting, heat up the remaining oil, fry onions till golden, add tomatoes, followed by all the spice powders and cook till it leaves a little oil. Once the okra is done, toss it with the onion tomato mixture, add salt to taste, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. That's it!
Sinless Kadhi Pakora
1 cup curd (I used whole milk)
3 tsp besan ( chickpea flour)
1/2 tsp chili powder (adjust to taste)
a pinch of turmeric powder
salt to taste
1 litre water
Pakori
1/2 cup besan
1/3 cup water
a pinch of salt
1 tsp of hot oil
Beat together besan and water and salt, really well, till you get a thick, flowing, lump free batter. Heat an appe pan ( I used a japanese takoyaki pan), and pour a few drops of oil in each depression. Drop sponfull of batter into each, and cook well on both sides. You can safely leave these pakoris while you are doing other work, they just don't taste as good as the fried ones, but after dropping them in the kadhi, you can hardly tell them apart!
For the kadhi, mix together everything except the salt in a large saucepan, pot. Bring to a slow boil, stirring continously. Once the mixture starts boiling, you need to stir intermittently every couple of minutes. let the kadhi cook on low heat for about 20 to 25 minutes after it starts boiling. You can increase/decrease the time depending on whether you want your kadhi thicker or runnier. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, bung in the pakoris. Remember that the kadhi will thicken somewhat on cooling.
Serve with freshly steamed, hot rice and kadai bhindi for a light, blissful lunch.

25 comments:

  1. I don't have an appa pan but looks like it's mighty useful. We had our bhindi deep fried too growing up. I agree its pretty amazing, but now I just saute mine on high heat before tossing it with the sauce. Roasting sounds like a great option. I must try it out.

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  2. This looks insanely good, makes me want to pull up a chair and stuff my face!!!! I just made malai koftas on that appa pan this morning...can't believe how cool it is:))

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  3. looks mouthwatering & yummy... nice entries.. fantatic...

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  4. Wow wat a delicious platter..everything looks amazing...

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  5. I love Bhindi & that looks so delicious with all that gravy sticking to it. a perfect meal.

    that pan does make it guilt free.

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  6. The next time you make this combo keep a place for me at you lunch/dinner table. :-)

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  7. Lovely spread :) sinfully yummy, I must say. Using an appe pan for pakora is a very neat idea.:)

    Siri

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  8. Well i didn't knew that Bhindi Basar existed as kadai bhindi in Delhi...lolz
    Well its very popular way of making bhindi among us(sindhis)and hey the Guilty free pakora kadhi looks awesome too

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  9. The thali looks wonderful! They dont look low-fat at all :) The bhindi's look out of this world!

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  10. Lovely spread. Kadhi pakora looks very yummy.

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  11. Bharti:
    appa pan is really useful for pakori, koftas, dahi bhalla etc.

    Ranjani:
    It is one of the coolest kitchen gadgets, isn't it

    Sharmila:
    there's always place for you at my dinner table, no matter what i'm cooking:)

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  12. That makes a simple and nice lunch.

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  13. YUM!! Both dishes looks delicious. Guess what I made for Haryanvi cuisine thali at FH, DB! :D

    You know what? You should take up RCI Delhi cuisine, so we all can cook and enjoy Delhi food, would be fun. Have a wonderful Sunday, me cooking for my next thali; Shiva ratri one! :)

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  14. That bhindi fry is just irresistible... i like bhindi in a gravy but my husband only likes the dry version so i hardly make this. Your pic. is just too tempting and what a lovely combination with the kadhi. Yes.. the pakodis are not much to eat on their own but are great when soaked in the kadhi.

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  15. I don't deep fry my bhindi either, but defattening kadhi is a tall order. Fab combination of flavors

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  16. Hi Rashmi, this looks so good... Definitely our next Sunday meal. And defattened!!!! You need a halo over your head :).

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  17. Hey being from delhi I know what ur talking abt ?? wow pacca ghar ka khana, kadhi bhindi aur chawal aur kya chahiye ??

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  18. I loved that Bhindi .. shall try it soon

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  19. Hi there...first time on your blog...came blog hopping..

    Lovely spread. I love pakori kadi ...the idea of making on the appe pan is ingenious. I'm quite fond of bhindi too, but I find the bhindi in Singapore is not very tender at all...

    (Yes..I'm in Singapore too...so, hello...nice to meet you :))

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  20. That is truly a comforting meal :) I loved the idea of roasting the okras in the oven. And the oil-free kadhi sounds equally fabulous! Definitely sinless. I think I might try to bake those pakoras some day :)

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  21. rashmi diiii... kaise ho ap... i know galiyan nikal rahe hoge ... ki kahan gayab ho gayi ... but am so glad to see ki still mera and apka click kar jata hai kafi kuch .... aj dopahar mein bhindi miss kar rahi thi ki bade dino se banaya nai .... and here i see the bhnidi kadhi combo.... kabhi kadhi mein bhindi bhi daalkar dekha hai ... i know sounds gross... par bahut mast lagta hai .... hows everything..... shuru karti hun thode din mein waapis blogging.....

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  22. I love this bhindi, my Mom makes it, I love the idea of roasting the okra first, shall do.
    Don't have an appe pan, but thats a pretty neat idea for Kadhi too

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  23. Nice new techniques. I like the idea of keeping bhendi in the oven!
    Dont have the appam pan ...may be can bake the pakodi in the oven too!

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  24. ooops that anon is me--- forgot to sign off

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