Bhindi Masala/ Lady's finger Masala

Bhindi Masala is a very popular dish in North India. This time i tried with peanut and also with sesame seeds. The taste was real good and very different from the regular Bhindi Masala. I limited the number of tomatoes. So i got it as dry. So you can serve this with chapathi as well as with dal curry.

You will need:

• 15 baby okra's (Chopped)
  
• 1 red onion (Chopped)
• 1 tsp lemon juice ( to avoid stickiness)
  
• 3 tbsp peanut
• 3 tbsp sesame seeds (ellu in tamil)
  
• ½ tsp red chilli powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• ½ tomato (optional).. (Chopped)

For tempering:

• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• ½ tsp urad dal
• ½ tsp channa dal
• 2 red chillies
• few curry leaves
  
• salt for taste
• 5 tbsp oil
  

Procedure:

Step 1:

Heat a pan and add peanuts. Dry fry them for 1 or 2 mins till it turns golden brown color. Then add 1 tbsp sesame seeds to it an saute it till it splutter. Allow it to cool and dry grind them in a mixie or in a coffee grinder.

Step 2:

Tempering:

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, channa dal, urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves one after other. Allow it to splutter. Then add chopped onion and okra to it. Add lemon juiceand salt to it and saute it. Do not close with a lid. Saute it till it get fried very nicely. It will take min 5 mins in medium high flame.

Step 3:

Adding Spices:

Now add the remaining sesame seeds , chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder to it and saute nicely till you get rid of raw smell.

Step 4:

Adding Peanut powder:

Add peanut sesame powder at this stage and saute it. Check for salt. At this stage the dish will look like as shown in the pic below. You can serve this as side dish for rice with dal curry.



Step 5:

Adding Tomatoes:

If you want semi gravy form then you have to add tomato at this stage and saute it till its fully cooked.