Simply Bhindi .....

I was in Ooty in the summer of 2007...... It was after 13 years that I visited Ooty again.I had visited the beautiful hill station when I was in mid school with my parents and sister during our summer break. I felt nostalgic seeing the beautiful mountains and lakes ..... it brought back so many memories of my last trip as a child.

J had rented a bike to move around the beautiful Nilgiris and its surroundings. We wanted to avoid the popular tourist spots and preferred to spend time in secluded places in the mountains far from the madding crowd.

A local who had become our new friend had suggested a place, he called that the Switzerland of India. We left for that place early next morning. It was a long way from our hotel but it was so true to his words !! It looked like a virgin place in the Niligiri Mountains, hardly with any human population. We spent as much time as we could gazing at the beautiful mountains touching the white cottony clouds !! We didn't realize how fast time flew by till we got hungry.

We decided to go to the nearest town for lunch. I spotted a small local eat out on our way back. It looked like a rickety one .... A faded wooden plank hung outside and it had something scribbled on it in Tamil. I walked towards it to check if they served lunch. A dark man with a coarse voice stared conversing in Tamil with me .... I nodded my head without understanding a word.He lead us inside .....There were two wooden tables and benches inside and a bulb hung from the ceiling. It was just enough to light the dark room. I wondered if he is going to serve something edible as I inspected the room around us. I saw the man get some fresh Bhindi from a small kitchen garden behind the so called restaurant !! He hurriedly chopped and fried it adding some spices. And simultaneously prepared some fresh rotis for us.I was surprised seeing him making rotis .... I had the notion that Tamilians eat rice only !! But this guy proved me wrong.

He spread two Banana Leaves in front of us and sprinkled some water on it. He placed the rotis and the Bhindi fry on it. It was the best food that I had during my entire vacation.I could not thank that guy enough for serving us such delicious food. I tried to imitate that recipe back home .... I was near to it but not perfect !! I guess the fresh bhindi from the kitchen garden was the trick to that awesome food.
Preparation Time - 30 minutes
Serves - 3
Ingredients
Chopped Okra - 2 Cups
Chopped Tomato - 1 Cup
Chopped Onions - 2 Cups
Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Amchur Powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1.5 tsp
Salt per taste
Oil for cooking
Method of Preparation
1 Wash the Okra and pat dry using a kitchen towel. Chop the Okra, Onions and Tomato into big chunks.
2 In an open pan, pour some oil. When hot add the cumin seeds to sputter. Add the Okra to it and stir fry.Add a pinch of salt to it.
3 When the Okra gets semi fried, add the chunks of onions. Add cumin powder and salt again. Fry till the onions and Okra are thoroughly fried and there is no slime.
4 Finally add the chopped tomatoes and the amchur powder. Fry for 5 minutes stirring continuously.
5 Remove to a dish and sprinkle some cumin powder to it.
Serving Tips
Serve hot with Roti or Phulka.
Variation
Use of Amchur powder is optional.
Other Names
Bhindi - Okra/Ladies Finger, Cumin - Jeera, Amchur - Dry mango powder.