Bhindi Masala (Okra With Red Onion and Tomato)
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:2 to 4 servings
- 3tablespoons ghee or neutral oil
- 1pound okra, fresh or frozen (no need to thaw), stemmed and chopped into ½-inch pieces (see Tip)
- ½teaspoon grated ginger or ginger paste
- ½teaspoon grated garlic or garlic paste
- 1large red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
- ¾teaspoon kashmiri or other red chile powder
- ½teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1medium plum tomato, finely chopped
- 1¼ teaspoons fine sea salt
- 2 to 3tablespoons lime juice
- ¼teaspoon garam masala
- Roti or pita (optional), for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
154 calories; 11 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 438 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
In a medium (9-inch) frying pan or wok, heat 2 tablespoons ghee over medium-high for 30 to 45 seconds or until it has melted. Add okra and cook undisturbed for 5 minutes or until okra starts to brown around the edges. (Cooking okra undisturbed helps eliminate the gooeyness.) Stir once so the sides with less color can brown next, then cook for another 5 minutes or until all the okra is brown around the edges. (This may take slightly longer if using frozen okra.) Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Step 2
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon ghee to the same frying pan and heat over medium-high until it melts. Add ginger and garlic and stir for about 30 seconds, until the raw smell dissipates. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until onions begin to soften, about 3 to 5 minutes. (The onions should still have a little bite.)
- Step 3
Lower the heat to medium and add red chile, coriander and turmeric, and stir until the masalas are uniformly mixed with the onion, about 30 seconds. Add tomato and salt. Continue cooking on medium until tomatoes break down, about 5 minutes.
- Step 4
Add okra back to the pan and mix until incorporated. Sprinkle with lime juice and garam masala. Serve with roti, store-bought pita or by itself.
Tip
- If using fresh okra, make sure to pat it dry before chopping. This reduces the sticky texture common to okra.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
S
Okra only gets a bad rap in the West, where it is cooked in ways that make it slimy. In South Asia & the Middle East, it's cooked in multiple ways, wet/dry, sauteed, fried, roasted, stewed, and it's always delicious never slimy. Fresh okra is better than frozen. A souring agent helps: e.g. amchoor, lemon juice, tamarind, tomato, Ghee is not a must to keep okra non-slimy. Vegetable oil works as well. I am Indian, I cook okra as often as I can in the summers, and have never cooked it in ghee.
Snehal
This is one of my favorite ways to eat okra. Key to keeping the sliminess away is drying the okra well after washing with water. I usually lay the okra out on a kitchen towel and pat them dry. Instead of circles, I slice mine into long strips and add cherry tomatoes at the end. I am not sure frozen will give you quite the same crunchiness. Use fresh okra on the smaller side.
UJS
Another way to cook this is to put the cut okra in a sheet pan, drizzle oil on it, and in the oven at 400 F for about 30-40 mins. Shake the pan once after about 20 mins. Then finish on the stove, following the latter part of the recipe.
KabulKate
If you don't like the sliminess of okra, don't expose the seeds when you snip the top off. It's only when you expose the seeds, okra becomes slimy. I discovered this reading Yotam Otalengi's cookbooks.
Gaurav
This is a delicious recipe. However, typically Indian okra is often cooked dry without ginger and tomoatos, and pan roasted with onions and spices.
Dips
Could not agree more. The drying step is key to a crispy finish vs. a slimy mess. I cut mine lengthwise and roast it in the oven for 25- 30 mins at 420F with some tandoori masala and ghee.
Misty
Fave okra recipe ever. I doubled it; roasted chunks of garden okra plus eggplant at 450° until lightly browned; then added those to the mixture of seasonings, toms, and onions. I used lots of fresh ginger and turmeric Vitamixed with a bit of water; one Thai chili; and I added a can of garbanzos and quarter cup of coconut milk at the end along with cilantro. We sop it up with grilled flatbread. Fantastic vegan dish; superb summer harvest highlighter! I plan to try this with squash, beans....
MR
Great, fast recipe. Did (almost) exactly as written. My only note is that it is QUITE spicy! I might suggest starting with 1/2 tsp of kashmiri chili, taste, and add more if needed. I added a bit of fresh cilantro at the end to provide a bit of freshness and cool the heat.
KMR
Article / email notes that any frozen vegetable can be used instead of okra.
TP
I made this as is and found it to be very delicious. Only note is that it was very salty. I will definitely reduce the salt in the future!
Jwahar Bammi
I skipped the tomato as I like my okra dry and instead of Garam Masala at the end, sprinkled Dry Mango powder (called Aamchoor, available at any Indian grocery store), that gives it a wonderful tart finish and less heat. Squeeze of lime not needed if using Dry Mango powder.
Jessica
Used less salt than required and still a little salty. Still good. Added a little cream which made the sauce less spicy. Very delicious
SG
At least in the northern part of India, ghee would not be used for cooking okra! Much better to use a neutral vegetable oil like canola.
Julia
9" frying pan was too small to effectively sear the okra.
Nancy J
Very tasty, but a bit sour. Doubled the amounts of ginger, garlic, coriander and turmeric, used less chili since I don't like very spicy food. Too much lime juice - next time would put out wedges of lime for each person to squeeze as desired. Would definitely make again.
BH902
I used canned diced tomato because I didn't have any fresh. Otherwise, I followed the recipe as written and it was a smash hit. Served it with lebneh with fresh mint and lavash as a summery stew and it was hearty and delicious. It's beautiful too.
Ali B.
Delicious as written. I doubled the recipe and added a fatalii pepper which went perfectly with the citrus in this recipe. If doubling I'd suggest to cook the okra in a few batches so that they can all crisp up.
Gail
Southerner here. Okra gets slimy when cut. If you can get small okra and cook whole. I love okra and would cook and eat it every day if the family would tolerate that. Bhindi masala is one of my favorites.
AND in CDMX
This was quite good and fairly easy! I followed the tip in the recipe (and in various reviews) about drying the okra well after rinsing/before chopping. That definitely yielded a different, more charred texture than I've previously experienced cooking okra. I was out of red onion but white worked pretty well. Nice flavor.
DCCymb
A question: can I cook this in a cast iron pan? Or will it turn black?
AND in CDMX
I cooked it in a cast iron pan last night and I thought it gave the okra a good char. (Some sticklers bristle at using acidic tomatoes in cast iron because of the pan's seasoning, but I don't care. I suppose you could take it out of the pan before finishing it with lime juice if that's a concern.)
Audrey
Used Pork breakfast sausage - browned it after the onions, didn't use the food processor on the pepper/ginger/garlic/onions. Could use more than one jalepeno, and even more ginger. I also used about 2c. tomato puree instead of tomatoes
Martha Sykes
A hack for those who realize at the last minute they have no tomatoes on hand ... reach for the closest container of tomato-based salsa. I used about 1/2 cup of a chunky good quality one and the dish tasted great. Also found that I needed less lime juice than called for in the recipe.
Rebecca
Excellent recipe and found it especially helpful to learn that cooking okra undisturbed reduces the slime factor. As others have noted, I would recommend less salt than the recipe calls for, you could probably even half it.
Jwahar Bammi
I skipped the tomato as I like my okra dry and instead of Garam Masala at the end, sprinkled Dry Mango powder (called Aamchoor, available at any Indian grocery store), that gives it a wonderful tart finish and less heat. Squeeze of lime not needed if using Dry Mango powder.
G
Very decent recipe
jax904
Bake okra with eggplant 400 to 450 oven. Then add
mosaic
This is on my regular rotation and was my lunch today. It is lovely with fresh okra, frozen not so much. As another commenter mentioned, it is best with small okra and I use cherry or grape tomatoes in winter. I always keep frozen ginger/garlic paste in the freezer. I line ice cube trays with pieces of plastic wrap to get easy to use cubes that keep nicely in the freezer for about a month if I put the wrapped cubes in a freezer bag. A little longer if I wrap that freezer bag well in tinfoil.
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