Stuffed Okra (Bharile Bhende) - 1

‘Bharile’ in Konkani means stuffed. Okra is called Bhende. Stuffed okra or bharil bhende is one of my favorites from childhood. The okra available at our native is parrot-green in color and longer than the okra available here in US. Aayi uses the tender okras for this. She cuts the okra into 2-3 pieces (each piece is of the size of okra available here). She stuffs them and then ties them with a thread so that the stuffed doesn’t come out. These taste amazingly delicious. Only tender okra should be used for this dish. The dish requires a bit of patience to stuff and then fry them on a very low flame.

Updated on 12/4/2016: Making this dish after a long time. So I decided to update the post with new pictures. Aayi prepared some stuffing for me and saved it. Making the stuffed bhindi was quite easy then.

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Pictorial: Stuff the bhindi and keep them on a hot tava with oil and fry on a low flame.

Stuffed okra (Bharil bhende) - 8

Stuffed okra (Bharil bhende)

Ingredients

  • 10 Okra Bhindi
  • 3/4 cup Dry coconut Khobra or kopra
  • 1 tea spn Coriander powder
  • 1/2 tea spn Cumin Jeera powder
  • 3/4 tea spn Sugar
  • 1 tea spn Chili powder
  • 1 tea spn Besan chick pea flour
  • Oil
  • Salt

Instructions

  • Dry roast the coconut.
  • Powder it(powder should not be too smooth).
  • Mix all the remaining ingredients (except okra).
  • Remove the head (I didn’t get a proper word here, so mentioned as ‘head’) of okra.
  • Put some slits keeping the other side intact.
  • Stuff them with the powder.
  • Heat oil in a nonstick or cast iron tava.
  • Keep the bhindis on it and fry on a very low flame.
Stuffed okra (Bharil bhende) - 9

Stuffed okra (Bharil bhende)

Ingredients

  • 10 Okra Bhindi
  • 3/4 cup Dry coconut Khobra or kopra
  • 1 tea spn Coriander powder
  • 1/2 tea spn Cumin Jeera powder
  • 3/4 tea spn Sugar
  • 1 tea spn Chili powder
  • 1 tea spn Besan chick pea flour
  • Oil
  • Salt

Instructions

  • Dry roast the coconut.
  • Powder it(powder should not be too smooth).
  • Mix all the remaining ingredients (except okra).
  • Remove the head (I didn’t get a proper word here, so mentioned as ‘head’) of okra.
  • Put some slits keeping the other side intact.
  • Stuff them with the powder.
  • Heat oil in a nonstick or cast iron tava.
  • Keep the bhindis on it and fry on a very low flame.
Spinach Pulav with Coconut Milk - 10

For a long time I have been hearing about the electric pressure cooker Instant pot . Although everyone that owns it had all the positive feedbacks about it, I wasn’t very inclined to add another gadget to my already over-crowded kitchen. But then during Thanksgiving sale, my friend gave me that last nudge and told it was on a sale. She said I am never going to get it at that price. I gave in and bought it. The big attraction for me was the steel inner pot. Since then I have used it a lot, prepared all kinds of dishes in it. This Spinach pulav with Coconut milk, loaded with vegetables and paneer was one of the first dishes I tried making in Instant pot.

I am trying to include more greens in our diet. Spinach gets added to pulavs, chapatis, bread, soups, gravies etc. This time I wanted to use up some beetroot and paneer, so I added them to pulav along with spinach. Coconut milk gave a very mild taste to it. This pulav came out so good that I will have to make this regularly.

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Pictorial: Heat oil/ghee and fry the spices, followed by onions, cashews. Add tomatoes, followed by spinach paste, garam masala.

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Add rice and fry for few minutes. Then add the vegetables, coconut milk and cook till done.

Stuffed okra (Bharil bhende) - 27

Spinach Pulav with Coconut Milk

Ingredients

  • 2 cups basmati rice
  • 1/2 cup onion
  • 3-4 cloves
  • 3-4 cardamom
  • 2 tbl spns cashews
  • 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes I used green tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup green beans
  • 1/2 cup chopped beetroot
  • 1/2 cup chopped paneer
  • 1/2 cup green peas
  • 1 cup thick coconut milk
  • 1 tea spn garam masala
  • Ghee/Oil
  • Salt
  • For paste:
  • 1 tightly packed cup of spinach
  • 1/4 cup coriander leaves
  • 1 tea spn ginger
  • 1 tea spn garlic
  • 4 green chillies

Instructions

  • Wash rice in water and remove all water (I just put it in a sieve).
  • Make a paste of spinach and other ingredients under paste, do not add too much water.
  • Heat oil and add cloves, cardamom.
  • Add onions, cashews, fry till onions are translucent.
  • Add tomatoes,fry for few minutes.
  • Now add the paste, garam masala and fry till some of the water is absorbed.
  • Now add rice and fry well.
  • Add peas, beetroot, paneer, green beans, salt, mix.
  • Then add coconut milk, 3 cups water, cook till rice is done.
  • Serve hot.