22 July

I am not a crazy fan of Bhindi but my mom is. I love Bhindi in general, it goes very well with any kind of dal rice or even seddho bhat (Only bengalis would know about this. Basically you just boil all vegetables whole along with rice and then mash it up, and eat it with a dash of desi ghee and salt).

It is quite a versatile vegetable but quite tricky too. Because of its slimy nature, at times we end up having a subzi which is very sticky and looses the look and feel. There are a couple of tried and tested rules to make bhindi which helps in cooking it just perfect. First, wash and pat them dry. Yes you need to take care they are as dry as possible before you start cooking. Also adding a souring agent to the subzi helps in retaining its nice and dry texture.

I would simply stir fry it with salt and turmeric most of the times to have it with my meal. Or just boil it and have it as is. Never really thought about trying out any ornamental recipes with this unassuming vegetable. Until I became a member of a food group on Facebook. Its called Pune Food Freak. And on a daily basis folks keep posting amazing creations from their kitchen. At times it feels that I really need to step up on my game to match up to the powerhouse of talent over there.


So it happens that I was part of this group from many months but only became an active contributor from May, yes you guessed it right, lockdown has made us all great homechefs. I was no exception. It wont be wrong to say that it is primarily a female dominated space, but there are male folks too who post. When I came into this group I knew no one. When during lockdown I started posting I had a lot of apprehension that no one will give hoot to a newcomer like me when there are already so many amazing homechefs here. But slowly I realized that this group is more than just the pictures we post. It percolates to the level of creating much more deeper bonds with similar minded people. People who bond mainly over food, but not limited to it alone. This was like a power house of talent who also shared a common love for food. Over the period of last couple of months, I could manage to know a few people better and we shared a nice camaraderie over the posts. We gossiped, we cheered, we spammed the comments section at late nights, we felt happy for achievements. I never imagined that I will end up getting new friends from this space.

One of those friends is Kavita or Kavu as we fondly call her now (don't kill me for this Kavita). She is a masterchef herself. I mean I feel every home chef who cooks a meal for their family is nothing less than a masterchef. The kind of variety that is being spun, is beyond belief. So Kavu keeps cooking these gorgeous meals and posting at all the unholy hours so that we are tormented by the visuals before we go to bed. Its kind of a sweet torture because I really look forward to her dishes. Now one day she posted these gorgeous green looking Rajasthani Bhindi Recipe and I was like this I have to make.
So after two days of eager waiting (the standard turn around time for her :D) when finally she handed over the recipe, it seemed pretty uncomplicated and best part, all the ingredients were present in my pantry. So yay to that. But as you know, that I love a little experimentation, so decided to keep the core ingredients same, just added a few additional things like - grated fresh coconut (I love coconut), hing (again I love the flavor with besan) and mustard seeds. Apart from that I followed the recipe to the tee. And let me tell you it turned out amazingly good. Since this is a bit on the drier side, so I preferred to have it with daal and rice and it was a match made in heaven. The lovely aroma of the spice mix and the beautifully cooked bhindis really made my day. Thank you so much Kavu, for this recipe. Its going to be on my frequently made recipes from now on.



Preparation Time : 20 minutes
Cooking Time : 15 minutes
Serving : 3-4 person