Okra is delicious in all its forms – pickled, roasted, stewed, grilled – but I have a soft spot for Zainab Shah’s bhindi masala, in which it is fried and dressed in a spicy tomato sauce. It reminds me so much of the weeknight meals I grew up with.
The recipe works year round with frozen okra (but be sure to bookmark it for fresh okra later in the year!). It involves a simple technique to minimize okra’s natural gloop: brown the vegetable in a pan almost undisturbed, then remove it from the pan until the masala is done. When ready to eat, add the okra back to the masala along with a squeeze of lime.
OK, cool, but what if you want to maximize okra’s natural gloop? Yes, thanks for asking! In that case, you can follow the same recipe, but then add the okra back to the masala with a splash of water to really simmer for a few minutes, making the sauce a little smoother. Either way, the dish is delicious and would be so delicious served with a pinch of ugali, soft roti, or any kind of flatbread, or sprinkled on instant polenta.
Zainab’s recipe is so versatile. You can use the same masala to dress up sautéed spring vegetables like asparagus and peas, or to brighten up frozen vegetables like peeled edamame, sliced squash, cauliflower florets, or corn.
If you want to keep it vegan, use vegetable oil instead of ghee, which is made from butter. If you want to use ghee, it’s easy to find at the grocery store, but I highly recommend making it yourself: it’s as easy as clarifying butter, but let the milk solids cook a little longer, until they dissolve. be beautiful and soft. brown before removing the pan from the heat.
And hey, if you have some yummy homemade ghee on hand, you can make Nik Sharma’s wonderful frittata, an ideal Sunday brunch. Or maybe a pan saag paneer. Kay Chun’s recipe calls for baby spinach, but remember you can use any mix of leafy greens you like. I often cook saag when I have a mix of leftovers that I want to use – beet greens, turnip greens, radishes, Swiss chard, mustard greens, and kale. They are all delicious here!
