bhindi + masoor ki dal

Stir-fried bhindi (okra or ladyfingers) was always a family favourite at our house. The mildly sweet-ish flavour and somewhat slimy (but in a good way) texture of the vegetable, combined with some choice flavouring, made for a tasty dish.A few days ago, I made it for the first time. It's actually pretty easy - but took a while to cook through. I'd consider bhindi more of a side dish because it's hard (expensive) to make in large quantities.

Ingredients:

Okra, chopped (small rounds - see picture): I used fresh okra - hard to find in the bigger supermarkets, more likely to find at a neighbourhood grocer. Buy a lot because when cooked, the okra shrinks. You could also use frozen - 2 packages. [Note on cutting okra: it's slimy, so you need a sharp knife for the fresh ones. Keep rinsing the knife in between chopping. Make sure you cut off the tips)

• vegetable oil (do NOT skimp on the oil)
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/2 tomato, chopped
• salt
• few tbsp cumin (depending on your tastes)
• lime/lemon juice to taste
• dried chili peppers, chopped, or chili powder (however much you can stand!)

Method:

• In a large saucepan or pot, saute the onions on medium high heat. Add the salt, cumin and chili powder/peppers once onions are translucent.
• Add the okra + tomatoes. Fry until the okra is very well done, stirring often. Note the gooey, web-like strands. The okra will go from raw green to bright green to a darker green. It will also have shrunk considerably. If you don't end up using enough oil (like me), you'll have to stir even more.
• Sprinkle with lime/lemon juice and serve with dal (recipe below) and bread (chapati is best; pita or naan would also go okay; or some other bread)

Dal:

I never actually liked any kind of dal growing up; I found it too bland. But if I could have chosen a favourite, I would have chosen masoor ki dal, or split red lentils (but they actually look orange - note the photo).



The added bonus with this dal is that it's quick cooking!

I actually surprised myself in making this - it tasted better than I could remember. I don't know if my mom or aunties would approve, but it was good just the same. The secret is really in the tempering...if you miss that step you end up with a mushy paste. And you don't want that. Trust me.

By the way, there are tons of ways to cook this dal - this is the poor person's version.

Ingredients:

• 1cup split red lentils
• 3 cups water
• dry spices: salt, chili powder, black pepper (you should probably put a bit more than you would usually use; I find that the spices somehow seem to disappear into the dal). I think I may have thrown in a bit of cumin too.
• tempering: vegetable oil, 1/4-1/2 sliced onion

Method:

• Lay the dal out onto a flat pan and pick out any gravelly rocks (or anything else non-dal like)
• Rinse the dal a few times to clean out
• Place the dal + water and dry spices in medium sized pot. Cook covered on medium high heat until it begins to boil.
• Bring down the heat to medium low and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally. This is the time to add extra spices if you need to. You'll notice that the dal will go from orange to yellow.
• Once most of the water is gone and the dal has a thick but still soupy texture, turn the heat down to a minimum.
• Next, find a small frying pan or pot and fill with oil. Do not skimp. You are basically going to be deep frying the onions.
• Heat the oil, then add the onions and deep fry on medium-low heat until they are a dark brown colour.
• Add all of the oil & onions to the dal. You will hear a glorious sizzling noise. Stir the oil in and let cook for a few minutes.
• Serve hot alongside the bhindi (or another vegetable/meat dish). Dal also goes well over plain white rice. Actually, it's quite versatile and you can eat it with many different foods, in many different ways. I ended up eating mine the next day like a soup.