Vendakkai Curry | Okra Fry Recipe

A simple Vegan Stir fry / Curry made with garden fresh Okra. This side dish will definitely make you an Okra lover (if you are not one already)!

Growing up and to this day, Vendakkai / Okra is one of my favorite vegetables. My favorite has now transformed into family favorite as my boys love okra than any other vegetable.  Lot of people shy away from this vegetable because of its slimy texture, but if we cook it right we can get rid of that texture and achieve a wonderful recipe. This Vendakkai Curry | Okra Fry is a simple recipe that we all love. 

This recipe is without onions and it goes well with rice and sambhar or rasam. I love this curry with my curd rice too. I make another version of the okra curry with onions and tomatoes as side to roti / chapathi. 

What is Okra – 

Okra also known as Vendakkai in Tamil, Bhendi in Hindi and ladies finger as the English name in India is a topical vegetable that grows well in summer. Ever since we moved to Oklahoma, we have been having an Okra bonanza. They just love the heat here and it yields much more than we have ever grown anywhere else.

After leaving India, I became obsessive with this vegetable because of the scarcity of it. We did not get very good okras in the stores here. So when I do find fresh okras peeking at me in the Indian stores, I just buy a whole lot of it. Then, I clean it and chop it into desired size and freeze the excess. This continued until we started growing our own vegetables. Now we plant around 70 to 80 plants every season and grow our own okras. It is such a pleasure to be walking to our backyard and picking young tender okras.

We grow enough okra to last us the whole year. We use it in abundance in summer and any extra is promptly frozen to be used in winter months. Okras are very picky vegetable and has to be picked almost every day. My husband does a great job keeping up with it. If I just have an handful of okra picked certain day, then vendakkai sambhar / Okra sambhar is what it is used in. One of our other favorite in the Okra Pachadi / Raita that has fried okra pieces in yogurt. If you are looking to make something different with okra, then I would highly suggest making this Bhendir Sorsori / Okra in mustard paste. It is a recipe from the Assam region and quite different from anything we make. 

After leaving India, I became obsessive with this vegetable because of the scarcity of it. We do not get very good okras in the stores here. So when I do find fresh okras peeking at me in the Indian stores, I just buy a whole lot of it. Then, I clean it and chop it into desired size and freeze the excess. This continued until we started growing our own vegetables. Now we plant around 70 to 80 plants every season and grow our own okras. It is such a pleasure to be walking to our backyard and picking young tender okras. 

Preparation time – 10 mins
Cooking time – 15 mins
Difficulty level – easy

Ingredients to make Okra Curry – (serves 4)

• Okra – 1 lb or about ½ kg
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1tsp
• Red chili powder – 1 1/2  tsp
• Dhania Jeera Powder / Coriander – cumin powder (optional) – 1 tsp
• Asafetida – 1/4th tsp
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – 3 tbsp
• Curry leaves – few

Procedure to make Vendakkai Curry / Okra Fry –

• Wash the okras and drain them in a colander. It is important to wash the okras before we chop them. If we chop them first and then chop, the sliminess of the vegetable will increase.
• Now chop it into small circles and keep aside.

• In a non stick pan, heat the oil and once the oil heats up, add all the ingredients except the okra and salt. Let the seasoning fry for about a minute. 
• Now add the okra and salt and mix it well.

• Cover the pan with an airtight lid and let it cook on medium high heat for about 3 to 4 mins. Do open the lid once in between and give it a stir. At
  no point add any water to the vegetable. The okras would cook in the steam produced by covering the pan. Adding water will increase the
  sliminess.
• Once the okras are cooked, leave the pan open and let it fry well. In about 5 – 7 more minutes the okra would have fried well and your curry is now ready. Do stir the curry once or twice in between cooking.

• Serve it with rice and sambhar or rasam or in my style with curd rice.

5 from 4 votes

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Vendakkai Curry / Okra Fry

A simple Vegan Stir fry / Curry made with garden fresh Okra. This side dish will definitely make you an Okra lover (if you are not one already)!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Keyword Garden fresh okra side dish, How to make okra curry, How to make Vendakkai Curry, Ladies finger curry, Okra stir fry, Recipe with okra, Side dish with okra, Vegan okra recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 4 People

Author Sandhya Ramakrishnan

Ingredients

• Okra – 1 lb or about ½ kg
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1tsp
• Red chili powder – 1 1/2  tsp
• Dhania Jeera Powder / Coriander - cumin powder optional – 1 tsp
• Asafetida – 1/4th tsp
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – 3 tbsp
• Curry leaves – few

Instructions

1. Wash the okras and drain them in a colander. It is important to wash the okras before we chop them. If we chop them first and then chop, the sliminess of the vegetable will increase.
2. Now chop it into small circles and keep aside.
3. In a non stick pan, heat the oil and once the oil heats up, add all the ingredients except the okra and salt. Let the seasoning fry for about a minute.
4. Now add the okra and salt and mix it well.
5. Cover the pan with an airtight lid and let it cook on medium high heat for about 3 to 4 mins. Do open the lid once in between and give it a stir. At
6. no point add any water to the vegetable. The okras would cook in the steam produced by covering the pan. Adding water will increase the
7. sliminess.
8. Once the okras are cooked, leave the pan open and let it fry well. In about 5 - 7 more minutes the okra would have fried well and your curry is now ready. Do stir the curry once or twice in between cooking.
9. Serve it with rice and sambhar or rasam or in my style with curd rice.

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