Okra Curry | Vendakkai Fry Recipe

A simple Vegan Okra Stir fry / Okra 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 is a simple recipe that we all love.

This okra stir fry 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.

Growing our own Okra

We plant around 70 to 80 okra plants every season. 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.

Ingredients to make Okra Curry

• Okra – 1 lb or about ½ kg
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1tsp
• Red chili powder – 1 ½ tsp
• Dhania Jeera Powder / Coriander - cumin powder (optional) – 1 tsp
• Asafetida – ¼th tsp
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – 3 tbsp
• Curry leaves – few

Procedure to make Vendakkai Curry

• 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 the vendakkai curry with rice and sambhar or rasam or in my style with curd rice.

How to save / freeze the okra

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 or to extend our summer produce, I freeze the vegetable. Clean the okras and then let it dry completely. Then chop them into desired size and place it a freezer bag and freeze them.

Do not defrost the frozen okras. To use them, directly put it in a hot pan to cook. Defrosting would make the vegetable very slimy.

 If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | twitter

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)!

5 from 5 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Vegan

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Servings: 4 People

Calories: 108kcal

Author: Sandhya Ramakrishnan

Equipment

• ▢
  saute pan
• ▢
  Cutting board
• ▢
  Knife

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 lb Okra
• ▢ 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• ▢ ½ tsp Turmeric powder
• ▢ 1 ½ tsp Red chili powder
• ▢ 1 tsp Dhania Jeera Powder / Coriander - cumin powder
• ▢ ¼ tsp Asafetida
• ▢ to taste Salt
• ▢ 2 tbsp Oil
• ▢ few Curry leaves

Instructions

• 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
• 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.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 108kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 25mg | Potassium: 359mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1112IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 100mg | Iron: 1mg

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