Vendakkai Thair Pachadi / Crispy Okra in Chilled Yoghurt

 

A very Happy New Year to all who celebrate today. Happy Vishu to all Malayalees across the world! All family members taking time off from busy lives, praying and eating together, tables rich with culinary treats– these surely are some special features of festivals. Celebrations always involve good food. Contrary to popular thought, festive food need not all be time consuming to prepare, nor be calorie-rich.

Today, I would like to share a lip-smacking, simple recipe which you can use to grace the table at any festive menu. This recipe has distinct south Indian flavours, so you can tweak the seasonings to accommodate the demands of your palate or cuisine. (Read notes)

The key point here is how the vendakkai / lady’s finger / bhindi / okra is cooked - crispy ‘fried’ okra is first readied by slicing it thin, drizzling with a quarter tsp cooking oil and grilling it for 10 minutes. This then is lovingly folded into a bowlful of thick skim milk yoghurt, seasoned with salt.The dish is finished off with a fragrant tadka of mustard seeds, curry leaves and pinch of hing in some oil. The grilling ensures that you save fuel, oil and time. The crisp texture encourages even die-hard okra haters to try it out. The chilled yoghurt is just so perfect for this blazing summer season. While this recipe is an accompaniment, you will soon find yourself eating a chilled bowlful on its own. Here is what you need -

You Need

1. Okra / Lady’s finger / Bhindi / Vendakkai – 200 gm
2. Skim milk yoghurt – 500 ml
3. Salt – 1/4 tsp
4. Sugar – a pinch
5. Cooking Oil – 1/4 tsp

For seasoning

1. Cooking oil – 1/4 tsp
2. Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
3. Curry leaves – 3
4. Asafoetida Powder (Hing) – a pinch

To Assemble

1. Wash the vendakkai by immersing in a bowl of water, drain on colander and spread out to dry on a kitchen towel. Snip off the tops and tails, and slice into even thin disks.
2. Preheat the grill to 250 C.
3. Place in a single layer on a baking tray. Drizzle 1/4 tsp oil over the disks, and spread in a single layer.
4. Once the grill is ready, place the tray of vegetables inside, and grill for 10 minutes. Toss and scrape the contents at half time to ensure even browning. By the end of 10 minutes, the Vendakkai would have shrunk to half – size pieces, and would have browned evenly without being charred. You may need to watch the grill in the last minute to ensure correct browning without charring.
5. Let it cool in the tray. Meanwhile, whip up the skim milk yoghurt with salt and sugar.
6. Prepare the seasoning by heating oil in a small pan, adding all the ingredients for seasoning in order. Pour over the whipped yoghurt.
7. Gently fold in the cooled Vendakkai into the yoghurt, chill for half an hour before serving.
8. Serve with steamed rice, sambar, papads.

Notes

• Avoid mixing the grilled vegetable too vigorously into the yoghurt, it will darken the colour of yoghurt.
• You can experiment with flavours by adding roasted jeera powder, coriander leaves instead of hing and curry leaves.
• Can be used as a dip for crudites or rolls too by seasoning with a tbsp of chopped, fried onion, a pinch of red chilli powder and a tsp of chopped fresh parsley instead of above seasonings.
• Grilling the vegetables as opposed to deep frying them helps to cut down on cooking oil used.

Lauki raita/ Sorakayi pachadi

 

Bottle gourd as it is known in English, was not a favourite at our home too, that is until my yoga teacher shared this recipe with me. Bottle gourd is always paired with a protein such as chana dal or tuvar dal or mung dal in traditional Indian recipes. One reason could be that the vegetable has very low protein levels. Thus creating a dish with the vegetable + protein makes it complete!

Of the several Indian recipes such as using it in koftas, avial, kootu, I took an instant liking to using it in raita. Cooling, refreshing, this extremely simple dish can be paired with any entree, any cuisine. The best part is very few ingredients are required and takes little time to put together. Use it as dip, chutney, raita, or to fill in hunger pangs between meals too.

What’s good about Bottle gourd?

• Bottle gourd has plenty of moisture and dietary fibre. This makes it an ideal summer vegetable to replenish fluids in the body. The fibre keeps constipation, piles, cholesterol and even colon cancer at bay.
• 100 gm of uncooked bottle gourd has only 12 calories. This makes the vegetable an instant pick me up for weight loss diets.
• It has no protein or fat content – the only way to add that would be in a recipe that includes some protein and good fat.
• This humble vegetable is a fair source of Magnesium, Zinc, Potassium and Copper. All minerals needed by teenagers and growing children.
• Also a very low sodium vegetable, this is very suitable for people with high blood pressure or diabetes too.
• Do check out this link too. http://www.thehindu.com/health/policy-and-issues/article2571430.ece

So do try out this super simple and soul satisfying recipe this summer.

You need

1. Bottle gourd/ lauki/ sorakayi – select tender lauki, wash, peel, grate to a medium fineness, measure 3/4 cup.
2. Thick curd – 1 cup ( I used home made skim milk curd) If you use store bought curd, select fresh probiotic skim milk curd.
3. Salt – 1/4 tsp.
4. Sugar – a pinch (optional).
5. Fresh coriander leaves – chopped fine – 1 tbsp

For seasoning

1. Oil – 1/2 tsp
2. Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
3. Asafoetida – a teeny pinch
4. Green chilli – 1, finely chopped
5. Curry leaves – 3-4 torn up

To assemble

1. Combine the grated bottle gourd, whipped curd, salt, and sugar.
2. Heat oil in a small tadka pan, add oil and other seasoning ingredients in order.
3. Pour over raita.
4. Top with chopped coriander leaves.
5. Chill for an hour before serving.

Variations

1. Omit seasoning.
2. Add roasted jeera powder and kala namak powder if you like the piquancy.
3. Add one half onion, finely diced, or few chopped stems of spring onion along with bottle gourd in the raita.
4. Add grated carrot for colour!