It all started with Alvaro wanting to know how to cook okra without the slime. At first I couldn't figure out what he meant because I have never had them cooked any way other than crisp and yummy. So in the week when he was around we had bhindi three days in a row because he simply loved the way we made it. Finally on the last day, I showed him how it was cooked and the mystery was finally unravelled. It was all the fault of the word "cook" in Dutch which is synonymous with boiling. Hence when Alvaro cooked his bhindi, he actually boiled it, which is why it always became a slimy mess. Now, thanks to his new found knowledge, Alvaro can have the perfect bhindi time after time.
Of course part of the secret is having the perfect bhindi like ours which is organically grown. Though this vegetable is found year round, it is particularly tender and tasty during the monsoon when it literally grows wild on some farms.
Like most vegetables, this too evokes extreme reactions - you either hate it or love it. I would like to think that most people like it especially when it is cooked to a crisp with plenty of chick pea flour coating it like a delicate bhajia. All you have to do is wash and pat dry the bhindi. Cut into fine strips lengthwise. Then mix some salt, turmeric and chili powder in chick pea flour and sprinkle generously onto cut bhindi to coat well. Heat up some oil in a kadhai and deep fry in batches till the bhindi is all used up.
I can assure you that bhindi cooked this way is bound to please even the pickiest vegetable eaters
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