Sukhi Aloo Bhindi Recipe | Simple and Quick Aloo Bhindi Fry Recipe

Learn how to make Sukhi Aloo Bhindi or Aloo Bhindi Fry ~ Spicy potato and okra fry flavoured with assorted aromatic spices

Its last term break for LD before the school shuts down for summer holidays in little over months’ time. The good weather that we enjoyed when the week long holidays began has come to abrupt end, which means that I am stuck inside the home with my soon to be 6 year old hyper active kid who loves outdoor activities. Can you imagine what that means?

It means he wants me to find and create new activities every 30 minutes, and some in 10 mins, to keep him busy and happy! Oh dear lord! I never imagined I would say this aloud, but I am really looking forward to the school reopen day on Monday and my 6 hours of time all by myself when LD is in school. I can’t help but entertain that mommy guilt creeping inside, and as usual, I know for sure that I will miss LD terribly when he is away at school. I guess its all part and parcel of motherhood in a nutshell.

I just gave LD a new activity which means I have anywhere between 10-30 minutes to post this recipe. So this is going to be one quick post unlike my usual lengthy posts. I am here to share a simple and delicious recipe of Sukhi Aloo Bhindi or Aloo Bhindi Fry as popularly called. The technique used for dry subji or stir fry preparation is something I use almost on daily basis. In this recipe of Sukhi Aloo Bhindi you let the potatoes and okra to cook in their own juices and the little moisture created by the steam when the veggies are cooked covered. This gives the vegetables a nice crunch and a spicy coat of fresh and dry spices used in the recipe making it absolutely delicious.

Okra is one tough veggie to cook with because of the gooey and slimy mess it hides inside. There are couple of things to keep in mind when prepping and cooking with okra. Here are my few handy tips for those who find it difficult to cut and cook this slimy okra or bhindi. Always choose young and tender okras. The best ones are the ones that get easily snapped when you bend the tail end of the pod. Make sure that you dry the Okra completely after washing and are moisture free. Either spread them on kitchen towel in single layer and leave it for few hours or pat them dry with dry kitchen towel to remove any moisture.

When cutting them, make sure that you use a dry chopping board and knife. Keep some dry kitchen tissues nearby and clean the slime from the knife every now and then while chopping the okra. I had tried stir frying the okra with very little oil and ended up with really slimy okras. So I usually use little extra oil than normal and cook it on a very high heat. This way the okras not only lose their sliminess, but also retain their crunch and that beautiful emerald green colour. Don’t cut down the amount of oil used if you don’t want to end up with slimy and mushy okras. And finally the new tip I learnt from Kaushy Patel from her cookbook Prashad at Home is something that not only removes the sliminess but also speed up the cooking process. For this, you have to prep the okra or bhindi a day before you actually cook with them. The washed, dried and cleaned okra is cut into desired shapes and is arranged on a baking tray. This is left on counter top for 12-24 hours which dries up the sliminess and is really easy to cook with. With all these handy tips, are you ready to make some delicious Sukhi Aloo Bhindi or Aloo Bhindi Fry, a recipe loosely inspired by Kaushy Patel’s Prashad at Home. Shall we get started?

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Sukhi Aloo Bhindi (Spicy potato and okra fry flavoured with assorted aromatic spices)
Prep Time: 10-15 mins
Resting Time: 10-24 hours
Cooking Time: 20-25 mins
Recipe Level: Easy/Beginner
Spice Level: Medium
Serves: 4-6 people
Recipe Inspiration: Kaushy Patel’s Prashad at Home
Shelf Life: Best served fresh but can be refrigerated for up to 3 days
Serving Suggestion: With roti, naan or rice and dal or as a filling for veggie wraps or pita bread

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Ingredients:
25-30 Small Bhindi/Okra/Ladies’ Finger
3 medium Potatoes
Salt to taste

Spices Used:
1 tsp Haldi/Turmeric Powder
1-2 tsp Red Chilli Powder (Adjust as per taste)
1 tbsp Dhania/Coriander Powder
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Powder
1 tsp Amchur/Dry Mango Powder or Juice from ½ Lime/Lemon
A generous pinch of Garam Masala (Optional)

For Garlic-Chilli Paste:
4 large cloves of Garlic, chopped
2-4 Green Chillies, chopped
A generous pinch of Salt

For Tadka/Tempering:
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
½ tsp Hing/Asafoetida Powder
2-3 Dry Red Chilli
2 tbsp Oil

Method:
Preparation:

1. Wash and wipe the okra with a kitchen towel to remove moisture. Alternatively, you can spread the washed okra in a single layer on kitchen towel for an hour. Trim the top of okra and slit it in the middle. Next cut the slit okra into 1 inch long pieces.
2. Spread them in a baking tray or on a large plate in single layer and keep it aside for 10-24 hours to oxidise. This is an optional step, but I do recommend you give it a try as it really helps in getting crispy bhindi with almost no slime when cooking.
3. When you are ready to cook, grind green chilli, ginger and garlic with a pinch of salt to smooth paste using pestle and mortar and keep it aside.
4. Wash and scrub the potatoes to remove any dirt. You can peel the potatoes if you wish, but I like the earthy taste of the peels and hence keep them on. Cut the potatoes into 1-1½ inch pieces.

Proceed to cook:

1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is heated, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, broken red chillies and hing. Fry the spices until the mustard seeds start to sizzle and splurt, about a minute.
2. Next add the potatoes and increase the heat to high. Sauté the potatoes so that every single piece is nicely coated with the spices and oil. Keep stirring for about 4-5 minutes.
3. Reduce the flame to medium and add ground chilli-ginger-garlic paste. Give it a good stir for a minute or two.
4. Mix in turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder and stir them for a minute or two until all the pieces are nicely coated with the spices.
5. Add okra and salt to taste and mix them well. (If you are using the fresh okra without letting them to dry overnight, add the salt when adding lime juice and garam masala just before turning off the flame.) Cover the pan and let it cook for 6-8 minutes on medium flame, stirring in between to make sure that the vegetables don’t stick to the pan and burn.
6. Open the lid and check if the potatoes are cooked through by inserting a knife or a fork. Finally add the garam masala and amchur powder or fresh lime/lemon juice if using and mix them all well. Cook for another 1-2 minutes.
7. Turn off the flame and cover the pan with a lid. Let it rest for at least 10-15 minutes for the flavours to develop and blend well.
8. Serve this delicious Sukhi Aloo Bhindi or Aloo Bhindi Fry with roti, naan, chapatti or rice with dal or any curry of your choice and enjoy!

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Sia’s Notes:

• Try not to skimp the amount of oil used in this recipe as it helps in crisping the potatoes.
• There are couple of things to keep in mind when prepping and cooking with okra. Here are my few handy tips for those who find it difficult to cut and cook this slimy okra or bhindi. Always choose young and tender okras. The best ones are the ones that get easily snapped when you bend the tail end of the pod.
• Make sure that you dry the Okra completely after washing and are moisture free. Either spread them on kitchen towel in single layer and leave it for few hours or pat them dry with dry kitchen towel to remove any moisture.
• When cutting them, make sure that you use a dry chopping board and knife. Keep some dry kitchen tissues nearby and clean the slime from the knife every now and then while chopping the okra. I had tried stir frying the okra with very little oil and ended up with really slimy okras. So I usually use little extra oil than normal and cook it on a very high heat. This way the okras not only lose their sliminess, but also retain their crunch and that beautiful emerald green colour.
• And finally the new tip I learnt from Kaushy Patel in her cookbook Prashad at Home is something that not only removes the sliminess but also speed up the cooking process. For this, you have to prep the okra or bhindi a day before you actually cook with them. The washed, dried and cleaned okra is cut into desired shapes and is arranged on a baking tray. This is left on counter top for 12-24 hours which dries up the sliminess and is really easy to cook with.
• If you are using the fresh okra without letting them to dry overnight, add the salt when adding lime juice and garam masala just before turning off the flame.