Bharwa Bhindi - Stuffed Okra

Stuff your okras – and enjoy them in a fully different style!

How to prepare Bharwa Bhindi

Start by washing the okras but instead of cutting them right away, as you would do with other vegetables, you first need to dry them off well – otherwise the gum will come out and make it impossible for you to make a proper dish! Cut off the ends of the okras and make a deep cut lengthwise on one side of each.

In the next step, you prepare the filling. Mix all the powder spices together, which will leave the cumin as the only spice you haven’t used. Add as much water as you need for making it a thick paste. Add some salt and mix it all well.

Heat up two teaspoons of oil in a pan. When it is hot, add the cumin. Stir and add the paste of spices. Keep on stirring in order to roast the spices on a low heat. Keep on stirring for about five minutes so that the spices can get nicely brown.

Take the spices out of the pan and let them cool down a bit. They just have to reach a temperature at which you can fill them into the okra, into the cuts that you have made earlier for this purpose.

Heat up the remaining oil in a pan. Once it is hot, you place the stuffed okras inside. Place a lid on top of the pan and let them get cooked on medium heat for approximately eight minutes. Carefully stir from time to time. If you have problems getting the okra cooked because the filling falls out, you can use a thread and thus close the okras to prevent it from falling out. Just take care to remove the thread afterwards.

After eight minutes, lift the lid off the pan. Now you let them cook until they are soft and have a golden shine on the outside. This will take approximately ten minutes more. And then you are done!

Enjoy your stuffed okras!