Vendaikai Puli Kootu / Okra in tamarind gravy

Vendaikai / Lady’s finger/okra in Tamarind gravy – Spicy and tangy sabzi perfect for a weekday lunch

Vendaikai / Lady’s finger is one of my favorite vegetables. Aaah, in fact, I love almost every vegetable available.

I still remember stories told by grandma to make me eat this veggie.  Hope everyone would have heard the story at least once in their childhood; Wondering what that story is ! Here it is – If you want to excel in Mathematics, eat lady’s finger.  That’s how my love for this veggie started. Anything made up of vendaikai – Puli kootu/Fry/PuliKuzhambhu feels like a heavenly meal to me. But, mom used to refer often as cooking vendaikai is a difficult and lengthy process and she often makes it during weekends.

I understood how she would have felt once I started cooking them during my morning hours.  You need to chop them the previous night and allow them to dry, And morning I need to use all my kitchen tricks to prevent them from sticking to the pan. After all trial and error method, I found the best solution to avoid stickiness! Use some sour curd while frying them and you will love cooking them as much as eating them.

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I always prefer tender ones; Finding such tender vendaikai here is almost an impossible task. When I visited my friend last week, I found Indian tender okras in Asian grocery shop. They eventually find its way to my basket.

I wanted to try this vendaikai puli Kootu for a long time. With such green tender ones, how could I miss? Here it is!

Vendaikai Puli Kootu is a popular dish in Tamil Nadu and is usually prepared in almost every home to serve along with rice. Vendaikai Puli kootu is okra curry simmered in tamarind sauce with grounded spices. The dish can be prepared in few minutes without any fuss. It can be either gravy or dry one based on your preference.  The grounded cumin, ginger and garlic adds a unique flavor to the dish. Serve this vendaikai puli kootu as a side dish for rice or just mix with hot rice for a perfect lunch!

Total preparation time : 25 minutes

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

• 15 Lady’s finger/Vendaikai/Okra
• 10 Shallots/Small onion
• 1 medium sized big onion
• 1 Garlic pod
• 1 medium sized Tomato
•  ½ tablespoon Ginger garlic paste
• 1 Gooseberry sized Tamarind
• ½ teaspoon Red chili powder (adjust according to your spice level)
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¼ teaspoon Mustard seeds
• 2 tablespoon Oil
• Curry leaves few
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Clean lady’s finger and chop them into small pieces. Use wet cloth or wet issue to clean lady’s finger. Do not wash them in water as they tend to stick. In case of washing them with water, dry them completely and wipe with a cloth.
• Soak tamarind in a ½  of hot water and set aside for 10-15 minutes. Extract tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind and discard the pulp
• Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard seed, curry leaves and garlic
• Add chopped onions and fry until they become transparent.
• Add ginger garlic paste followed by tomato. Cook until tomatoes become mushy
• Add chopped vendaikai and fry them for about 5- 6 minutes
• Pour tamarind water and salt according to your taste
• Cook until lady’s finger is cooked and water is absorbed. In case of gravy, adjust water level according to your requirements
• Enjoy with hot rice and pappads!

Next time, when you buy tender greenish vendaikai, don’t forget to try this kootu. And let me know about your experience in comments. By the way, please like my studio in social media too!