bhindi curry recipe with step by step photos – sauteed ladies finger in a tangy onion tomato gravy.
this is a very good home cooked delicious curry with bhindi or okra. i have kept the ingredients basic and not added stuff like cashews, poppy seeds, melon seeds, cream etc to thicken the gravy. so anyone having indian spices and ingredients at home can easily make this delicious masala bhindi curry.
bhindi is a family favorite. hence there are many recipes posted with okra on the blog. i have already posted a semi-dry recipe of bhindi masala.
usually i make a dry or semi dry curry with okra. we have had bhindi masala with gravy a couple of times in restaurants. so i tried to make a restaurant version minus the cream or khoya (evaporated milk). the recipe was a success and it tasted awesome.
while writing this post, i still remember the flavors and taste of this bhindi curry. it was damn good. i love cooking more than being a foodie. but for a reason, this bhindi curry was an exception. it reminded me of the flavor and taste of a bhindi masala i had many years back in mumbai. the tanginess of the tomatoes complements the light sweetness of okra very well.
this bhindi gravy goes well with soft phulkas, chapatis or parathas. this mildly spiced okra curry also goes well with steamed rice.
how to make ladies finger curry
preparation
1. first rinse 250 grams bhindi (okra) very well in running water a few times. then drain them completely in a strainer or colander.
2. wipe each bhindi with a kitchen napkin. there should be no moisture on them. you can also allow them to dry naturally at room temperature, by spreading them in a large plate or tray.
3. chop the bhindi into 1.5 to 2.5 inch pieces. keep aside.
4. in a grinder or blender jar, take ¾ cup roughly chopped ripe red tomatoes, ½ inch chopped ginger, 4 to 5 chopped garlic cloves and 1 or 2 green chilies, chopped. use ripe red tomatoes which are a bit sweet and less sour or tangy.
5. add 2 tbsp fresh full fat curd (dahi or yogurt) along with 2 cloves, 1 green cardamom, ½ inch cinnamon and 1 single strand of mace.
6. without adding water, grind or blend to a smooth paste. keep aside covered.
sauteing bhindi
7. heat 2 tbsp oil in a kadai or pan. add the chopped bhindi/okra and saute them on a low flame.
8. stir and saute them till they are almost cooked, shrinked and lightly browned from the sides.
9. when done remove the sauteed bhindi and place them in  a plate or tray.
making bhindi curry
10. in the same kadai or pan, add 2 tbsp oil. add tej patta (indian bay leaf) and fry for about 5 to 7 seconds.
11. add the ½ cup finely chopped onions.
12. stir well.
13. saute the onions till they start to turn light golden.
14. lower the flame. then add ¼ tsp turmeric powder, ½ tsp red chilli powder, ½ tsp coriander powder and ½ tsp cumin powder.
15. stir the spice powders quickly. you can also switch off the stove top while adding and mixing spices powders, so that they don’t get burned.
16. add the tomato-curd paste that we made before. be careful while adding the ground paste as it splutters.
17. stir well.
18. on a low flame saute till the masala paste thickens and you see oil leaving the sides.
19. add about ¾ cup water and stir very well. you can also add ½ to ⅔ cup water for a thick gravy or ¾ cup water for medium gravy.
20. season with salt as required.
21. add the sauteed bhindi.
22. stir again.
23. bring the ladies finger gravy to a simmer on a medium flame. cook for about 5 to 6 minutes till the gravy gets infused with the aroma and flavor of the okra. don’t cook okra in the gravy for a longer time as then they become mushy.
24. add ½ tsp kasuri methi, crushed (dry fenugreek leaves). if you want, you can also add 1 or 2 tbsp of low-fat cream at this step.
25. stir and then add 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves to the gravy.
26. Â stir bhindi gravy again and then switch off the stovetop.
27. serve bhindi gravy garnished with a few coriander leaves or straightaway with rotis or parathas or steamed rice.
few more delicious recipes for you!
- mushroom masala
- vendakkai sambar
- paneer butter masala
- bendakaya pulusu (andhra style okra gravy with tamarind)
bhindi curry
INGREDIENTS
for tomato paste
- 3 medium ripe red tomatoes or 150 grams tomatoes or ¾ cup roughly chopped tomatoes
- ½ inch ginger
- 4 to 5 garlic
- 1 to 2 green chilies
- 2 tablespoon curd (yogurt)
- 2 cloves
- 1 green cardamom
- ½ inch cinnamon
- 1 single strand of mace
other ingredients
- 250 grams bhindi (okra or lady finger)
- 1 large onion Or 2 medium onions Or 100 grams onions Or ½ cup finely chopped onions
- ½ teaspoon kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves) - crushed
- 2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
(cilantro leaves)
- 1 small to medium tej patta (indian bay leaf)
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
(ground coriander)
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- 2 tablespoon oil for sauteing okra
- 2 tablespoon oil for making gravy
- salt as required
INSTRUCTIONS
preparation
- first rinse 250 grams okra (bhindi) very well in running water a few times. then drain them completely in a strainer or colander.
- wipe each bhindi with a kitchen napkin. there should be no moisture on them. you can also allow them to dry naturally at room temperature, by spreading them in a large plate or tray.
- chop the bhindi into 1.5 to 2.5 inch pieces. keep aside.
- in a grinder or blender jar, take 3/4 cup roughly chopped ripe red tomatoes, 1/2 inch chopped ginger, 4 to 5 chopped garlic cloves and 1 or 2 green chilies, chopped.
- add 2 tbsp fresh full fat curd/dahi/yogurt along with 2 cloves, 1 green cardamom, 1/2 inch cinnamon and 1 single strand of mace.
- without adding water, grind or blend to a smooth paste. keep aside covered.
sauteing okra
- heat 2 tbsp oil in a kadai or pan. add the okra and saute them on a low flame.
- stir and saute them till they are almost cooked, shrinked and lightly browned from the sides.
- when done remove the sauteed okra and place them in a plate or tray.
making ladies finger curry
- in the same kadai or pan, add 2 tbsp oil. add tej patta (indian bay leaf) and fry for about 5 to 7 seconds.
- add the 1/2 cup finely chopped onions. stir well.
- saute the onions till they start to turn light golden.
- lower the flame. then add 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 1/2 tsp coriander powder and 1/2 tsp cumin powder.
- stir the spice powders quickly. you can also switch off the stove top while adding and mixing spices powders, so that they don't get burned.
- add the tomato- curd paste that we made before. be careful while adding ground paste as it splutters.
- stir well. on a low flame saute till the masala paste thickens and you see oil leaving the sides.
- add about 3/4 cup water and stir very well. you can also add 1/2 to 2/3 cup water for a thick gravy or 3/4 cup water for medium gravy
- season with salt as required.
- add the sauteed okra. stir again.
- bring the okra curry to a simmer on a medium flame. cook for about 5 to 6 minutes till the curry gets infused with the aroma and flavor of the okra.
- don't cook okra in the gravy for a longer time as then they become mushy.
- add 1/2 tsp kasuri methi, crushed. if you want, you can also add 1 or 2 tbsp of low fat cream at this step.
- stir and then add 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves to the gravy.
- stir again and switch off the stove top.
- serve bhindi curry garnished with a few coriander leaves or straightaway with chapatis or parathas or steamed rice.
Awesome taste..im a beginner don’t knw much cooking but the recipes that you share are super easy to follow and the step by step photo idea is the best part. 🙂
Hi Dassana
This bhindi curry is awesome ..Thankyou for the recipe. .I have tried many of your recepies which came out so well .
One question can i add baingan instead of bhindi in this masala curry?
thank you deepa. most welcome and yes you can add baingan instead of bhindi.
Great recipe. Tried it today and it was awesome.
thanks priyadarshini for the feedback on bhindi curry.
Tasty recipe.Simple preparation.Tried n loved it.Will make it often.Thank you.
thanks bina for the positive feedback and rating on bhindi gravy recipe. happy cooking.
Hello from Berlin! Thanks for all you work and inspiring recipes. I am a newbie to indian cuisine and everything i tried so far following your suggestions just works perfect! This bhindi masala is so well balanced, goes smoothly and is absolutely mouthwatering!!!
Thank you for the feedback. Glad to know.
Thank you Thomas. Glad to read your comment. Happy cooking.
The best bhindi Masala iv ever had. Was a hit at home
Thanks Namrata for sharing positive feedback.
Gosh! This dish looks really yum in the pics and the comments below make me want to try it right after I finish writing this comment. My family doesn’t seem to like the bhindi dishes I make so I need to try out something new. I am certain that, like all your other recipes this one will be super as well!
Thanks Sonia for this positive feedback. Yes this bhindi masala taste very good and it is one of our favorite recipe with okra.
Excellent restaurant style bhindi masala recipe! Must try recipe by all????????
thank you sushmita for this feedback.
I tried it today…really it came out very well… Thank u for this awesome recipe ????
Welcome Swetha. Thanks for your positive feedback.
Tried making today. Getting sour taste.
sour taste is due to the kind of tomatoes used. for tomato based gravies, it better to use ripe and red tomatoes which are not too tangy. also its best to use fresh curd. the curd should not be sour. addition of some sugar or cream will balance the sour taste.
Awesome recipe. I made this last night for dinner and for the first time feel like I cooked something that really tasted like a dish I could have eaten in an Indian restaurant! I’m so proud of myself. I substituted a few tiny pinches of freshly ground nutmeg for the mace since I don’t have any. I will try more of your recipes for sure. Thank you so much!
Welcome Cory. Glad to know this. Yes do try more recipes from the blog.
Hi Amit. I tried this reCipe And it was suppppper yummmy. I never thought, okra can be turned into such a nice dish.thnx a ton.
Welcome Leena. Glad to know that you liked the recipe.
This came out very well!!! All your recipes which I’ve tried so far are brilliant!
thanks janani for sharing positive feedback on recipes
Tried today. It came out really well. Thanks
thank remya for sharing the positive feedback on the bhindi masala gravy recipe.
I don’t care for whole spice pieces in gravy, even if they are blended because I always end up getting pieces of whole spice in bites of food. Can I temper the clove and cardamom in oil with tej patta? what do you suggest? many thanks!
welcome tiffany. yes you can do so.
Really nice recipe…i lyk it
thanks.
I tried this recipe it was tasty??
thanks khushboo for this positive feedback. nice to know.
Hi,
I am from London, and a big fan of lady finger. Yesterday I tried this recipe and it was a big success. Enjoying in today’s lunch box as well
thanks anu for sharing this. glad 🙂
Maam!can I made this recipe without yogurt??
sure mehrmaah. you can skip yogurt.
Just got done making this for the first time about 20 minutes ago. This is a phenomenal recipe! Definitely one of the best I have tried!
thanks ryan for this feedback. glad to know.
Excellent bhindi masala, superb , restaurant style dish. Everyone in my family just loved it. Thank u for thinking and trying out various marvelous recipes.
pleased to know this uma thanks for positive feedback 🙂 glad your family liked the bhindi masala gravy recipe.
thanks uma for your kind words and positive feedback 🙂 you are welcome.
Hi,
Thank u so……………. much! for this simple tasty recipe.My family loves to eat Okra now.My daughter’s favourite dish for lunch box with roti.My Best wishes to u.
thanks malini for your good wishes and for positive views 🙂 god bless you.
Hi
The bhindi Masala is just fantastic / marvelous / super /fenomenal / top notch . I cooked it and enjoyed . all the very best …!
Regards
SD Sharma
Palam
New Delhi – 110045.
glad to know this sharang :), thanks for your kind words and positive feedback.
awesome receipe… did it… and masala bhendi was really tasty.
thank you rupali and you are welcome.
Thank you so much for the lovely recepie. I made it and my family liked it.
welcome sapna and thankyou for your positive feedback.
Tried this receipt with no yeast naan was very tasty
thankyou prathibha 🙂
We tried this bindi masala gravy. It came good. Tasted yummy with rice.?
thankyou nanda 🙂
Prepared this curry today… came out well, my family liked it. Thank you so much.
How do you overcome the harshness of the raw garlic in the masala? I tried to slightly roast the garlic since I have the same problem when I try doing the same with other gravies. I followed this recipe but the garlic -Inness is overpowering. Would appreciate your feedback.
some folks are sensitive to garlic aroma and flavor. what you can do is add less of garlic in any recipe than what is mentioned. usually sauteing the garlic does reduce its pungency. you can even skip garlic, if still you feel it to be too much in the gravy.
Garlic bulbs available in India are tinier than the ones available outside. Hence, if 5-6 garlic cloves is mentioned, I’d probably use 2 big cloves at the most.
Cheers!
If you want to me this for a party can you keep the gravy and fried behind separately and mix them just before serving
yes, you can do that.
how if I don’t include mace? will the taste differ so much?
not much nisha you could skip mace if you don’t have them.
Hi Dassana,
I have been following your website for almost all new recipes which I have very little or no experience with and I want to give you a big congratulations and hug for doing such a brilliant job with the posts. The instructions are super easy to follow and the excellent quality pictures makes the reader want to cook at home. Every post shows the amount of hard work and passion you put into it. Keep up the good work.
Lots of good wishes to http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com ! More power to you! 🙂
Regards,
Khushboo
firstly a big thankyou khushboo for your kind, positive and encouraging words. we are very pleased to know this and god bless you 🙂
Awesome.. simple way of narrating the procedure.. thank u so much for ur receipes.. expecting more such.. yummmmmmyyyyy receipes.. 🙂
thankyou so much padma 🙂 would surely keep updating new recipes.
No words to describe… Its awesome..Am a beginner… Its very useful for me.. Step by step photographys are make me too easy to cook… Thank u so much dassana ji…..
glad to know this yuva you liked the step by step photographs and its helping you in cooking 🙂
Awesome…. Thank you!!!!!!
thankyou raghu 🙂