Kurkuri Bhindi | Bhindi Fry (Okra Fry)

Kurkuri Bhindi is a spicy, tasty and super crispy fries made with tender okra pods or ladies finger, gram flour and spices. This bhindi fry is one of the best side dishes you can make to pair with your everyday Indian meals. They are also fun to eat as is with a dipping sauce. Bonus the okra fry recipe is gluten-free and vegan.

About Kurkuri Bhindi Fry

In Hindi, Kurkuri means Crispy, Crunchy and Bhindi is Okra. This Okra Fry recipe is an easy snack or a side made with Bhindi (Ladies Finger).

It is made with fresh and tender okra pods coated with gram flour (besan), ground spices and seasonings. This mixture is marinated and then shallow fried or deep fried.

The gram flour or besan gives it a crispy texture and the spices give a bold, complex taste.

This recipe is a North style recipe that I have learned from my mom. She would make kurkuri bhindi on occasions to go with chapatis. Her recipe would include all the ground spice powders that I have added, except chaat masala powder. This is the only change I have made to her recipe. The rest of it is the same.

At times I bake and air-fried these too. The baked kurkuri bhindi fry tastes good but is not as crispy as the fried ones. But the air fried are more crispy. For health reasons, the baked ones are better. In the step by step post I have mentioned both baking and frying methods.

I do not deep fry but shallow fry with less oil. When frying, I add oil as required, so that oil gets used up and there is no excess oil.

This dish is great as a side dish with the combination of dal-rice, sambar-rice, curd-rice or even with plain chapati or paratha.

At times as a side dish, I prepare Bhindi Fry to go with dal and rice. You can serve it with bread also.

How to make Kurkuri Bhindi Fry

1. Rinse 500 grams bhindi in water very well. Then wipe them dry with a kitchen napkin. Or you can spread them on a large plate and let them dry naturally. The bhindi should be completely dry before you start marinating it with spices.

There should not be any moisture or water droplets on them. Otherwise they will not become as crispy as you want.

2. Remove the crown and the base tip of the bhindi. Slice the bhindi vertically into 4 pieces. If you have small sized bhindi, then slice into 2 pieces. Take all your sliced bhindi in a big thali or a big bowl.

3. Now sprinkle the following spices and seasonings one by one on the sliced bhindi:

• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder or paprika
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder (ground coriander)
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder (ground cumin)
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 1 teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur powder)
• 1 teaspoon chaat masala powder
• salt as required

4. Add ½ cup gram flour (besan) on the bhindi. Instead of gram flour you can easily add chickpea flour.

5. Gently mix the gram flour, spice powders and salt with the okra. Remember that the gram flour and ground spices must evenly coat all the okra slices.

6. Marinate the okra in this mixture for 20 to 30 minutes. You could also keep it for an hour. This is how they look after marination.

Making Kurkuri Bhindi

7. If Baking Kurkuri Bhindi – Then spread the marinated bhindi on a greased tray. Brush some oil on the top of the bhindi. You can also add 1 tablespoon oil in the marination mixture and mix it very well with the bhindi.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees celsius, till the bhindi are crisp and golden.

8. For Frying Kurkuri Bhindi – In a kadai (wok) or pan, heat 2 to 3 tablespoons oil. Fry the bhindi in batches. Depending on the size of the kadai, you can fry in 3 to 4 batches.

For each batch, you can add 2 to 3 tablespoons oil. Add the first batch of marinated bhindi after the oil becomes medium hot.

9. Fry on medium heat. When one side becomes crisp, then turn over each bhindi with a slotted spoon or with the help of tongs and fry the other side.

10. Turn over a couple of times to get crisp and evenly fried bhindi.

11. Do keep on turning the bhindi so that they get fried evenly. If the oil becomes too hot, you could lower the heat and continue to fry.

12. Fry all the okra in the pan until golden brown and crisp on a medium heat.

13. Remove fried okra with a slotted spoon, straining the extra oil from the spoon.

14. Place the fried okra on crumpled kitchen tissues on a plate, so that the excess oil is drained.

Fry the remaining batches of marinated okra adding 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil in the pan. Let the oil become hot before you add the next batch of okra.

15. Serve kurkuri bhindi directly as they are (the way I did) or if you want you could garnish them with coriander leaves, julienned ginger or sliced green chilis.

If you like you could also sprinkle some lime juice on top of the crispy okra. You could also sprinkle some black salt or chaat masala on the crispy fried okra.

Enjoy the bhindi fry as is like a crispy snack or with roti and a bowl of homemade curd.

Helpful Tips for Best Bhindi Fry

• The oil should be hot, otherwise, the bhindi will absorb oil and become soggy and not even look good on the plate.
• Use fresh tender bright green okra pods. Try not to use okra that has become stringy or fibrous.
• Remember that the okra has to be completely dried before you begin with the recipe. Any water or moisture on the okra will not give you the crispiness that is the hallmark of this recipe.
• You can alter the spice powders as per your taste. Since I have used homemade garam masala and it’s very strong, I have added 1 teaspoon of it. But you can adjust the garam masala as per its quality and freshness.
• I have shallow fried the okra. I won’t suggest deep frying as later your kadai or pan will have all the besan, spices and okra seeds leftovers in the oil. It looks like a mess.
• Take as much oil as is needed for frying the okra so that all the oil gets used up. Thus, you don’t have a messy oil to strain or throw later.
• The recipe can be scaled to make a small batch of bhindi fry. This dish is best eaten hot so try not to have any leftovers and make the quantity according to your needs.

More Bhindi recipes

• Bhindi ki sabji
• Bhindi do pyaza
• Bharwa bhindi
• Bhindi masala
• Bendakaya fry

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This Bhindi Fry Recipe post from the blog archives (first published in September 2010) has been updated and republished on 29 June 2021.