Okra Rasam | Bendakayi Neeru Saaru | Vendakkai Thanni Kuzhambu

    Okra Rasam - a fancy name for bendakayi neeru saaru.'Saaru' is a Kannada name for rasam. Rasam is  basically a thin, tangy, watery soup made in southern India with or without dal which pairs well with plain hot white rice.Sometimes may be thick depends on the ground ingredients.There are so many varieties of rasam like kollu, tamarind, tomato , pineapple , lemon etc. In all varieties, the basic ingredients remain the same while the main ingredient differs.

Tangy Bhindi & Toor dal Curry (வெண்டைக்காய் பச்சடி )

Vendaikkai Pachaddi (வெண்டைக்காய் பச்சடி) is something you will find in every chettinad kitchen. This gravy is made along the lines of sambar, but with less water and toor dal remains whole instead of being mashed up. A similar curry can be made with sundaikai (சுண்டைக்காய் ) which is one of my absolute favourites. Chances of getting sundaikkai are almost impossible here, so I usually use baby okra.

You might be intrested in similar tangy curries like RawMango curry,TangyOkra curry

Preparation time:10 min

Cooking time:20 min

Serves:2-3

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound baby okra
• 1/4 cup toor dal.
• 1/2 tbsp tamarind paste.
• 1 green chili.
• 1 tbsp sambar powder.
• 1 small Onion.
• oil for tempering.
• salt as needed.

Method:

• Cut the okra in to 1/4 inch pieces.
• Cook the toor dal for 2 whistles (should not be mushy).

• Cut the onion in to small pieces.
• In a hotpan temper oil with  items "to  temper".
• Add onions and green chilies saute them until translucent.
• Add okra and saute them until the slime of the okra cooks out. The okra should not stick together.

• Add sambar powder and saute it for a min in low flame until the raw smell dissipates.
• Add required water and add tamarind paste and salt.

• Add the cooked toor dal.
• Boil the gravy until it becomes thick .
• Your bhendi -toor dal gravy is ready to eat .
• Serve it with rasam or curd rice . 

Note;

• Okra should not be sticky fry them until the stickiness leaves.
• Adjust the water content accordingly.If its too dry you can't eat this one.If its too watery this wont' taste good.

Linking it to Gayathris event and sahasra page

 Sapanas event

Vendaikaai Mandi - Tangy Okra Curry

Mandi (மண்டி) is a curry dish unique to Chettinad. You will a find a version of this dish in every chettinad household. The beauty of this dish is that it can made with a lot of vegetables e.g Potatoes, White Channa, Egg plant and Okra. Vendaikaai (Okra) Mandi (வெண்டைக்காய் மண்டி) is the most famous of the lot. I made this delicious curry for lunch the other day. This dish uses only green chili's for heat, no masala powder is used. Here is the recipe

Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: 30-40 min.
Serves: 2