A LINK TO MY MATHEMATICS INTEREST – LADIES FINGER (OKRA) MASALA GRAVY

Many people would have heard the old Grandma saying which is used until now by all the Moms “if you eat ladies finger, you will be good at Maths”.  Still I don’t know how this is linked with Mathematics J but I pass on the same dictum to Jr. H. 

Even as many years pass by, certain memories remain forever engraved in mind.  One among them is mathematics examinations.  Mom would always make ladies finger at home during those examinations.   She serves the larger portion to me and my brother and insists on finishing it.  Though she has made the trick in making us to eat this vegetable, it has worked out a bit too. Today my brother is one of recognized stock market advisor in India; I am astonished by seeing his skills in financial management.  I am not as good as my Bro but I would say I have acquired decent multitasking skills.

In my home, we all love ladies finger in any form.  I would make either kuzhambu or curry with okra but this recipe is originated from a buddy from my office lunch group.  Since I loved the taste, I tried at home immediately with slight variations to suite our family taste buds. 

Ingredients:

Ladies Finger - 1 Bowl (Cut to 1" pieces)

Onion - 2 (Medium sized)

Tomato - 5-6 (Medium sized)

Garlic pods - 10 (Optional)

Chilly powder- 2 tablespoon

Oil - 2 tablespoon

Salt - as desired

To grind:

Fennel Seed - 1 teaspoon

Grated coconut - small cup

To Temper:

Fennel seed - half a teaspoon

Curry leaves

 Preparation:

 1. Wash and cut the ladies finger into 1" pieces.  Slice the onion and tomato as below.

2. Heat a pan with two tablespoons of oil, once it has become hot, add the tempering ingredients one by one.  Later add onions.   Sprinkling little salt to the onions will cook the onions fast.  Once the onions had turned light brown, add the tomatoes.  

 3. After the tomatoes had turned mushy, add ladies finger, add the required salt and mix well.

4. Once the mix has blend well, say for about 3-4 minutes, transfer the contents to a bowl and pressure cook for 1 whistle.  Since i have a small pressure cooker, I directly pressure cooked.  

 

5. Meanwhile, grind the coconut with fennel seeds. 

 

6. Once the steam has released from pressure cooker, transfer the cooked items to a vessel. You can omit this step if you have already transferred the ingredients in vessel.

7.  Add the ground paste and chilly powder, boil for 5 minutes in low flame until everything is mixed well and the raw smell is gone. Serve hot with rice or rotis.