We need to make some vegetarian recipe for the blog. Which one can we start with immediately? I asked her 

The one you are having now. Its simple and yet very tasty. Lets name it Okra made with mango mustard sauce 

We are nearing 100 posts. Yes, you read it right- 100 posts. It seems like yesterday when I started the blog to document the travel stories of Nepal, and then eventually Madhushree joined in and slowly we started building the blog. More about the  journey in some upcoming posts, but some introspection may help now.

In the long Durga Puja holiday, Madhushree and I looked back on the blog. It all started with the collaboration we had with Shyamali and Antara and we looked for all the traditional dishes that we have in our blog – we rarely found any. Most would say that this was unintentional and we will try to cover up in the next post. We would say no. This was intentional.

No fun in trying to recreate the age old delicacies on a regular basis and as individuals, we don’t get excited about it. We are true bengalis to the heart and that means -a shukto, a kalia, a shorsher jhaal, alu phulkopir torkari, macher jhol and all possible regular dishes. We love them more than anything else. While Madhushree’s comfort food is machher jhol ( she can have it at any point of time), mine is daal and alu peyaj bhaja. We love these more than any other food on this planet.

We had consciously taken a decision to put up posts of recipes which are lil uncommon, loved by us and more importantly, what excites us to cook, shoot and eat and we intend to do so. We also realise and agree that we have not been able to touch upon lots of uncommon vegetarian dishes, which have been cooking in our kitchen, passed on from generation to generation.  So perhaps, the time has come when we realign the cooking and work towards preserving these recipes. As of now – we will cross the bridge when it comes, till then lets enjoy the cooking, tasting and the photography.

The post was not an outrage to any comment but perhaps reinforcing the fact to the readers, the blog and to ourselves – what do we have in mind when we do a recipe blog.

Shraddha Agarwalla, Prasad (The desitraveler.com) and Anupriya have been regular readers of our blog and they always had a common complain, that we rarely speak or make Vegetarian dishes. I am sure that there are many more who feel the same but are yet to reach out to us. So for all of them is this recipe-

Aam Kasundi Bhindi or Okra in mango mustard sauce by Pikturenama 3

Aam Kasundi Bhindi (Okra made with mango mustard sauce)

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 15- 20 mins

Ingredients:

Okra/ Bhindi 250 gms Red Onion I large or 2 mediums finely sliced
Grated fresh coconut 3- 4 tbsp Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Dried Red Chili 1 or 2 Aam Kasundi** 2 – 3 tbsp
Mustard Oil 1 tbsp Turmeric Powder 1 tsp
Sugar ½ tsp White oil for deep frying 1 – 2 cups
Salt To taste

**Alternate ingredient to aam kasundi: Mango pickle (2 tbsp) & Kasundi  or mustard sauce(1 ½ tbsp)

 

Aam Kasundi Bhindi or Okra in mango mustard sauce by Pikturenama 4

Method:

  • Wash the bhindis’/okra in cold running water and then pat them dry with a kitchen towel or simply keep let them dry naturally inside a colander or a large strainer. Then chop of the crowns of the bhindi/okra and cut them into half.
  • In a small wok or any frying pan, deep fry them after having sprinkled them with a bit of salt. Once it is done, strain the oil and keep the fried bhindi aside.
  • In another frying pan or wok, pour the mustard oil. When the oil reaches the smoking point, drop the red chilies and the mustard seeds, which will start to splutter.
  • Add the onions and fry them till they are translucent. Add a couple of tbsp of grated coconut and the turmeric powder. Stir till the raw smell of the turmeric goes away in medium to low heat.
  • Now add the deep fried okras/ bhindis and mix them well.
  • Finally add the aam kasundi. In case you do not have access to aam kasundi, use the alternate ingredient. Stir it a little bit and make sure that you adjust the heat so as to not burn the coconut.
  • Sprinkle some salt and finally adjust the seasoning.
  • Garnish with more grated coconut and serve hot. This goes well both with rice or rotis.

 Aam Kasundi Bhindi or Okra in mango mustard sauce by Pikturenama 2