Lady's Finger With Garlic (Benda Gojju)

This side dish prepared with okra is my MIL's recipe passed onto her by her granny. It's eaten with rice and is my husband's favourite! Okra is cooked and is seasoned with garlic to make a yummy side dish to go with rice.

Ingredients:

1/4 kg lady's finger 
3 tablespoons of tamarind (1.5 lemon sized)
5-6 green chillies
12-15 garlic cloves
3-4 tablespoons of oil
Salt to taste

Serves: 2 

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Preparation Method:

1. Wash lady's finger and chop off the stem portion. Cut each lady's finger into 2-3 pieces.

2. Cook them with 1 cup water, 3 tablespoons of tamarind and salt. Pressure cook them for 1 whistle.

3. Let it cool and grind them in a mixer for just 5 seconds. Do not add excess water while grinding.

The aim is to have soft, well cooked lady's finger and to not grind them completely. Little pieces of lady's finger should remain on grinding.

4. Keep the ground okra aside.

5. In a wok, heat up oil, add in peeled, smashed garlic and fry them until they start to brown. Add in slit green chillies and fry them for a minute.

6. Then add in ground lady's finger and mix well.

7. Add 1 cup water and mix well. Bring it to boil. 

8. Check and adjust salt. This gojju thickens real quick, so add more water if required. The consistency of this gojju should be semi-thick to thick in the end. 

9. Keep stirring to dissolve any clumps formed. Saute and take care it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

10. Simmer until the consistency of the gojju is thick. The longer you cook the gojju, the more it thickens and that's when the sliminess of okra disappears. Simmer until the gojju thickens or until the colour of gojju changes from light green to dark green. 

11. Remove it off heat and serve hot with rice.

Find more Konkani cuisine side dishes here. 

Tags: Gojju, lady's finger, okra, bhenda, benda, bhindi, side dish, lunch, dinner, recipe for constipation, bhende, vegetarian