BENDEKAYI KAYIRASA

 BENDEKAYI KAYIRASA

 Lady's Fingers, a vegetable commonly available in India, is known as Bendekayi in Kannada. Those of you from North America would know this as Okra. It is called "Bhindi" in Hindi and "Bhend" in my mother tongue, Konkani.  Both my husband and I like this vegetable and I make this in one form or the other quite often.

It is well-established that lady's finger has many health benefits. 

Elsewhere in this blog, you will find recipes for different dishes using this vegetable, such as:-

• Okra and Peanut Stir Fry 
• Crispy Bhindi Tawa Fried.
• Bhenda Sagle
• Spicy Bhindi Andhra Style

Today's recipe is for a side dish made with lady's fingers from my Home State of Karnataka. This is popular in the Udupi- Mangaluru area. Make sure you do the seasoning with coconut oil to get the authentic taste of this dish. I have adapted this from the YouTube video in the popular cookery site, Veg Recipes of Karnataka. 

We had this with hot steamed rice and it tasted great! Please do try it out for yourselves. 

Ingredients:-

• Bendekayi (Lady's Fingers/Okra), 250 gms
• Turmeric Powder, 1/4 tsp
• Tamarind, size of a gooseberry
• Jaggery, grated, 2 tsp
• Salt, as per taste

For The Masala/Paste :-

• Byadgi Red Chillies, 5
• Urad Dal, 1 tsp
• Fenugreek Seeds, 1/4 tsp
• Fresh Coconut Gratings, 1/2 cup
• Coconut Oil, 1 tsp- for roasting these ingredients

For Seasoning:-

• Mustard Seeds, 1/2 tsp
• Red Chilli, broken into halves, 1
• Asafoetida,(Hing), 1/4 tsp
• Curry Leaves, a sprig
• Coconut Oil, 1 tbsp

Method:-

Wash the lady's fingers and pat them dry with a clean kitchen towel

Snip off the two ends and cut them into 1/2 " pieces

Soak the tamarind in lukewarm water for about 20 minutes, then extract the juice

Place the lady's fingers pieces in a vessel, to this add turmeric powder, salt, grated jaggery and tamarind juice and 1 cup of water and cook till the lady's fingers get done. Keep aside

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and on medium heat add the red chillies and saute for a while then add the urad dal and fenugreek seeds. Roast till the dal changes colour

Transfer the roasted ingredients to a mixer jar

Grind them along with coconut gratings to a smooth paste adding the required amount of water. 

Add the ground paste to the cooked lady's fingers and mix well

Add water to get the desired consistency, check for salt and add if required

Bring this to a boil and remove from flame 

Heat 1 tbsp of coconut oil in a seasoning pan and on medium heat add the mustard seeds

When they splutter add the asafoetida, broken red chill, and curry leaves and saute for a few seconds

Pour this seasoning on to the Bendekayi Kayirasa

Transfer to a serving bowl and serve with hot steamed rice