Aug 18, 2009

Bhindi Sambhariya

This was a dish I had planned to make in my monthly menu!

This recipe is from Tarla Dalal's Gujrathi Cookbook.

I'm a big fan of Bhindi - can even eat it raw! And when I saw the picture of this on the cookbook - I had to try it. I have no idea what Sambhariya means in gujrathi! But, whatever it is - it was great.

This is a stuffed version of bhindi but the ingredients are so different from the Punjabi version of stuffed bhindi masala. The punjabi version has so much onions and garam masala and amchur in it - this has coconut and peanuts in it. No onions at all. So, its perfect for older parents who don't eat onions or even for people who prefer Jain food.

To begin with - I made some fresh green chilli and ginger paste. Nothing beats the fresh ground taste of these two beautiful ingredients!

Make a fresh powder of Coriander Seeds and Cumin. I dry roasted them for a min before grinding them up together. Dhan-Jeera powder!


Dry roast about 1/2 cup of peanuts and grind them up - not too powdery. Its good to have a few biteable pieces!

Chop up some fresh cilantro finely.

Shred some fresh coconut - we need about 1 1/2 cups.
Mix all of these ingredients below -

Fresh coconut - 1 1/2 cups
Fresh Cilantro - 1 1/2 cups
Green chilli - ginger paste - 1tbsp
Fresh Dhan-jeera powder - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Sugar - about 1 1/2 tbsp
White Sesame seeds - about 1 tbsp
Tumeric powder - 2 tsp
Oil - about 2 tbsp

Mix all the ingredients well.

The recipe did call for 1tsp of garam masala - but I skipped it as I was making it for my inlaws too and they don't like garam masala.

Add the ground peanuts in here and mix well.

Before you start any of these - about 2 - 3hrs prior to cooking - wash and dry your bhindi. If its dry, then there is less gooey mess on your hands. If you just wash them before cooking - maybe use a hair dryer and blow off the water in there! Sounds crazy - but works so good!

Slit them up lengthwise so you have pocket to fill up.


Fill them up one by one now.

Like this - here they are all filled up!

In a wide pan, add about a tbsp of oil, add some hing and fry for a min. Then, move these filled up bhindi in here slowly. Turn the flame on simmer and let it just cook.

Every few mins, turn then over gently.

Cook till they are done.

There's Bhindi Sambhariya! This tasted absolutely delicious. What's in it not to like? I urge you to try this once and I'm sure when you do - you'll make this a regular at your house!

Thank you Tarla Dalal!


Enjoy. Peace Out!

3 comments:

Thank you for stopping by! Let me know what you think.