Easy Okra with Potatoes

Love the way she is grinning with those Potatoes she just pulled out!

Muddy Onions and Potatoes

Apart from cooking, photographing and writing about food, growing vegetables and herbs has been my favourite. Apartment living has given me little scope, other than growing odd herbs and tomatoes in pots that sit on my kitchen top yearning sunlight (which is a rarity these days),not much of 'gardening' I would say! A couple of months back, when my friend said she wants to grow her own veggies, I was thrilled. My many visits to her place were filled with proud tours around her garden, talking about how much she wanted to grow her own ginger and about when the potatoes and onions would be ready and so on. So when it was time to harvest the potatoes and onions I was invited and I must say this was one of those visits I was looking forward to. We had fun time pulling out the peeking onions and muddy potatoes from its roots and were amazed at how the worms had eaten some of the large potatoes. As I got back home my mind was busy searching for recipes that I could make with the loot. Finally I settled for a simple curry that I make with potatoes and okra.

Okra is a common vegetable in India and is  mucilaginous resulting in the characteristic slime when cooked ( the mucilage contains a usable form of soluble fiber source-Wikipedia). The trick is to wash them thoroughly and dry them completely before cutting and cooking. 

Okra with Potatoes

Ingredients

Okra  - 200 gms chopped into chunks

Potatoes - 200 gms skin scrubbed and chopped into chunks

Onions - 1 or 2

Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 Tsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 Tsp

Turmeric - 1/2 Tsp

Ground Cumin - 1/4 Tsp

Ground Coriander - 1/2 Tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 Tsp

Salt as per taste

For Seasoning

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 Tsp

Cumn Seeds - 1/2 Tsp

Oil - 1 Tbsp

Fresh Coriander for garnish

Method:

Heat oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds, followed by Cumin seeds. Add slices of onions and sauté them till transparent. Now add the pastes, powders, salt , potatoes and cover, cook till the potatoes are 3/4th done, stirring occasionally and sprinkling water if needed. Now add the okra and sauté till the okras are done. Do not cover and cook at this stage or add water, doing so will make the okras slimy. Taste for seasoning and toss in fresh coriander. Serve this with naan or rotis and yoghurt.

Verdict: The potatoes were so fresh that they hardly took 3 min to cook..and I could scrape their delicate skin while washing them. Growing your own Veggies is definitely worth it..The potatoes just took about 3 min to cook and I could scrape the skin while washing them. Although I have made this curry many times, the onins and potatoes made it extra special this time!