I am from Kerala where at the drop of the hat the political parties call for hartal (a strike action by shutting off of all public services, shops, schools and offices. It’s supposed to be voluntary participation, but in reality it never is!). You never know when the next hartal is going to be, and many a times the general public has been caught unaware in inconvenient situations.

Similar to that, I used to do lighting hartals at my place, shutting down the kitchen totally and demanding the poor tired man to take me to a restaurant. In our new neighbourhood(well, now two-year old neighbourhood), the nearest restaurant is about 6-8 km away. So for a while, I used to think twice before calling a strike as the man would be too tired after an exhausting day in the office, to take me out.

My solution came in the form of a North Indian guy who runs the school canteen near by. He takes order from us and door delivers as well. We have ordered this dry aloo bhindi many times from him. It goes very well with rotis and stuffed parathas. The guy deep fries the aloo and bhindi, but my imitation of his curry doesn’t.

And….the kitchen shut downs are back again ;-)!

Read on for the recipe.

Pictorial

Cook potatoes separately. Dice and set aside. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a kadai. Add jeera seeds and let it splutter.

Add the chopped onions, cook till pink.

Add the ginger garlic paste. Saute for a minute. Add the ladies finger.

Tip in the turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and salt. Mix it in carefully. Let the ladies finger cook.

Add the tomatoes as well. Cook for 5-6 minutes, mixing now and then.

Add the diced potatoes, amchur powder and garam masala. Mix carefully, taste test and adjust the seasoning per taste. Cook for a couple more minutes and take off the heat. Serve with rotis or rice.

Serves : 3-4

Ingredients:

• 1/4 kg Ladies Finger
• 2 big Potatoes, boiled and diced
• 1 big tomato, diced
• 1 big onion, chopped
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp amchur powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala (optional)
• 1 tsp jeera seeds (cumin)
• 2 tbsp oil
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Slice and chop the onions. Dice the tomatoes.
2. Cook the potatoes separately. Dice and set aside.
3. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a kadai. Add jeera seeds and let it splutter. Add the chopped onions, cook till pink.
4. Add the ginger garlic paste. Saute for a minute. Add the ladies finger.
5. Tip in the turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and salt. Let the ladies finger cook.
6. Add the tomatoes as well. Cook for 5-6 minutes, mixing now and then.
7. Add the diced potatoes, amchur powder and garam masala. Mix carefully, taste test and adjust the seasoning per taste.
8. Cook for a couple more minutes and take off the heat. Serve with rotis or rice.