Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Vendakka Aviyal/Okra Cooked in Tangy Coconut

TH and I are both Okra (vendakka in tamil and malayalam) haters. Well, maybe hate is too strong a word, but definitely its a strong dislike. But being my mother's daughter, ignoring any vegetable is not my thing, so I still continue to buy it and make things that take out the slimy feel from it, cuz that's what we both hate. My mom frequently makes the traditional aviyal, with all possible vegetables and a generous amount of coconut. So I wasn't too familiar with this particular version of aviyal until I asked her for recipes with Okra (that takes out the sliminess!).



The only considerable difference in Vendakka Aviyal is the addition of tamarind. It gives it a nice tangy flavour and disguises the undesirable parts of the vegetable beautifully.



Serves 2

What I Used:

Okra/Vendakka/Ladies finger : 10 nos.
Grated coconut : 1/2 cup
Shallots : 5-6
Tamarind paste : 2 tbsp
Powdered Jeera/Cumin : 1 tsp
Chilli powder : 1 tsp
Curry leaves, mustard : for tempering
Coconut oil : 2 tbsp
Salt : to taste

How I Made It:

1. Chop the okra in 1" pieces and cook in some salted water till soft.

2. Coarsely grind the coconut, shallots, jeera and chilli with very little water.

3. Heat coconut oil in a kadai and temper with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add the ground paste and fry for 10 seconds. Then add the okra pieces and the tamarind paste. Keep covered and cook for 2 mins till the curry has mixed well.

4. Adjust salt and remove from fire.

Serve hot with rice.

This special aviyal dish using tamarind, goes to JFI - Tamarind hosted by Sig this month.

29 People Said..:

Aparna said...

I'll take your word for it that this works for okra.:) Looks good though.
I like okra as long as it is stirfried and dry, otherwise I give it a miss!

Sig said...

Oohhhhhhh is this the first "TH" mention? :D I'm sure there are many more coming...

Vendakka aviyal, huh? Never heard of it!! I love vendakka including some of the slimy preparations... This looks good. Thanks for the entry N...

Rachel said...

I'm one as well who isn't fond of the sliminess...I like it stir fried....

Sia said...

i love, love and simply love okara. so this innovative recipe is a must try. coconut, okra and tamarind-i can already taste it :)

bhagyashri said...

What a coincidence Nags, I just posted about my love for Okra! Never came across this type of preparation, but will surely try this sometime.

Nags said...

Sig - Yes, I think this is the first official TH mention :D

I think okra is like the fruit durian that's available in plenty here in Singapore. You either hate it or you love it.

Happy cook said...

Well nags i am not wild about okra, mostly it is in sambat we used at home or the other dish i have no idea wht it is called, it is a dry dish.

sra said...

Hi Nags, how are you? I've never come across this dish, nor any other which requires this vegetable to be boiled. I always thought ladies finger + water = slime. :)

Fearless Kitchen said...

I'm a huge okra fan, so this recipe looks fantastic to me. I usually find that using frozen okra reduces the sliminess of the vegetable.

Mansi Desai said...

that sounds great Nags! after making my coconut-peanut bhindi masala, I've become a huge okra fan too!:)

btw, you can send this to Suganya for AFAM-Coconut also!:)

Vanamala said...

Lovely dish..

skribles said...

Innovative recipe! Okra avial with tamarind :) ... the combi of these 3 are new to me.
I love okra as well as avial, so this is a must try for me. Thanks for sharing.

Laavanya said...

My MIL makes this quite often and I love it... looks very good Nags.

Roopa said...

Thats a new recipe for me:) Vendakka in avial! Wow nice combo Nags:) Must try one:) Next time I think of making avial I am gonna make this:)

notyet100 said...

hi hve come to invite u to my blog tocollect ur award,..

Siri said...

I am a duteous Okra lover Nags (unlike u and ur 'TH'). Avial looks yummy.. addition of Tamarind is new to me!

will try it out!

Hugs,
Siri

Cooking Station said...

a new recipe for me will surely try coz we love okra. Glad to stumble upon another Singapore blogger.

Swati Raman Garg said...

TH :) iam a die hard okra lover... and this avial sure soungs good with that tamarind flavor...

Sireesha said...

Hi nags ,visiting ur blog for the first time.U have nice and lovely blog.
My Mother makes this quite often and I love it very much.....looks very good Nags.

Asha said...

Beautiful dish girl, I love Okra but hard to get it here other than frozen ones. Great recipe Nags, glad to see you posting!:)

SoupRecipe said...

Hi,nice blog...
I want exchange link with your blog, my blog is about soup recipe. Please leave me a message if you wanna exchange link with me. Thank you.

Miri said...

First time I have heard of this dish and it looks very yummy! :)

By the way, you can change it to DH (dear husband) when he's in your good books! :)

Sukanya Ramkumar said...

WOW... This sounds so tasty. Looks great also. YUM!

Usha said...

I have never tried making aviyal with okra should try it sometime

Andhra Flavors said...

I love okara, but here it little bit expensive. nice recipe with okra.

Anonymous said...

Hi Nags, I love this dish, and I make this quite often.If you want more vendakka recipes (one being vendakka rasam)- let me know,I can give atleast 3 more that will take out the sliminess (if that's the word)! It's my daughter's fav and my hubby's and mine too:-) We make it atleast 2ce a wk, and so a kilo a week of it is inevitable!Also, the mango curry - is something I make whenever i get raw mangoes, as i love the tangy taste-try adding the raw mango chutney recipe too.If mangoes are too sour, you can try adding a tsp or two of melted jaggery. It's really yum!waiting for next post- love,shreya.

Nags said...

shreya!! its so nice that you still visit my blog :) thanks for the tips and vendakka rasam sounds great but i am sure TH won't touch it :D

Anonymous said...

Is the coconut used fresh or dried?

Nags said...

I used fresh and that tastes best, but anything goes :)

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