Lady’s fingers in different drapes

Lady’s fingers aka okra is better known to Indians as bhindi. It is relished in many versions. Kurkuri (crisply fried), paired with onions, achaari (stuffed with pickling spices), cooked on dum in Awadh or presented as do pyaaza, khatti chooran wali in Hyderabad, besani in Rajasthan or encountered as tave ki at marriage banquets. Then there are variations of the bhrawaan theme. The popular filling in Maharashtra is a mixture of peanuts, sesame seeds, desiccated coconut, a dash of crumbled jaggery and a strong dose of hot chillies.

Parsis like it mild and dip it in chilled curd after frying. Mind you this is no raita but a regular subzi. They have a penchant for eggs and also have another recipe eenda ma bheenda where fried okra is heaped on a base of scrambled eggs cooked the Parsi way. And how can we forget bhindi masala that dunks crisply fried bhindi into a tomato-onion-garlic-ginger concoction that makes it look like a close cousin of other equally unimaginative kadahi recipes.

In the days of lockdown, we find ourselves recalling myriad bhindi delicacies we have come across. One of the most breathtaking vendakai curries we have enjoyed is the Brahmin recipe from Udupi, the town that houses a major Krishna shrine and muth. This dish doesn’t just eschew onions and garlic, it also dispenses the tomatoes brought in by the Portuguese. The gravy relies on grated coconut and chilli paste. A dash of tamarind pulp is added to fix the stickiness of bhindi and to balance the sourness, some crumbled jaggery is thrown in. Served with rice, it is sheer bliss.

In Mangalore, there is no taboo on onions, garlic or tomatoes. Here, tamarind and jaggery join hands with pungent red chillies. The real twist here is coconut milk that is added to obtain a thin gravy and reduce the pungency. In Tamil Nadu, bhindi enriches kuzhambu, a kadhi-like preparation — a very satisfying accompaniment to rice on a hot summer day you yearn for a light meal.

North Indians seem to have an unreasonable mental block against bhindi in thick or thin gravies. They taste as good with phulka as with rice. There are non-vegetarian combos. We were recently treated to an absolutely stunning bhindi murgh by dhrupad maestro Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar. The finicky Ustad himself wasn’t too pleased as he had wanted bhindi gosht to be prepared! However, soon enough, another friend Atiya Zaidi, who is originally from Jaunpur, shared this recipe and we are just waiting for the mutton shops to reopen before we experiment with it.