Crispy Bhindi

Crispy Okra in Marathi

Serves: 1 Plate (2 persons)

Ingredients:
15 no. Okra, medium
2 tbsp Gram flour
1 tbsp Rice flour
1/2 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tsp red Chili powder
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1/4 tsp Cumin Powder
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying (Note 1)
Chat Masala to taste

Method:
1) Wash and pat dry Okra. Cut off both the tips of each Okra. Slice each Okra lengthwise and make very thin strips
2) In a small bowl. Mix Gram flour, Rice flour, red Chili powder, Turmeric powder, Cumin powder, Chat masala and salt to taste. Transfer Okra stripes to a mixing bowl. Add ginger garlic paste and stir gently with a spoon. Do not stir vigorously. Now add the flour mixture. Gently mix all the ingredients with the spoon and coat Okra stripes with flour mixture. Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.
3) Heat Oil in a wok. Divide bhendi stripes into 4 batches so that it will not get overcrowded in the oil. Once oil is hot, add first batch, try to separate okra stripes while dropping in the oil. It will cook the Okra evenly. Deep fry until crispy. Drain and again repeat the process.
4) Put drained Okra on a paper towel to remove excessive oil. Now transfer fried Okra to serving plate. Sprinkle little lemon juice or chat masala, red chili powder. Serve this crispy Okra as a starter.

Note:
1) Since the batter for this recipe is dry, it does not stick to bhendi while frying. To avoid waste of cooking oil, use less oil, just enough to fry the bhindies. And fry it in 3-4 small batches.