Achari Bhindi |

Okra is a great vegetable if you”re lchf or keto. At only 2 grams net carb per 100 grams, its a staple on rotation in this house. Since its also very common in most desi households, you obviously do not have to be Keto or LCHF to consume it. I eat it as is, or with a low carb roti/nan while I’ll serve it with a paratha for the non keto members of my family. There aren’t alot of desi keto vegetables, plain old bhindi becomes boring. My mum makes it with meat and even mince at home. My inlaws don’t like to include meat in theirs, so I make this achari version every week or so.

It keeps things interesting in the keto world! And honestly, I would serve this on a daawat as well. My mum makes the achar masala and fills green chillis with the masala and then adds them to the bhindi so the masala is slowly released throughout the bhindi making it FINGER LICKING GOOD.

I’m lazy so I do the quick version, all you have to do is add a few basic achar masalas to your bhindi to take it to the next level. I know onions and tomatoes are not keto, but I usually avoid the onions and tomatoes in them, or since I am one meal a day these days, the carb count still stays below 20 grams for me. If you’re stricter, just reduce the onion and tomatoes to one each.

Here is what I had:

500 grams fresh okra chopped ( I prefer chopping them at around 1.5 inches long because that’s how my mum did it, and I don’t like tiny specks of bhindi all mixed up and destroyed, I like it to keep its shape)
2-3 Fresh Roma Tomatoes
One large onion or two small onions ( I like them cut longer but my fam likes them short to medium, do what you like)
Salt 2 tspn (or to taste)
Red Chilli Powder (1.5 tspn)
Turmeric (1/2 tspn)
Red chilli flakes (1.5 tspn)
Mustard seeds /Methray/ Methi seeds (1.5 tspn, I use my mortar and pestle to ground it)
Nigella seeds/ Kalonji (1.5 tspn)
Fennel Seeds (1 tspn)
Coriander seeds (2 tspn , crushed in the mortar)
Cumin seeds (1 tspn)
Cumin Powder (1 tspn heaped)
Lemon juice (1/2 to 1 tblspn)
Green chillis 3-5

Method:

We only use Olive oil, ghee, Avacado oil, Coconut oil and butter in this house. I prefer ghee because I’m Kashmiri like that, lol. If you use any other vegetable oil, it would be worthwhile to research on them and their effect on your health. Don’t buy in to mainstream propaganda, but I digress. Use your preferred oil and start frying the bhindi. I don’t turn them completely brown, I just fry them till I don’t see the sticky sap anymore.

After this add all the spices and fry for another minute or so. I will add a great tip here, if you have time, toast the mustard seeds, nigella seeds, cumin, fennel seeds, coriander seeds lightly till they start giving off an aroma, then crush using your mortar and pestle and add them, this adds way more depth to your dish. Be careful you don’t over roast and burn!

Its still going to be super tasty if you skip this step, but don’t skip it if you want to take it to the absolute next level and have plenty of time to kill.

So added all the spices and fried? Great!

Add in chopped tomatoes and chopped onions, and the green chillis and lemon juice. I’ve always seen my mum add them and turn the heat off and put the lid on. It is super fresh this way. Heat it up just before serving if you made this before hand and serve with paratha for the carb lovers and low carb rotis for the Keto lovers!