Bhindi Sambar

Cooking is an art : As much as i appreciate when my friends call me a good cook, there are times when things go wrong ! Guess this is an everybody's kitchen story that something got burnt, something didn't turn right and some leftovers always occupy the fridge space! As much as a foodie i am, i hate to waste food and always want to find some news ways of utilising the leftovers or do some modifications and get the recipe right! 

One such day was when i was trying to make homemade ghee ( which now, am an expert at :)), and the butter refused to pop up ( from which ghee is made, we call this "LONI" in Marathi language ) from the buttermilk, despite trying all the combinations. So now i was left with tons of sweet buttermilk. Yes, it does taste good in it's natural form, but i decided to make something out of it. And my exploration led me to discover a terrific recipe of Sambar made with ButterMilk. Hubby is not much of a fan of coconut based gravies but i truly cherished it with Steamed Rice.

So Grab on your prettiest apron and wear those funky pajamas, and we are all set to enter the kitchen to make the dish of the day :)

Ingredients :

Buttermilk - 2 cups

Bhindi( Lady's finger ) - 1/4 cup (You can also add brinjals or cucumber instead of bhindi ) Chopped into small pieces

Kala Chana - 2 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp ( you can also use coconut oil to add extra flavour and aroma, if you are okay with the smell of it )

Red chillies - 3

Green chillies - 2 ( i didn't have these, so my kadhi is looking a little reddish as i added 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder )

Ginger - 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1tsp

Corriander seeds - 2 tsp

Hing ( Asafoetida ) a pinch

Coconut flakes - 2 tsp 

Curry leaves - a few ( Sigh! I didn't have these too...)

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

  

Recipe :

Soak the kala chana in 1/2 cup of water.

Heat a little oil in a pan and fry the bhindi ( they shouldn't be too crisp, fry it just till they start browning).

Add turmeric and salt to the buttermilk. ( In case you don't have buttermilk, use yogurt )

In a grinder, add the soaked chana, ginger, coconut flakes, green chillies, red chillies and corriander seeds and grind it to a smooth mixture. Add a little water if necessary.

Heat oil in a pan, add Asafoetida, mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When they crackle, add this ground mixture to it and saute for a minute.

Now add the yogurt mixture and let it come to a boil.

Now add the fried bhindis and let it simmer on low flame till it thickens.

You can garnish it with corriander leaves. 

Serve with Steamed rice and Papad !

Happy Cooking :)