Vendakkai poriyal / okra (or) lady’s finger stir fry is a tasty south Indian side dish and I make often at home. Also this is worldwide used versatile vegetable. I use this vegetable to make sambhar, puli kulambhu , subzi and stir fries. Lady’s finger is very good for our health and My mom used to tell that eating raw lady’s finger helps us to solve maths problems quickly. But I don’t know the scientific reason behind that and here it comes the delicious okra stir fry without coconut,onion and garlic, that goes well with sambhar and rice.



    Ingredients

            15 Lady’s Finger / Okra, Medium Size
            2 Tsp of Oil
            1/2 Tsp of Mustard Seeds
            1/2 Tsp of Urad Dal
            Few Curry Leaves
            1 Tsp of Sambhar Powder
            Salt to Taste


    Method

• Wash the okra / lady’s finger in a cold running tap water. Wipe it dry with a paper towel. Cut the head and tail part and then cut into thin pieces.

• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves, after it splutters, add the lady’s finger, fry well for a min.
• Add sambhar powder and salt, fry well for 2 mins, sprinkle little water, cover the pan with a lid and cook for 3-5 mins until it turns soft and reduces in volume. Give a quick stir and turn off the flame.
• Vendakkai poriyal is ready to serve with rice and sambhar.

    Tips

• If you don’t have sambhar powder, add 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder and 1 tsp of red chilly powder.
• You can add 2 tbsp of chopped red onion while tempering.
• Add grated coconut at the end if you like coconut flavor.
• Always use tender okra for frying, you can check that by bending the tail part,  if it is broken easily, then it is tender in nature.

        
    Health Benefits of Okra/ Lady’s finger

• Rich source of vitamin A and Antioxidants.
• Fiber in okra helps to maintain the health of GI tract.
• Ideal vegetable for weight loss and lot of health benefits provided it is cooked in a medium flame to retain its properties.
• Okra has laxative treats irritable bowels and treats ulcers.
• Excellent for feeding the good bacteria(probiotics)
• Protects you from pimples and helps in maintaining beautiful skin. 
• Normalizes blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

Capsicum are known by different names and available in different bright colors. I like the green capsicum. I often use green capsicum to make sambar, for topping the pizza and for subzis. I found this capsicum chutney recipe  in a Tv show so I thought of making this as a side dish for idly. Green bell pepper chutney is very simple and easy to make chutney and great in taste and flavor. Capsicum, onion, tomato, red chillies and dals are roasted in oil, ground to a fine paste and finally tempering added to it. Try this kudai milagai chutney for idly or dosa.

Ingredients

• 2 Green Medium Size Capsicum (Bell Pepper)
• 1 Large Red onion
• 1 Large Tomato
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• 2-3 Red Chillies
• 2 Tsp of Urad dal
• 1 Tsp of Chenna dal
• Blueberry or Small Gooseberry Size of Tamarind
• 1 -2 Tbsp of Coriander Leaves, chopped
• 2 Tsp of Oil
• Salt and Water as Needed

To Temper

• 2 Tsp of Gingelly Oil (Indian Sesame Oil)
• 1 Tsp of Mustard Seeds
• 1 Tsp of Urad Dal
• Few Curry Leaves

Method

• Heat oil in a pan, add urad dal and channa dal, roast this for few mins until it turns golden brown. Transfer the contents to a plate and keep this aside.
• In the same pan, add oil, red chillies, garlic cloves, onion fry this for 2 mins until onion turns golden brown.
• Add tomato, fry this until it turns mushy.
• Add capsicum, fry this for a min, add tamarind and coriander leaves, fry this for another min and turn off the flame. Let this mixture cool down for 5 mins.
• In a blender(mixie), add urad dal, chenna dal and capsicum-tomato mixture, add 1/4 cup of water and grind it to a smooth paste.
• Heat oil in a pan, when it is hot, add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves, after it splutters, pour this over the chutney.
• Capsicum chutney is ready to be served with idly or dosa.

Tips

• You can do the same recipe with red capsicum.
• If you don’t want tamarind in your chutney, instead you can add 2 tomatoes, for tangy taste.
• Adjust the amount of red chillies according to your taste.
• You can use green chillies instead of red chillies.

Health Benefits of Capsicum/Bell Pepper

• Low in calories and fat.
• Reduces triglycerides levels, thereby enhancing the metabolism.
• Rich source of vitamin A, C, betacarotene and anti-oxidants.
• Good for digestion.
• Treat arthritis and shingles.
• Blood clotting properties & prevents cancer.

         Here it comes a most popular South Indian snack – Bajji / Bhajji. Bajji is a hot, crispy evening tea time snack. It is a dish prepared by dipping sliced raw banana in gram dal -rice flour batter and finally deep frying it in a hot oil. You can make bajji with any vegetables like potato, onion and eggplant . Best accompaniment for this bajji are coconut chutney or peanut chutney and tea.

       Ingredients

          1 Big Vazhakkai / Raw Banana
          3/4 Cup of Gram (Besan) Flour
          1/4 Cup of Rice Flour
          1 Tsp of Corn Flour
          1/4 Tsp of Baking Soda
          A Pinch of Asafoetida
          1.5 Tsp of Red Chilly Powder
          1 Tsp of Salt
          Water as needed , about 2/3 cup of water
          Oil for Frying

    Method

• Wash and peel the skin of raw banana/ vazhakkai.
• Slice them lengthwise into long and thin slices.
• In a bowl, add besan flour, rice flour, corn flour, asafoetida, red chilly powder, baking soda, salt and add water little by little to get batter. Batter should not be too thick or too thin.
• In the meantime, heat oil in a shallow pan for deep frying.
• When oil gets hot (323 degree F), dip the banana slices in the batter and make sure it is coated well on both sides.
• Carefully drop the slices one by one into the oil, cook them until it turns golden brown color on both sides.
• Transfer them to a paper towel(Tissue paper) lined container to absorb oil.
• Serve immediately with tea and coconut chutney or peanut chutney. 

     Tips

• Addition of asafoetida is for digestion.
• You can add pinch of orange food color, to get colorful bajji.
• Adjust the amount of red chilly powder and salt accoeding to your taste.
• Always cook in a medium high flame.

    Health Benefits of Vazhakkai / Raw Banana

• Good source of resistant starch, a type of starch that cannot be broken down by enzymes in our digestive system, acts like fiber than starch, good for diabetes. 
• High in potassium and vitamin B6.
• High in fiber content.