Recipe Potato and Okra Jhalfrezi

[Yorky]

Ingredients

• 750 gm Potatoes, scrubbed
• 4 tblsp Olive oil
• 250 gm Okra, trimmed, chopped, washed and soaked for 30 minutes
• 2 Large onions, finely chopped
• 3 tsp Ginger, pureed
• 2 tsp Garlic pureed
• 6 Red or orange Thai chilies, chopped
• 1 tsp Ground coriander seeds
• 1 tsp Ground cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Ground caraway seeds
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric
• 1 tsp Chili powder
• 100 mm Cinnamon stick, broken up
• 2 Black cardamom pods, split open
• 4 Whole cloves
• 175 ml Water
• 1 tsp Salt (or to taste)
• 1 tblsp Tomato puree
• 2 Cayenne chilies, sliced lengthwise
• 2 tblsp Coriander leaf, chopped

Method

Cut the potatoes into bite size pieces. Heat the oil in a wok and stir fry the potatoes until brown on all sides. Remove and keep aside.

Add a little more oil to the wok and fry half the onions, ginger, garlic and Thai chilies until the onion has browned slightly. Add the ground coriander, cumin, caraway, turmeric, chili powder, cinnamon stick, cardamom and cloves and stir fry for 2 minutes.

Add the water, potatoes and okra, bring to the boil stirring continuously. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Heat more oil in a frying pan and stir fry the remaining onions until golden brown. Add to the wok and stir fry for 2 minutes.

Add the salt, tomato puree, sliced chilies and stir fry on a low heat for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the coriander leaf and serve hot.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Wow, this looks amazing. I have often been accused of a long list of herbs and mostly spices (sometimes as many as +20 per meal) and find it great to have someone else with a really good list and obviously supply of them. When Okra is back in season, I will definitely be try this one. It will also get pinned to my Pinterest board.

 

[Yorky]

As far as I remember, the dish recipe was adapted from Madhur's chicken jhalfrezi recipe.

 

[Morning Glory]

I like this too and I may do it in my 'test kitchen' . As you say, @SatNavSaysStraightOn, this recipe seems to have a lot of ingredients. But most are spices, so it isn't a question of labour intensive peeling and chopping. The 'steps' are simple. Its just that you need to have the ingredients to hand (which you, I and Yorky do). I'd love to persuade more people who are new to cooking of how easy it is if you have a spice rack/cupboard.

 

[Yorky]

I have a spice cupboard but I have to keep many of my spices in the fridge away from ants and other critters. Luckily I still remember which spices are where.

 

[Cinisajoy]

I would need to get the Thai chilies.

 

[Yorky]

I would need to get the Thai chilies.

I have developed this chart which may be of assistance in choosing alternatives?

http://freebeerforyorky.com/scoville.htm

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I have a spice cupboard but I have to keep many of my spices in the fridge away from ants and other critters. Luckily I still remember which spices are where.

I have similar issues with ants and mice. Everything from flour to dals to rice to well everything, is in jars. The only exception is stuff like tahini and then because of the outside of the container getting messy, it is in a plastic zip lock bag as well (double zip lock). Luckily my entire herb and spice collection (except for sugars and tamarind) is in jar glass in a mouseproof pantry. Ants have yet to show an interest because I am exceptionally careful with sugars or anything sweet. I also have a massive spice collection despite struggling to get some of them here in Australia. There are photos on here somewhere of my old spice collection back in the UK (only spices, herbs are usually grown or in the freezer)... I will see if I can locate it.

 

[Morning Glory]

I have a spice cupboard but I have to keep many of my spices in the fridge away from ants and other critters. Luckily I still remember which spices are where.

I've got some pull out 'baskets' in my cupboards. They are brilliant for organising cupboard contents. The baskets are made to fit standard kitchen cupboards and sit side by side on the shelf with grab handles at the front. At my friends house where I often cook I've organised the spices into these baskets as I was always having to take the entire contents of his cupboard out searching for a spice jar! They are particularly good for storing things in packets, I find. They look a bit like this: