Bhendir Sorsori (Assamese style Okra in Mustard Gravy)

Mustard is a very important ingredient in many States of India.Prime among them are Punjab,Uttar Pradesh,Bihar,West Bengal and the North Eastern States.Assam has a great many recipes involving Mustard as it takes cues from its neighbouring State of West Bengal.Most of the recipes bear some resemblance and have minor variations.Bengal uses Kasundi – a spicy Mustard paste for its recipes while Assam uses pure Mustard seeds to make a paste and sometimes it id ground with the famous and fiery Bhoot Jolokia Chillies which are one of the hottest peppers in the world.

Assamese Cuisine was the theme for this month’s Shhhhh Secretly Cooking Challenge where I was paired with Shailaja Reddy who blogs at :

https://sahasravantalu.blogspot.in

I gave Shailaja rice flour and milk while she gave me Okra and Mustard which were concocted in this delicious recipe.

I used yellow Mustard seeds which gave the beautiful yellow colour to the paste.I also used a little of the black Mustard seeds as well.If you do not get the yellow ones use black Mustard seeds for the recipe.

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Soaking time : 1 hour

Makes :  4 servings

INGREDIENTS

250 gms Ladies’ Finger/Okra (Bhindi) heads and tails removed – The small Okra can be left as they are but the longer ones can be halved for even cooking

1 tbsp Mustard Oil

1 tsp Turmeric Powder (Haldi)

1 tsp salt

For the Mustard Paste :

1 tbsp Yellow Mustard Seeds

1 tbsp Black Mustard Seeds

2 tbsp grated Coconut (optional)

1 tbsp Poppy Seeds (posto)

2 tbsp Yogurt

2 Green Chillies

1 tbsp Mustard Oil

1 tsp Turmeric Powder (Haldi)

1 tsp Nigella Seeds (Kalonji)

1 Bay Leaf (Tejpatta)

1 tsp salt

METHOD

Take the mustard and poppy seeds in a bowl and add water to cover the bowl.Let the seeds soak for an hour.

Fry the Okra :

Heat 1 tbsp Mustard Oil in a pan and add the halved/whole Okra.Add the salt and Turmeric powder and fry on medium heat till approximately half cooked.The Okra would be neither very hard/uncooked nor very soft.It would take 4 – 5 minutes till this stage.

Make the paste :

Drain almost all the water from the soaked seeds and  put them in a chutney grinder jar.Add the Coconut,Yogurt and Green Chillies and grind to a very fine and smooth paste.

Prepare the Bhendir Sorsori :

Heat 1 tbsp Mustard Oil in the same pan on medium heat and add the Bay Leaf and Nigella seeds.When they splutter add the prepared mustard paste and fry for 4 – 5 minutes.Add Turmeric Powder and mix well.Now gently add the fried Okra and stir to mix.Cover and let cook for 5 – 6 minutes till the Okra is completely cooked.

Remove and add 1 tbsp of Mustard Oil on top.Serve with plain white boiled rice,paratha or roti.