About:

Stuffed/bharwa bhindi is a spicy delicious dish filled with the spices and cooked which makes a lovely side dish/appetizer. Here in this recipe have stuffed mashed chickpeas and spices which will gives a delicious nutlike taste and texture that is buttery and pasty.

Health Benefits:

Chickpeas or garbanzo beans have a lot of health benefit as they are filled with fiber, protein and iron and lowers the bad cholesterol.

Okra is a popular vegetable in many countries; Okra pods has a slimy feel due to presence of mucilage, it can be reduced by drying it well and sauting with tamarind paste, lemon juice, curd.

Okra mucilage contains soluble fiber and helps to bind the bile acids, cholesterol and toxins in the digestive tract, preventing their absorption and facilitating their removal-thus lowering cholesterol.

Okra acts as a natural diuretic for the kidneys and reduces the toxins in the blood.

So enjoy this stuffed okra as a healthy dish.

Yields: 2-3 servings
Preparation time: 20mins
Cooking OR Baking time: 20mins

Ingredients:

• Okra/bhindi – 250 gms
• Oil-1tbsp + for brushing

For stuffing:

• Cooked and mashed white chick peas-1cup
• Roasted peanuts-2tbsp
• Roasted sesame seeds-1tbsp
• Roasted flaxseed-1tbsp
• Green chilli paste-2tsp
• Ginger garlic paste-1tsp
• Turmeric-1/4tsp
• Lemon juice-2tbsp
• Chopped coriander- a handful
• Salt- as per taste

Procedure:

• Coarsely crush flaxseed, sesame seeds, peanuts using motor and pestle/ in blender and set aside.
• Rinse okra well, wipe them dry with kitchen towel or paper towel very well, let them dry completely before stuffing ( drying is important as it reduce slimeness/stikiness while they are cooking)
• One dry cut off both the ends, make a slit in the centre but ensure not to break bhindi to two pieces and set aside.

For stuffing:

• In a bowl add mushed chickpeas, crushed flaxseed, sesame seeds, peanuts, chilli paste, ginger-garlic paste, salt, turmeric, coriander, lemon juice mix well and set aside.

For stuffing okra:

• Take a teaspoon of filling and stuff into the slit okra. Repeat the same with remaining okras
• Once the stuffing is done this can be either baked or cooked in the pan.

For baking:

• Grease and line the baking tray and pre-heat the oven at 180deg c
• Place the stuffed okra on the baking tray in one layer without overlapping, spray cooking oil on them and bake for about 15minutes and add remaining stuffing and bake for another 3-4minutes.

For pan frying:

• Heat oil in the wide non stick pan, and arrange them in one layer cover and cook for 10-12minutes/ until okra cooked. (stir/flip the okra in between for even cooking)
• Add remaining stuffing if any mix well and cook for another 2-3minutes /until the stuffing is heated through

Serving:

• Serve hot as an appetizer/ side dish

Note:

• Chilli powder can be used instead of chilli paste