Bendekai Palya/ Sauteed Okra

I am sure many a souls would have gone through punishing routines to loose some weight, eat fat-free etc. I am one of them. In my quest for fat-free cooking, I even used the cooking spay for Tadka. Weird right? But there are many of us. I am convinced. Did what all can be done, fat-free milk, fat-free yogurt, low-fat eggs, lot of lettuce, celery. In fact one can of edible oil had lasted for months , not to mention butter lasting for almost six months. But still there has not been a significant change in our weights though my hairline seems to be thinning down. But now I regret having done all that. It was absolutely not required at all.
Simple: Are my grandparents overweight? No.
Are my folks overweight? No.
Does obesity run in my family? No
What do they eat on a normal day? Ragi Mudde/ Chapati/ Rice/ Yogurt/ Palya/Curry.
What do I eat? Low fat waffles/sugar laden cereals/ Rice/pickles/Palya/ Yogurt/Curry/ and many nibbles- sugar free candies, low fat chocolates and many things rubbish
What could possibly be the culprits? everything except Rice/Palya/Yogurt/Curry.
What should I be eating more? Ragi and Wheat.

So I had to push myself into the world of sensible eating rather than resorting to low-fat version of everything which gave me a false sense of comfort, but gave me much less nutrition along with leaving some part of my brain craving for the full-fat versions! Today I feel I cheated myself. Diet cheats do not work. What works is rather simple- quantity and quality.
Now we have tweaked our diets a bit. No more fat-free stuff. We are getting 1% organic milk (somehow it tastes better), organic 1% yogurt, organic Eggs, and a lot of fruits. For every meal we are having a huge serving of Palya-vegetables and of course all tadka/oggarane in Ghee not much but about 1 teaspoon. The food tastes so much good, I feel very satisfied, my brain has nothing to crave for and I know I am doing a world of good to myself. I can already see the difference. I nibble much less. I dont feel hungry often and when ever I eat, I eat slowly enjoying every morsel.
Under this programme we are having at least two different vegetable palyas every day and we try to sort of mix and match the yellow-red vegetables and green leafy vegetables. Experts are of the opinion that eating a wide variety of colours is beneficial. So this mix and match affair. In my quest for more Palyas, I have tried to create very simple combinations that not only tastes good but are easy enough to be whipped up on a week night. Starting with Okras/ Bendekai



You will need

Okra /Bendekai 1lb
Oil 2 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Hing a dash
Curry leaves 8-10
Dried Red Chillies 3-4
Amchoor 1 tsp and above
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash Okras wipe them dry. Make sure to get rid of all the moisture otherwise okras tend to turn slimy. I generally wash them and spread them out on a kitchen towel for at least 2-3 hours.
   
2. Discard the tops and tails, dice them into 1/2" roundels
3. Heat a pan. Throw the okra roundels.Toast the okras till the edges are charred and all the slime is gone. Set it aside to cool
4. Now in another pan/wok, heat oil. Throw in the mustard, hing, turmeric curry leaves and red chillies. Saute for about a minute. Quickly add the okras. Toss well.
   
5. Adjust Amchoor and salt. Cover and cook for a few minutes and it is ready to go to the table!
   

Now is it not simple?
enjoy!!!!