Vendakka Mappas/ Okra in creamy spicy coconut gravy...Kerala style.

I have been baking a lot...and maybe indirectly responsible for your bulging waistline or your high cholesterol....can't help myself...I love baking and its therapeutic for me....but all the baked goodies are for my kids and their friends....I rarely buy snacks from bakery.....I have this big aversion to store brought goodies....why buy them when you can make them at home.....a healthy economical option, but then its my own personal opinion.

Everyday food for my family is typical South Indian food for breakfast and meals and North Indian, Chinese, Italian etc (here kids demand is dominant) for dinner. Coming back to vendakka mappas aka stir fried okra in spicy coconut curry is a traditional Syrian Christian delicacy. Chicken mappas, mutton mappas, fish mappas, egg mappas, vegetable mappas, vendakka mappas have almost the same curry base; for chicken, mutton, fish it is spices that has to be cracked in oil, and for vegetable, egg and vendakka it is mustard seeds, the gravy is almost same. With vendakka you can add cubed potatoes and here I have added two potatoes. For vegetable you can add carrots, potato, cauliflower, paneer etc. I make atleast one type of mappas per week for dinner to have with roti. My personal favorite is meen mappas aka fish mappas with puttu.

Here in this recipe I used maggie coconut powder (1 packet) instead of coconut milk (1 and 2). You can check out my chicken mappas recipe if you want to have a detailed step by step instruction on cooking with coconut milk. I used coconut powder as an easier alternative to coconut milk....saves time and ofcourse the minus the scraping of coconuts, squeezing them and too many dishes to wash.

As you all know ladies finger can be a bit slimy if put directly into a curry. So to avoid that lightly saute them with 1 tbsp of oil and little salt.

Actually my dad (whom I call achachen) is so found of this curry that he will coax amma to make this almost every night to have with roti, so the past 40 41 years the most cooked curry in my amma's kitchen is Vendakka mappas......amma always sauted the okra in coconut oil......ya saute them only in coconut oil to give that authentic taste.

So lets get cooking!

Ingredients:
Ladies finger: 250 gm.
Potatoes: 2, cubed (optional, you can make with or without them).
Onion: 2, medium, sliced.
Green chilly: 2 or 3 slit (depending on your tolerance level).
Ginger: 1 inch piece, slit thinly or grated.
Garlic: 4 or 5 cloves, slit finely.
Tomato: 2, chopped ( I use ball tomatoes because they are less sour and have excellent red color).
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp.
Kashmiri chilly powder: 1 to 2 tsp (can increase depending on your tolerance level, I used 2 tsp for this curry).
Coriander powder: 2 tsp.
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp.
Pepper powder: 3/4 tsp.
Vinegar: 1 tsp.
Garam masala: 1 tsp.
Curry leaves.
Coconut oil
Salt.
Coconut powder: 1 packet, (I used maggi coconut powder, 50 gm)

Method:
1. Lightly fry the okra with a tbsp of coconut oil and salt and keep aside.
2. Heat 3 tbsp of coconut oil in a kadai, put in the mustard seeds and allow it to crack. Add the onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies and allow it to saute till the onions are lightly browned.

3. Put in kashmiri chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric, and garam masala. (you can save half the garam masala and add it towards the end for more flavour).

4. Mix all the powders well till the raw smell goes, add vinegar, and add the chopped tomatoes and curry leaves. Add a little water to allow the tomatoes to incorporate with the spices and let it fry on slow heat till oil comes out.

5. Mix coconut powder with 2 cups of water and add in the cubed potatoes (if adding). Let it simmer away for 10 to 15 min....till the gravy is thick creamy. Then add the sauted okras and mix well. You can also add boiled eggs to this or make the gravy and add boiled eggs to make mutta aka egg mappas.