Vendakkai Pachadi | Okra Raita
Easy South Indian Style Vendakkai Thayir Pachadi, Bhindi Raita or Okra Raita. A simple Kerala Style Pachadi recipe that can be served as side with Sambar or Pulissery, Rice and Thoran.
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Coconut Oil
- 2 cups Bhindi / Okra / Vendakkai approx 300g okra, chopped
- 2 cups Fresh Thick Yogurt or Curd plain, unsweetened
- ½ cup Fresh Grated Coconut
- 4 Green Chilies
- ½ tsp Cumin Seeds or Jeera
- Salt to taste
Tempering
- ½ tbsp Coconut Oil
- 1 Whole dry red chili roughly torn into 4 pieces
- ½ tsp Mustard Seeds
- ½ tsp Urad Dal or Split Skinless Black Gram
- A sprig of Curry leaves
Instructions
Stir Frying or Sautéing Vendakkai / Okra
- Heat a pan, add 1 tbsp coconut oil and sauté vendakkai / bhindi or okra until its crisp on the outside and soft inside. Once done, set aside to cool.
Preparing the Yogurt Coconut and Chili Mix
- Whisk the yogurt in a bowl until lump-free. Add salt.
- In a mixer grinder jar or chutney jar, coarsely pulse or grind 1/2 cup freshly grated coconut, cumin and green chilies.
- Add this to the whisked yogurt and mix well.
Assembling
- Add the stir fried vendakkai or okra to the yogurt, coconut mix and prepare for tempering
- Heat a pan, add 1/2 tbsp coconut oil, mustard seeds, urad dal and dry red chilies. Once mustard crackles, add curry leaves. Switch off flame. Add this to the pachadi, mix and serve
Video
Notes
Ingredient Notes -
- Vendakkai / Okra / Bhindi - For this recipe, you can use either fresh or pre-cut frozen okra. Cut the okra uniformly for faster cooking. The pieces should not be too thin or too thick.
- While sautéing / stir frying okra, I have not added salt. Salt is added to the yogurt and coconut mix.
- Okra needs to be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. You can either deep fry the okra or sauté them, like I have, for this recipe. Stir Frying or sautéing should be done in a wide pan to prevent slime.
- Okra or Bhindi can be air fried too. However I find the texture too dry and chewy so prefer the sauté or stir fry method.
- Yogurt - The yogurt should be fresh. It is the key ingredient for the recipe. I have used regular yogurt (plain, unsweetened), you can use coconut yogurt or any vegan yogurt of your choice.
- This pachadi is made spicy using green chilies. Feel free to adjust the quantity or skip, if you prefer less heat.
- Traditional Kerala recipes use Coconut oil. Feel free to substitute with any neutral oil, if you don't like the flavor or taste of coconut oil.
- Thayir Pachadi is best consumed within 24 hours. In summers, the yogurt turns sour quickly. If it is too sour for your taste, add few spoons of milk to the yogurt, whisk and serve.
- This dish tastes best when served chilled.
- The recipe is Gluten-Free.
- You can garnish the pachadi with finely chopped coriander or cilantro.