Crispy Bhindi Raita

I don't have a very good memory,but this is how I remember my first foray into "gourmet cooking". It was with my sister when I was in 3rd standard and she in 5th. She had got a recipe of Cauliflower Kheer from somewhere, don't remember exactly from where, may be she read somewhere because it was not something that was cooked at our place. It was a lucky afternoon, only two of us were there along with our nanaji,so we decided to cook it. It  was just enough for two of us, rather for only one  person. We were in middle of cooking it , when a guest arrived and since there was no one at home, we had to serve him that kheer. I still feel the pinch of giving that tasty kheer to him. We two only managed to scrape the leftovers for us :D

This is my sister's recipe [Richa] who used to make this a long time back. All of us loved this crispy Bhindi (Okra ) raita ,especially when served with rice. It had been a long time I had eaten it ,and  during these hot summer days in Bombay, it is always pleasurable to have a curd based dish with the regular meal.

Ingredients [ for 2 people]
Bhindi /Okra 8-10  washed, dried and thinly sliced
Curd/Yogurt 1 cup
Water 1/4 cup +  1 tbsp
Salt
Red chili powder
Rai [mustard seeds]  3/4 tsp
Fennel Seeds 3/4 tsp
Curry leaves 4-5
Dried Red chilli
Oil fro frying
oil/ghee for Baghaar

Preparation

1. Deep fry the thinly sliced bhindi till it is slightly brown and crispy. Keep aside.
2.  In a bowl, mix water to curd to thin it.
3. Add salt,red chili powder.
4. When you are ready to serve, add the crispy bhindi to the curd mix. To maintain the crispiness this step should be done just before serving
5. For the baghaar /tempering , In a small pan [bowl size], heat 2 tsp oil/ghee. Add mustard seeds,fennel seeds,curry leaves,dried red chilli. when mustard splutters and fennel seed browns, add this to curd mix. You can use any baghaar recipe of your choice.