Kurkuri bhindi is the crispy snack attack you get when okra is sliced into matchsticks, spiced and lightly battered, fried or air fried, and finished with a tangy burst of lime juice and chaat masala.
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Bhindi (okra) is my spirit vegetable. Simply fried as a bhujia, sitting in a gravy, and this is controversial, but even slimy bhindi is ok with me. So obviously I was curious about the thin and crispy variety known as kurkuri bhindi. Okra gets a bunch of undeserved hate so this is for the haters because kurkuri bhindi strips okra’s original personality away from it and gives it a new one. like a teen going through a rebellious phase.
Or a better analogy is Taylor Swift’s Reputation era because even though it isn’t my absolute favorite, it rocks my world every time it comes around.
If you’ve ever had kurkure, the Indian chips brand that looks like a Cheeto but tastes better, this kurkuri bhindi is about as close as a vegetable can get to it. Like I said, it’s not my favorite way to eat bhindi (for that, check out this recipe), but it’s spunky and bold. Bhindi that doesn’t even taste like bhindi? Bhindi with chaat masala? People who aren’t bhindi fans can finally chill out.
How to Make Kurkuri Bhindi
All moisture be gone
A key step to making sure your bhindi doesn’t turn slimy is to squeeze out all the excess moisture. Cut the bhindi thinly and then squeeze all the moisture out with a towel.
Spice and batter
Coat the bhindi with besan (chickpea flour), rice flour or cornstarch, garam masala, turmeric, red chili powder, amchur (dried mango powder), and salt.
Fry or air fry
So there is a difference in how they turn out. The fried ones end up retaining more of bhindi’s flavor profile as well as those of the spices that coated it. They are crispy, but with a softer inside. The air fried bhindi is straight up crispy and you can barely tell that it’s bhindi.
If you decide to fry, you’ll shallow fry in a pan or cast-iron. I highly recommend using mustard oil because that is typically what is used for the best bhindi ki sabzi, but if you don’t have that, any neutral oil will do!
Finish with some ~pizzazz~
Once the bhindi is done and crispy af, finish with a light squeeze of lime juice and chaat masala. I’ve waxed about my adoration for chaat masala enough on here so I’ll just leave it at that.
Kurkuri Bhindi
Ingredients
- 20-25 okras, cut lengthwise twice
- 2 tbsp besan (chickpea flour) *see note for subs
- 1 tbsp rice flour or cornstarch
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp amchur (dried mango powder) *optional – use it if you have it!
- ¼ tsp red chili powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt or salt to taste
- 1-4 tbsp mustard oil or neutral oil *1 for air frying or 4 for shallow frying
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp chaat masala (or more! or less! your choice)
Instructions
- Wash the bhindi (okra) a few times. Wrap each one in a paper towel or dish towel to squeeze out all excess moisture. Cut into matchsticks by cutting lengthwise twice – each bhindi should yield 4 long pieces.
- Toss the cut bhindi with besan (chickpea flour), rice flour or cornstarch, ground spices, and salt.
- Air frying: mix in 1 tbsp mustard oil to the bhindi. I find that not adding any oil to an air fryer makes some things turn out unappealingly dry. Preheat the air fryer and air fry at 400 F for 10 minutes. Mix once in the middle.
- Shallow frying: heat a cast iron pan or another pan over medium heat with ~ 1/4 cup mustard oil or just enough for the base of the pan to be covered. Add all the bhindi and make sure they are not overlapping. Let it cook for 8-10 minutes until they are crisp. Flip in the last few minutes of cooking. Be careful about increasing heat because they burn easily!
- Once the bhindi have cooled down slightly, finish with a squeeze of lime and sprinkle of chaat masala.
Notes
- Sub corn flour if you don’t have besan. The corn flour version might just turn out even crispier! If you don’t have either, another flour should work too.
