Farm Kitchen Chronicles: Bhindi Masala-inspired Okra with Kale
Plus, how I roast a chicken to go with it.
This was definitely a week of quick meals. Homeschool is in full swing, and even with outsourcing the math and Spanish this year, I am still swamped. The days are just very—full. It’s fine, though, because I do like homeschool, and though we technically homeschooled this summer, with fall we always get more serious.
Which reminded me that I need to really step up my quick-meal recipe creating. This is a recipe inspired by Bhindi Masala, or okra cooked in a spiced sauce. I am using our fresh tomatoes here to make a thick sauce. The okra I didn’t grow here, nor did I get it from the farm I work at part-time, but instead I sought it out and bought it from a farmer at the market. I first made this recipe on our bus, in the middle of West Texas at a truck stop, when we were driving to our job that we took in New Mexico this winter. I bought okra at an Austin farmer’s market and, since I had a craving for Indian food, and Bhindi Masala is always one dish I usually order at Indian restaurants, I made this dish. I have since perfected my twist on this dish (truck stop cooking is always rushed, slapped-together cooking, since sometimes I am on a slant, or whipping something up trying not to step on bike tires or crammed-in crates of things that are just on the floor—when you are at a truck stop, you are merely “paused” until you get to your next location, so you are not situated, and everything is in the way! Highly annoying cooking conditions!).