Mushrooms and Okras Stir-fry

Another long and busy month and I'm realizing that I have not posted anything for weeks now! I wonder if there comes a time when you automatically tend to push your blogging aside because of certain other things taking priority in your schedule. No, I'm not telling that I have come to that stage, and I don't see myself ever doing so, but was surprised to learn that I'm at a point where I'm regularly late with my posts after my summer break. Ever since school started for my daughter, I've been postponing all my other activities just to make sure she comfortably settles well with her routine. Actually my morning rat-race hasn't been that bad so far. She's been waking up on time as she is still excited about her 2nd grade. She is prompt in getting ready and finishing her breakfast too, and we've been consistently ready about 10 mins earlier than usual! I hope this excitement continues in her for some more time. Generally she likes school, except waking up early on those cold winter mornings, which I'm sure all of us hate anyway.

With time crunch, cooking also took a step back in my kitchen for the past few weeks. We had boringly repetitive meals, though how much ever harder I tried to be creative in the kitchen. But I was also waiting for last weekend to get organized and set-up my refrigerator and pantry, which I thought may trigger my interest to cook something elaborate in the weekend. Well, I finally spent a couple of hours in re-arranging my pantry over the weekend, which was one of my long pending tasks. As I arranged my pantry, I started unveiling those unused spices I had brought from India. That sense of guilt in not using them for such a long sparked the vigor in me to get productive in the kitchen. In the next few mins, I started to browse my cookbook to figure out an easy and tasty dish, especially using Okras.

Okra is the most prolific plant I managed to grow in my mini vegetable garden this year. I initially thought it would die as the growth was slow, but suddenly one fine morning, I saw several new flower buds popping! Aah that was so exciting! Since then its been a pleasure watching it grow. Now I have a few pounds of okras in my refregirator. I obviously wanted to make something good with my okras. This is a dish I found in my cookbook, I've no idea when I wrote this recipe in my cookbook. I liked it because it was just easy to make! This is the first time I'm making it, and was a big hit in our house.

Ingredients:

• Chopped mushrooms - 2 cups
• Okras - 10 to 12, medium sized
• Onions - chopped (1 cup)
• Garlic - 3 medium cloves (finely chopped)
• Mint leaves - 10
• Corriander leaves - 1/2 cup (chopped)
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Corriander powder - 2 tsp
• Garam Masala - 1 tsp
• Mustard and Cumin seeds - 1 tsp each

Procedure:

• Wash & dry the okras, and then cut them in round slices (should not be too thin).
• Slice the mushrooms and set aside.
  Heat oil in a pan, season with mustard and cumin seeds.
• Add finely chopped onions and garlic, fry for 2 - 3 mins.
• Add the mint and corriander leaves, fry for a few seconds.
• Add the okras and stir-fry in low heat for about 3-5 mins, until the stickiness is almost gone.
• Now add the spice powders , mushrooms and salt and mix well.
• Cover in low heat until the mushrooms become soft.
• Then increase the heat, stir-fry until its roasted well and you get a nice brown color.

Goes well with anything as a great side-dish. I enjoy this with Rice and Dal!