Easy Spice-Stuffed Okra

Been meaning to update my recipes for ages, here goes.

This is a super simple recipe. Literally the only thing that takes time is the time it will take for you to stuff the okra with the spice mix. Its easy and relatively healthy as you can use as little oil as you want, really. The original recipe is from the Jasleen Dhamija's 'The Joy of Vegetarian Cooking', a cookbook that I picked up when I was in India a few years ago. Mine is now a well thumbed and stained version. I have tweaked the recipe to suit our taste, as like all Indian cooking you will eventually find the proportions of spices that suit you best. I love these okra as part of a simple veggie meal, with chapattis and dal, as I feel all virtuous and healthy afterwards :-)

Recipe:

About 250 gm okra (ladies' fingers, bhindi, bhendan) washed, topped and dried well.
1 tbsp ground coriander
¾ tbsp ground cumin
½ tbsp garam masala
½ tbsp ground amchur (dried mango powder, available in any Indian grocery)
2 tsp mild chilly powder (or 1/2 tsp hot chilly powder, suit your taste)
1 tsp or to taste salt
Fresh ground pepper
1 tsp chaat masala powder (optional)
2 tbsp oil (any kind, I even use olive when I am feeling particularly health conscious)

1. Wash, cut the tops off and dry the okra well. Drying the okra will make them less sticky when you stuff them. Cut gently into them lengthwise, opening them up, but not cutting all the way through. Just enough space to stuff spices in.
2. In a clean, dry bowl, mix together the ground coriander, cumin, garam masala, amchur, chilly powder, pepper and salt. Taste, and adjust the seasoning/ spice mix to suit your taste.
3. Now gently open up the individual okra, and taking a small teaspoon of the spice mixture, stuff it into the okra. Stuff all the okra the same way until the mixture is finished.
4. Heat the oil in a wide shallow pan, and when the oil is sizzling, throw in the okra in a single layer. Stir and fry for about 5 minutes on a medium hot flame, turning until the okra are cooked through, tender and very lightly charred. Do not overcook the okra, you want a slight bite to them. Sprinkle with the chaat masala powder, if you like.
5. Serve them with any Indian bread or with rice and a dal.