In its red avatar the vegetable looks really fetching! Yes, it is our good old bhindi or lady's fingers (okra) one is talking about which is green in colour but now the red ones are being grown by farmers like Misrilal Rajput in Madhya Pradesh.

The name of this variety of okra is Kashi Lalima and it was developed after 23 years by the Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (IIVR). The IIVR website mentions that Kashi Lalima is rich in anthocyanin and phenolics – which provide anti-oxidant effects and boosts the body’s anti-inflammation capacity.

IIVR is a field unit of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and works under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and this institution created this red variety of bhindi in 2019.

Rajput had sowed the seeds in July and lo and behold in a span of 40 days the crops started growing and now his garden boasts of red pods. He told ANI: “It is more beneficial and nutritious than green ladyfinger. It is extremely beneficial for people who are facing heart and blood pressure issues, diabetes, high cholesterol.”

The vegetable fetches, according to Rajput, Rs.75-80 to Rs.150-200 for 250 grams. He revealed that he had bought one kilogram of seeds from IIVR.

This variety of bhindi used to be imported earlier before it was developed by IIVR.