Middle Eastern Okra Stew
Okra, also known as ladies-fingers, is a flowering plant popular in Africa, middle east and the far east. It has a characteristic slimey nature which is why you always find it combined with acidic ingredients such as lemon. Its also cooked quite quickly to produce a rich and delicious stew (in this case made in a pressure cooker). This dish is charactarised by the sweet flavour the Okra produces against the tang of the lemon.
This dish is best served with bread & rice.
Middle Eastern Okra Stew Recipe
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Ingredients
- 400g bag of frozen okra (you can use fresh too)
- 1 Tin of tomatoes, blended until smooth
- 2 Large onions
- 2 Cloves of garlic
- 2 tsp dried coriander
- Vegetable oil or vegetable margarine
- Juice from half a lemon
- 1 tbsp of tomato purée
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Chop the onions and garlic and soften on a medium heat in a little vegetable oil using a pressure cooker. The rest of the dish will be finished in the pressure cooker (you can use a normal cooking pot if you don’t have a pressure cooker, you will just need to cook for longer).
- Add the dried coriander and season with salt and pepper.
- Pour the blended tomatoes on the softened onions, add the tomato puree, lemon juice and re-check the seasoning, then bring to the boil.
- Add the okra and bring to the boil and top up with water so that the okra is completely covered. Shut the pressure cooker lid and allow to cook on a medium heat for 20-25 minutes (If you’re not using a pressure cooking just cover with a lid and allow to cook on a medium heat).
- The okra is ready when it soft but still retains its shape, adjust seasoning and lemon juice to taste before serving.
I just made your soup – it was really good! Also doubled up as a stew over rice ;-). Thanks for the recipe!
My Middle Eastern mother in law makes this but never really had a recipe to share. I can’t wait to try yours. She also adds a few dried apricots to her sauce.
… yumm!! Apricot + tomato based dishes works well… In fact Apricot works well in everything..it should be everyone’s favourite “secret” ingredient.