okra? (stew)
okra? It was easy for bob to coast through half a life without ever
encountering this oddly shaped green veggie. Which remains outside mainstream
American food choices, although it is widely available. Mostly frozen in
supermarkets, though. We get our occasional exposure at
Isgouhi's table,
although her oldest daughter is not a big fan. We first recorded this recipe in 1992
and then added some corrections in 2007. Now it is 2011 and we are not ripping
out the new recipes very fast, so it's time to dust this one off and make it
official.
Apparently the key thing to do with okra is to avoid slimy, which perhaps is
an easily reached end state if you are not careful. Overcooking, not good at achieving this goal.
The authentic way to go here is with lamb, the preferred meat of the Middle
East. Making this a one pot meal.
ingredients
- 1 lb okra
- 1 lb meat (lamb or stew meat, lamb's neck is cheap and does the job)
- 1 lemon, juice of
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 or 5 cloves garlic, pressed
- 1/2 lemon, juice of
- 1/4 t Middle Eastern allspice (just use the regular stuff)
- 1/4 t Middle Eastern red pepper
(paprika with a hint of cayenne)
- 1/4 t black pepper (or to taste)
- 1 t salt (or to taste)
- 1/2 small can (6oz?) tomato paste
- 1 T (heaping) red pepper paste (if available)
- 1 T butter
- .
instructions
- Clean the okra, removing their heads, and let sit in water with the juice
of a lemon for about 10-15 minutes, then rinse in a colander.
- Cover the lamb meat with water and bring to a boil until the scum rises
to the top, a few minutes. Then rinse. If instead you use stew meat, brown
first in 1 T butter in the bottom of your pressure cooker.
- Add the chopped onion and sauté 1-2 minutes.
- Add the okra. Add the tomatoes and spices and tomato paste and lemon
juice. Cover the okra with water, cover and bring to full steam.
- Pressure cook 1-2 minutes at full steam and release pressure.
- Serve.
notes
- Okra is a wierd pod like
veggie.
- Illustrations available.