- 2 onions
- 1 tbl ghee or olive oil
- 4 cloves of garlic
- about a half an inch of ginger
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 pound of fresh okra, cleaned and sliced
- 2 tomatoes
- about 1 tsp chopped mint
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
i’m a huge okra fan. huge. i love okra. i bumped into a friend at the farmers market yesterday and the discussion went like this (you know who you are):
her: but what does it taste like?
me: sort of like a cucumber (what the hell was i thinking?)
can okra be slimy when you cut it? sure, but does it taste slimy? no. when you cook it the slime disappears, why did i tell her okra tastes like cucumber? i’m not sure, it really doesn’t taste like anything, i guess either does cucumbers really. i really have no idea what i am talking about today.
so anyway, there are 3 farm stands i make sure to hit every wednesday; gaia’s breath, concklin, and madura (they don’t have a website).
gaia’s: meat as well as random veggies
conklin: apples, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, corn and doughnuts
madura: mushrooms and other various veg ranging from onions and garlic to cilantro.
this past week madura had okra. honestly, i didn’t even know okra was in season, i was incredibly siked to see it. okra is one of my favorites. you can fry it, saute it, but the best dish ever…okra curry.
you might be saying to yourself, okra curry? really? yes really. it’s amazing. remember, curry is as hot as you make it. you can skip the spice all together or really give it a nice kick. i love spicy, not spicy as in you’re sweating and have an uncontrollable urge to drink water, i mean moderately spicy.
this is the perfect dish to celebrate the end of summer. if you have never tried okra, give it a try, it will become your new favorite vegetable.
mild okra curry
- in a blender or food processor, blend together: 1 onion, garlic, coriander, turmeric, and ginger. set aside.
- take the other onion and slice it very thinly. in a saute pan, add ghee or olive oil. saute onion until softened and just starts to turn brown.
- now is the time to stir in the spice blend you just made. at a medium heat, add and mix in the spices you just blended. cook for another 5 minutes.
- now, take all that yummy okra and add to your pan. stir, and cover. cook for about 15 minutes. every couple of minutes or so i like to take the cover off and stir so nothing burns.
- meanwhile cut your tomatoes into bite size pieces. when okra has been cooking for at least 15 minutes add tomatoes to your saute pan with garam masala and fresh chopped mint. mix and cook for another 10 minutes.
garnish with some fresh mint and serve. we love this over rice with some naan. we have a small little market by us that sells all sorts of great chutneys, i serve this with a mango chutney (major grey is my fav) and a tamarind chutney.
