Okra; Parsi or Persian Style

Okra 


Okra is a vegetable with lots of nutrients and health benefits. It is a love it or leave it vegetable. 
It can be slimy and tasteless when prepared without love. Yet it is delicious with a little hint of spice, and when flash cooked on a high heat, it can avoid the slime. 
Try this delicious dish and share your thoughts on this vegetable with us.

Serves 6

1 tbsp oil

1 kg/ 2.2 lb small whole okra

2-3 medium finely chopped onions, golden brown

2 finely chopped mangoes

1 tsp salt

Pinch of brown sugar

2 small peeled and diced or sliced tomatoes

2 slit green chillies

1 tsp freshly grated garlic

1 tsp freshly grated ginger

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp red chilli powder

Juice of half fresh lemon

Heat the oil and add the okra. Cook them on a high flame for a few minutes until the water has dried and they start to look slightly brown. Add the spices, except for the lemon juice. Mix well and cover well. Cook on a low flame for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle a little lemon juice all over before serving. Serve it hot with chapattis.

 Tips

While fresh is best, flash frozen okra can be used. Rinse the frozen vegetable, leave it in a collander for a few minutes to drain, or use a paper towel to dab dry before starting to cook. The less wet they are, the easier it is to get them to be crisp rather than soggy.

 

If you enjoy the flavours of Persian cuisine, substitute the chilli and cumin for 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp Advieh powders.

My published cookbooks are available for sale through myself via email, in independent book stores across the world and on Amazon India.

The Route to Parsi Cooking: From Pars to India and Beyond is an award winning book. It has been self published in June 2024. Email at theroutetoparsicooking@gmail.com

The World of Parsi Cooking: Food Across Borders is a 3 award winning book. It has been self published in July 2019 and will be going into its second print in 2022. 

The Vegetarian Parsi, inspired by tradition is an award winning cookbook. It was published by Spenta Multimedia India and is available on Amazon India and through email order at thevegetarianparsi@gmail.com.

The Art of Parsi Cooking; reviving an ancient cuisine was published in 2016 by Austin Macauley and continues to be available through amazon book depot book depository and from the publishers.

For more recipes from the Parsi Food collection click

Niloufer's Kitchen : Quick and Easy

Super Persian recipes can be found on

Niloufer's Kitchen: Persian Fusion

For more on Okra click on the link below.

http://www.nilouferskitchen.com/2014/02/okra-pod-worth-picking-on.html

Okra: A pod worth picking on.

Originating from Africa, the word Okra, called Okwuru, may have sprouted from one of the Nigerian dialects in the Igbo language. The French call it "gumbo". In the Indian sub-continent, Bhindi, bheeda. The Arabic world, Afghanistan, Iran, and the Middle East all refer to it as Bamia/Bamya/Bamieh. The Egyptians refer to it as a stew with lamb, similar to our Parsi Bhida ma gos! It is also popular in the Far Eastern world, in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand in particular. 

Mostly eaten cooked, it can be consumed raw. Keeping it crisp has the maximum nutritional value. Crispy fried in tempura batter, it can be delicious. Try the same in a pakora batter. Stuffed Okras are a delicacy served at weddings in certain cultures! 
I can just imagine those noses being turned up at this understated, happily avoided vegetable! If cooked right, they can be delicious. It's worth a shot, believe me.

People have always been clever enough to know which vegetables help prevent and cure certain ailments. Our wise ancestors seemed to have shared their knowledge and stayed healthy with the help of nature's bounty. In modern days, we are fortunate enough to find out the detailed analysis of everything. The DNA of a piece of vegetable is quite incredible. Broken down into minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants, it can tell us exactly how it can help us maintain good health. What we take for granted and shrug away lightly on a daily basis, can essentially be our road to preventive medicine. This could work to our advantage as we learn more about this amazing pod. 

Modern medicine is a privilege; with that comes a price we pay. Food and nutrition may not be able to stop an illness in its tracks, but it can certainly help us stay healthy and happy. Invest in your health. It is everything and more to enjoy life. "Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food." – Hippocrates 

This long green pod of goodness grows on a small green stem. The okra itself can be short and stubby, long and fat or thin and crisp. Variations depend on the geography and the soil where it grows, when it is harvested and lots of other factors. It is part of the mallow family and is related to the cotton crop, hibiscus, and hollyhock plants. It is mostly a tropical plant grown in the heat of the summer.

The beautiful flower that blossoms on the Okra vegetable stem.
It can be rather prickly with the thorns!

Short and Stubby

Young and Tender

Naturally high in alkali, it helps to balance the acidity in our body. It is also considered to be a good natural gut cleanser and a probiotic. It contains good flora, which is known to prevent all sorts of stomach-related problems, such as constipation and digestive problems. Colorectal problems and those associated with the colon may be kept at bay. It helps in healing ulcers and acid reflux. 
Additional health benefits include glowing skin. It can prevent pimples from popping up! 
It is brilliant for nurturing the scalp. Including dandruff protection, it can help rejuvenate dry, listless hair in need of new life. 
People living in India, the UK, and Canada regularly drink a glass of water soaked overnight with fresh Okra to help diabetics maintain their blood sugars. 
Full of minerals and vitamins, it helps build strong bones, prevents osteoporosis and looks after the joints in general. The folate present in okra can help women keep healthy during pregnancy. 


The plant is made of the outer green pod, the little white pearly beads inside, and the "top," which is the root of the pod. It is slightly furry on touch and can be hard and fibrous as it becomes older, yet sweet and crisp when picked early on. It is best eaten when young and tender. It contains a mucilaginous juice which gives it a slimy texture; a result only once touched by a knife! This slimy sensation is generally what turns people off from eating this vegetable. There are a number of ways to reduce or avoid that.  

The sliced  vegetable

                                                                                          The slit vegetable                                                                                                     


Niloufer's Kitchen; Learn the art of eating!!


Images from Google