Okra & Tomato Stew
I didn’t like okra for years. Wouldn’t eat it. I found it squishy and slimy with no redeeming features. That was until I ate it at Dye’s Gullah Fixin’s in Hilton Head, South Carolina. I now have the zeal of the converted!
This recipe is simple and delicious. It owes as much to Indian cooking as to what I tasted at Dye’s, and it’s really good. The trick is to cook the cut okra pods over high heat for a couple of minutes to seal them before adding the tomatoes and liquid.
Meal: Sides
Serves: 4
Prep: 20 - 30 min
Main Ingredient: Okra
Top Tags: Garlic , Ginger , Okra , Onions , Tomatoes (Canned)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ medium onion, chopped
- 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and julienned
- 1 pound okra, stemmed and cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 recipe Quick Tomato Sauce or 1 (15-ounce) can chopped tomato plus 2 cloves of sliced garlic
- ½ cup water
- Freshly ground black pepper
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Method
1. In a sauté pan with a tight fitting lid, heat olive oil or medium-high heat. Add onion and ginger and cook until softened.
2. Add the okra and salt and cook, stirring for 2 - 3 minutes. Add turmeric and cook for 1 minute more stirring constantly.
3. Add the tomato sauce and cook for 1 minute, then add ½ cup of water, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Uncover and cook for 3 minutes or until there is little liquid in left the pan, and the tomato sauce has thickened and coats the okra.
4. Taste for salt and serve.
This is a really simple dish, so the ingredients have to be good. Be sure to buy small, fresh, green okra pods that are as crisp and unblemished as you can find.
