I grew up in the Northwest. My heritage is Russian. I knew nothing about okra. But I do now. In fact, I'm in love with it.
This plant grows really well in Texas, which is where I live. It loves dry heat, so it's a reliable summer crop. As part of the Mallow family of plants, it blooms pale yellow flowers that become edible pods.
Clemson okra is the green stemmed one on the left. It's shorter than the Red Burgundy on the right. Both are highly productive. (This is early in the growing season.) The Red Burgundy is what I'd probably use as a landscape plant due to its red colored stalks and more dramatically patterned leaves.
The leaf of the Red Burgundy has dramatic veins.
These are the Clemson okra pods. I'd say these tasted better than the Red Burgundy, but it may have had more to do with the age of the pods.
Red Burgundy okra pods
This is my first, humble harvest. I wasn't quite sure when and how to do it. But I now know the pods shouldn't be bigger than 2.5 inches long. Picking them when they are smaller makes them softer and less slimy. The red ones you see above were woody and fibrous because they were way too old.
Okra and hibiscus are closely related, which explains why these flowers are so beautiful.
A simple recipe
I cut the tips off. After dicing the pods into 1" sections, I mixed them with olive oil, salt, garlic powder, pepper, chili pepper, paprika and turmeric and a splash of rice vinegar. Then I placed them in the oven at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.
The okra was wonderfully tasty.
A brief history of Okra
Here's something interesting; okra is not a native American plant. One of the regions known for using it in their cuisine was Ethiopia. It's originally an African plant brought over during the slave trade. The plant came to America around the mid 1700s or so. Here's a link to an interesting story about the vegetable. https://toriavey.com/history-kitchen/history-okra-soup-recipe/
As an ingredient in Colonial American cooking, it was appreciated and used by both blacks and whites. One of the ways it was prepared was as a peppery stew with onions and tomatoes, served over rice.
Here's another interesting thought. Since Imperial Russia was connecting with Ethiopia as early as the 1700s (if not earlier), might okra have also been imported to Russia at this time? After all, Alexander Pushkin, the father of modern Russian literature, was partly Ethiopian. He was the grandson of an African slave who later became a general for Peter the Great. Given the fusion of cultures, perhaps okra became part of a regional Russian cuisine. If not, then possibly a novelty vegetable from Africa. The delightful plant certainly keeps me thinking.
Taking my thoughts about the history of this vegetable along with some recipes I've studied, below is a new recipe I tried.
My "I'm Gonna Bamiya" Recipe:
Bamiya is a recipe from the Middle East. It's also what Russians call okra. I believe it's synonymous with a gumbo like dish, which can be made with a variety of meats.
I used one pound of turkey meat ( I don't like to use red meat or pork). I browned it then poured about four cups of vegetable broth into the pot and let it stew.
In a skillet, I prepared some vegetables. Pyotr, the wild rabbit who lives in our garden, tore off the baby eggplants pictured above. You can see his teeth marks. I felt it was a shame to throw these nice little eggplants away (even though Pyotr didn't seem to like them), so I incorporated them into the recipe with the onions and okra.
All these went into a skillet and were sautéd, then folded into the stew.
This is what it looked like when I folded all the ingredients into the pot. I also added spices and a tablespoon of tomato paste.
The spices I used are from a recipe on how to cook Middle Eastern stew with okra. Top of the spices shown here is Berbere. It's an Ethiopian mix that combines allspice, fenugreek, garlic, chili pepper, paprika and cinnamon. I'd say add about 4 teaspoons of the Berbere to the stew, but it's important to taste as you go. I also added a little extra red pepper and cinnamon, then I added two tablespoons of tomato paste.
I then chopped up one mid sized tomato and sautéd it in a skillet for 10 minutes. This was added to the stew as well.
Reusing the skillet again, I sautéd garlic and minced, dry cilantro. It would be better to use fresh cilantro, but I didn't have that available this evening. Folding this into the stew was my last step. From there on, the stew simmered for another 20 minutes while I cooked the rice.
I used white Texmati rice. One cup of rice, one tablespoon of olive oil, mixed with one cup water and 3/4 cup vegetable broth. Bring to boil then lower and cook for 15 minutes.
The stew looked like this when it was done. Great sauce.
I served it over rice. The final flavor was super interesting and complex.
If you've gone this deep into my okra post, you're probably curious about the vegetable. It's remarkably easy to grow and cook. There's of course much more than what I've shared with you here. So, read, plant, grow and have fun! Once you try it, you'll see okra in a whole new way. I sure do.
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