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Sania's okra

a plate of okra cooked with tomatoes, onions and garlic and drizzled with Zejd's EVOO with a slice of bread

To be honest, okra hasn’t been on the menu in our house since we arrived in the UK in 2017. Was it the fault of okra’s reputation for being slimy? Or did we just not have a good recipe? Having had this simple dish cooked for us recently by a friend visiting from Beirut, we wanted to share her recipe, since the dish is a staple in Lebanon. If you’re after an interesting, cheap and nutritious dish, Sania’s recipe for okra with oil fits the bill. Given that it’s rich in vitamin A & C, fibre, magnesium and antioxidants, we should definitely be eating more okra.

If your supermarket doesn’t stock frozen okra you’ll be able to track it down in a Turkish/Kurdish/Middle Eastern deli. Our local Kurdish shop had seven different brands. The packets should say what size the okra is, otherwise you’ll have to feel the bags, you’re looking for small okra about the size of an acorn. The whole ones are better than the sliced ones, since it’s the seeds that make things slimy. Besides, the small okra cook quickly and work better in this dish than the longer ones. It’s a good idea to check the provenance, most will come from Egypt; avoid those packaged in Greece, the okra comes from elsewhere. 

The trick, we discovered as we watched Sania put the dish together in under half an hour, is the dash of pomegranate molasses at the end of cooking. It works so well with the distinctively green okra, adding a zingy vibrancy to a fresh tasting vegetable. Be warned, you don’t want a sweet pomegranate molasses – it needs to be tangy – which is why Zejd’s pomegranate molasses works so well with vegetable dishes. Check the label of the one you have in your cupboard to make sure there’s no added sugar. We had this warm with some bread, a little extra virgin olive oil splashed on top. As with many similar dishes, the flavours are often enhanced the next day.

serves 2 generously

ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, sliced finely
2 tbsp Zejd EVOO, a little more for finishing
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp black pepper
400g frozen okra, small ones
1 tbsp Zejd pomegranate molasses
a squeeze of lemon

method

  1. Gently fry the chopped onion in the 2 tablespoons of Zejd EVOO for about 4 minutes until soft, but not taking on any colour.
  2. Add in the garlic slices and ground coriander. Cook until you can smell the garlic, only a minute or so, stirring well as these mustn’t brown.
  3. Pour in the tinned tomatoes and sprinkle on the cinnamon and black pepper. Bring to the boil, turn the heat low, cover and leave for around 6 minutes to cook. 
  4. Then add the okra from frozen, there’s no need to defrost them. Turn the heat up a little to make sure the mixture comes up to the boil before lowering the heat. Leave to cook on a gentle heat for 10 minutes until the okra are soft. 
  5. Just before the end of the cooking, add the pomegranate molasses and a squeeze of lemon. Taste and add a little salt, stir then leave to simmer for 2 minutes. 
  6. Remove from the heat with the lid off and leave to cool for 10 minutes. 
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