Sweet and Sour Fried Okra

grapefruit's Note:

one of my favourite ways to make okra

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 0 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 3

• ½ kg okra , thinly sliced length-wise
• 2 teaspoons mango powder
• 2 medium onions , thinly sliced
• 2 medium tomatoes , thinly sliced (cored or pulp removed)
• 1 teaspoon fennel
• ½ teaspoon nigella seeds
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon red chili powder (use a lot less if you don't like spicy food)
• salt
• 4 green chilies , thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 limes, juice of (u can dissolve the sugar in this) or 1 lemon, juice of (u can dissolve the sugar in this)
• oil

Directions:

1. heat oil, fry okra till brown, and its lost all the goo.
2. Remove, drain.
3. In the same oil, add everything except salt and the sugar+lime mixture.
4. add the okra and fry with the spices a few minutes.
5. add the sugar-lime mixture.
6. Simmer 10 minutes.
7. Add salt before serving.
8. (Adding salt at the end lets the okra remain crisp longer).
9. serve hot with naan bread.

Reviews

[*Nabiha*]

This was amazingly good! Such a lovely way to make okra, DH liked it too! After slicing the okra lengthwise, I did what most Indian women do- dry roast the slices in a non-stick pan or iron skillet for a few minutes, tossing them about every minute or so. This gets rid of the 'snotty' mucilage. Also, instead of adding everything at once, I first added the nigella, fennel and cumin seeds in hot oil and let them spatter a bit before adding the onions. Once the onions were transluscent I added the red chili and turmeric powder and let them cook for a few minutes to get rid of the raw taste. Next went the tomatoes, okra, green chillies, sugar-lime mixture and salt and left them to simmer. Mango powder is best added towards the end of cooking.All in all, this was a very enjoyable dish and I will be definitely making this again. Thanks grapefruit!

[Joe in T.O.]

If I were to make this recipe a 2nd time I would cook the onions separately, double the sugar, halve the limejuice and fry the *whole* spices with the Okra. It was tasty, if a little too crunchy (onions) and mucilagenous (Okra).