Okra Greens

[StevenC]

I just bought a bundle of okra greens at a farmers' market, and I have no idea how to use them. From what I've read, they apparently have incredible thickening power (not surprising), but recipes on the Internet seem sparse.

Does anyone have a recipe? I was thinking of substituting them for moloukhiya in an Egyptian soup recipe.

[Talat_kas]

In my region okra is very much popular and almost everyone like to eat it. We cook okra with different styles like okra turmeric curry, fried okra with potatoes, okra with beef; there are lots of varieties to cook it.

Here i am writing the recipe of okra turmeric curry which i like very much and eat with boiled rice and thin lentils soup

Ingredients:

1/2 kg okra (remove the its cap and make two pieces if its size is 2 inch otherwise remove only caps)

1 tspn garlic paste

1 tspn ginger paste

1 tspn turmeric powder

1 tbspn red chili powder

1 red tomato medium size

1 cup onion

1/4 tspn fenugreek seeds

Salt to taste

4 tbspn oil

Procedure :

1. Blend tomato and onion with little water in the blender.

2. Put 4-5 tbspn of oil in a pan and put some fenugreek seeds in it just to fry them until turn into dark brown in color.

3. Now add onion tomato paste in it by turning flame to low or remove the pan from the stove.

4. Add ginger garlic paste, red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt and cook till oil starts to leave from the spices. It takes about 5-8 mins.

5. Now add okra pieces with 1/2 cup of water and cover it to cook for 10-15 mins until okra become completely tender.

Okra turmeric curry is ready to serve you can also eat with bread.

Edited August 8, 2008 by Talat_kas (log)

[StevenC]

In my region okra is very much popular and almost everyone like to eat it. We cook okra with different styles like okra turmeric curry, fried okra with potatoes, okra with beef; there are lots of varieties to cook it.

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Do you have any recipes for the okra leaves, though, or do you only use the pods?

[Chris Hennes]

I'm a little surprised I haven't seen these at my farmer's market here: we love our okra here in Oklahoma, so it would be natural to see some okra greens as well, but there has been no sign of them. I did dig up a single blog post on the internet here that seems to indicate that they do indeed have a remarkable, and not necessarily desirable, thickening power. I think a little experimentation is in order before committing to using them in a recipe. And of course, we want pictures and all the gory details!!

[annecros]

I'm wondering about the spines. Even varieties that are referred to as "spineless" only refers to the pods, not the entire plant. I have yet to see an okra plant that didn't have those tiny, almost invisible, spines on the branches and leaves. My daughter is particularly sensitive to them, and breaks out. Although, I suppose that they would probably dissolve in the cooking process.

I am growing a Thai variety this fall that is supposed to be especially smooth. I will be following along to see what happens for others. I am wondering if stuffing them, with sort of an egg roll/spring roll type mixture, and then steaming, would be a good application? With a sauce on the side? It would sidestep the over thickening issue.

I do have some Clemson Spineless growing out there now with leaves as big as my head. Were the leaves you purchased young? I noticed on that blog post that he found immature okra in his leaves. That would mean sacrificing or topping the plant for the greens? Maybe if somebody can come up with a usable recipe, I'll sacrifice one of the under producers in the name of eGullet.

[Talat_kas]

In my region okra is very much popular and almost everyone like to eat it. We cook okra with different styles like okra turmeric curry, fried okra with potatoes, okra with beef; there are lots of varieties to cook it.

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Do you have any recipes for the okra leaves, though, or do you only use the pods?

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No i don't have any recipe for okra leaves.

[Ce'nedra]

I've had these cooked in Asian soups (that's how my mum does it) although the slimey texture is a bit of an acquired thing...and at the risk of sounding rather barbaric, okra slime reminds me of spit.