Sweet & Sour Okra
from Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey
Serves 4-6
14 oz fresh, tender okra
7 cloves garlic, peeled
1 whole dried red hot chili
7 Tbsp water
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
4 tsp lemon juice
Rinse fresh okra and pat it dry. Trim the pods by cutting of the two ends. Cut the okra into 3/4 inch lengths. Put the garlic and chili into a container of an electric blender with 3 Tbsp. of the water. Blend until you have a smooth paste. Empty the paste into a small bowl and add the ground cumin, coriander and turmeric, mix.
Heat the oil in a 9 inch frying pan or sauté pan over medium heat. When hot, put in the whole cumin seeds. As soon as the cumin seeds begin to sizzle (within a few seconds) turn the heat down a bit and pour in the spice mixture. Stir and fry for about a minute. Now put in the okra, salt, sugar, lemon juice, and 4 Tbsp of water. Stir to mix and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover tightly and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes or until okra is tender.
I make this using 2 to 3 tomatoes, pureed with just 2 cloves of garlic and the dried chili. Increased turmeric to 1 tsp, and didn’t add the sugar, salt only to taste. It’s really good, especially over quinoa.