There is simply nothing more to say! I hope you try these two okra recipes and start incorporating the tasty vegetables into your cooking! Okra Stew Ingredients Once they were done cooking, I added a hot chili sauce made with lots of garlic, cumin, coriander seeds, hot pepper, and fresh cilantro. I cut the okra into smaller pieces and sauteed them with onion to make that dish. The other dish is sauteed okra with garlic chili sauce. My husband loves eating okra this way and was thrilled that I was making it. The first one is this traditional Middle Eastern stew with lamb, tomatoes, and lots of garlic and spices. Recently, I decided to make two different dishes made with okra. Okra is a seed with a slimy texture when cooked, but this okra stew is not as slimy and has a milder taste. If you have never had okra, this is an excellent dish to help you ease your way into it. Once the stew is done to your liking, add the lemon juice, and carefully fold everything together without mashing the okra.This Okra stew with lamb is a flavorful dish that makes you want to cozy up on a cold winter day.It’s a preference thing, and you can even cook them longer if you want them really falling apart. I like the veggies a little al dente, and not totally soft, so I usually do just 5 minutes, but my grandmother likes to cook them for the full 15. Once bubbles break the surface, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for about 5 to 15 minutes, just until everything softens to your desired consistency. Increase the heat to medium-high, stir everything together and wait for it to come to a simmer. Add the red pepper, jalapeños, okra, and the braised beef with the braising liquid.Cook for about 10 minutes, just to allow the flavors to meld. Bring to a simmer, cover, and reduce heat to low. Immediately add the diced tomatoes, black pepper, and salt to taste (my diced tomatoes didn’t have much sodium, so I added 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt).Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute, just to take the raw edge off the garlic. Once the butter melts, add the onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 to 7 minutes, just until the onion softens and takes on a little golden color around the edges. While you’re waiting on the beef, place a large dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat and add the butter.Cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the meat is very tender. Wipe down the sides of the pot once or twice while it cooks, and/or skim any scum that forms on the surface. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle boil. Bring to a simmer over high heat, then cover and reduce to medium-low. Place the meat in the bottom of a large saucepan, and cover it with the water and 3/4 teaspoon of salt (or to taste). Rinse the meat (or skip the rinsing if you prefer).You can find frozen baby okra in most Middle Eastern markets, and lucky for us they’re already prepped that way. It takes a few extra minutes, but is important for ending up with the right consistency. If you’re using fresh instead of frozen, make sure you prep them as listed in the recipe. (I mean, yes, the okra haters will complain, but they’re going to complain no matter what). If you can’t find baby okra, feel free to cook fully grown okra and serve with a knife and fork. But this method is just another wonderful technique, which results in a slightly thinner broth and pleasantly chewy okra. Chopping first thickens the broth and adds a ton of body and flavor to the finished dish. There are plenty of incredible stews made with chopped okra, like gumbo for instance. You might ask, why baby okra? Because when you simmer whole okra, instead of cutting it into bite-sized pieces, they get this wonderful chewy almost “ Q” texture, which okra lovers will appreciate. My grandmother is on a constant mission to hunt down certain frozen veggies to use in her stews, like flat beans for her riza shirw’it fasouliyeh, and (in this case) baby okra for her bamya stew. But that shouldn’t stop you if you’re catching this post another time of the year, because we most often make it with frozen okra and canned tomatoes anyway. And I’m so happy to be sharing it! We’re right at the beginning of okra season, so it’s the perfect thing to make right now. This summer, my grandmother taught me how to make her okra stew (also sometimes spelled bamiyeh, bamieh, bamia or bamya). If you read the blog posts and articles with headlines like “how to cook okra so it’s not slimy” ( I even wrote one once!), it might seem like we’re on a mission to convince the world to eat more okra, but the truth is, we love it so much that we don’t care whether you do too. It’s for the okra lovers, the ones who can’t get enough “slime,” who don’t care if it is stewed, grilled, or pickled, as long as it’s piled high. This bamya (okra stew) post isn’t here to convince the okra haters that really they should give it another chance.
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