Okra not always the slimy ogre in the basket
Okra. Aka bhindi, ladyfingers, gumbo or Hibiscus Esculentus. Whatever you choose to call these little pods, it’s hard to convince haters to give the stuff another chance. I loved okra from the first time I tried it, but that’s no doubt because it was treated just right. Well, for my tastes. Like many, I don’t appreciate the slime development from the mucilage in the pod walls — which true devotees do — and which comes from long cooking in the presence of liquid.
My first okra meal was a bhindi masala from the mighty Bismillah in Fordsburg. Pods sliced and spiced, fried lightning-fast and very hot; it ’ s still one of my favourite dishes in town. When okra is cooked this way, the mucilage doesn’t get either the time or hydration to develop the characteristic gloop, which when in full swing is not unlike the glistening skeins stretching between those infamous monster jaws in Aliens. In fact, these effects are often courtesy of plant cellulose, so not surprising really.
Little wonder then that many don’t go for this outlier member of the mallow family. Okra has so much mucilage that it’s specifically used to thicken sauces — the gumbo of the US South for example, which gets its name from the pods (the words gumbo and okra are of
African origin, as is the plant). But as Bismillah’s does, you can easily avoid the gloop. There are mountains of recipes in which okra is cooked briefly, leaving the pods with a similar taste and mouthfeel to beans, and the seeds with a gently popping spring.
Okra tempura is one method that works brilliantly. The smaller pods — no more than 5cm-7cm long — are best for this, and are actually glorious in virtually any deep-fry coating. As they’re left whole, this reduces gloop development further. Dipped into a soyalemon mix or the traditional tempura dip, it’s huge reward for little work. If you go the fast and hot stir-fry route, adding an acid element while cooking is also an effective mucilage terminator.
Where to find the stuff? I head to the grocers in Fordsburg and Mayfair, or to Greenhill Grocer in Emmarentia. Most vegetable sellers around Yeoville and Chinatown also have fantastic okra, and some larger, more generalist greengrocers stock them now and then in season. When buying the little fingers — which I imagine you’ll be rushing out to do immediately after reading this — choose only firm, uniformly green, unwrinkled pods with an almost dew-like, slightly furry surface. The odd dark-brown speckle is acceptable, but more than this shows deterioration, not ripeness as with bananas.
For a quick bhindi fix, visit Bismillah at 78 Mint Road, Fordsburg, 011 838 8050.
For a wonderful education in making next-level (in fact, Hollywood level) slime from plant matter, google Roger George Special Effects. Here there are home recipes for everything from “the ectoplasm of Ghost Busters … to the troll snot of Harry Potter”. Useful stuff for a lazy Sunday afternoon.