Okra with five spice

Okra (or lady's finger as it is known in most of Asia) is a mucilaginous green vegetable that contains soluble fibre and features in European, Asian, American and Mediterranean cuisine. In India, okra is pickled, stuffed, fried and curried. This simple but tasty recipe has few ingredients but gets its unique flavour from a 5 spice blend called Panch Pooran. Available at Indian grocery stores, it can easily be made by mixing together equal amounts of the 5 spices. Fenugreek or Methi mentioned in an earlier post, is used in this recipe, but this time it is the seed not the leaves that make up one of the 5 spices. The others are cumin seeds, black mustard seeds, fennel seeds and nigella or kalonji seeds. Nigella seeds are called onion seeds or black caraway. Tempering these spices releases the aromatic oils in them and adds flavour to the vegetable. You can either purchase a packet of already mixed spices or add 1tsp each of the spices mentioned above. Fresh okra is readily available but I like to have a bag of cut, frozen okra in the freezer as a quick and easy option. 




INGREDIENTS:

• 3 medium onions sliced
• 1 bag of frozen okra or 1/2 lb of fresh okra
• 11/2 tsp panch pooran 
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1 medium tomato cut into small pieces
• 2 Tbsp dessicated unsweetened coconut
• 2-3 Tbsp cooking oil

METHOD:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the panch pooran
2. Add the sliced onion and sauté until transparent
3. Add coconut powder and turmeric and chili powders and sauté until coconut is aromatic, use medium heat to prevent coconut from burning
4. Add cut okra and salt and mix with the onion coconut mixture
5. Cover the pan and allow the okra to cook
6. When it is almost done, add cut tomatoes and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes