Okra Adventures

Overslept and did not make it to the Public Market. Gentle reader, note that this is Rochester and a trip to the Public Market is a venerable undertaking. One cannot stagger outta bed and cheerfully trot over to the Market. Visits to the market must be planned and executed with precsion. Be there (early) or be square! However I digress. GRR will be here next week (Yay!). He has been eating home-cooked food for the last several weeks and my barley and beans fads will be a rude shock to his system. So I'm looking for something thats easy to make, flavorful and not super greasy . So I turned to my old standby: Stuffed okra.

I found perfect tender little okra in the frozen section of Wegmans (my love affair with the Pittsford Wegman's continues to flourish. We're both very satisfied with the relationship, what can I say!) Heres what happened to the okra:

- Allowed them to thaw and made a slit down the middle.
- Mixed cumin and coriander powder in equal proportions and added a pinch of salt, turmeric and red chili powders.
- Threw in some amchur (dried mango powder).
- Packed about 1 teaspoon of the powder mixture in each okra pod. Lined the little guys up in a little saucepan, squirted some vegetable oil and turned up the heat.
- Very little to do after this point. They practically cook themselves. All I did was nudge them over once every few minutes. You can tell they're done when the okra loses its fresh green and acquires a more golden brown color.

I'm going to serve this with a pretty basic dal and rice.

Voice of experience:
1. As far as the vegetable oil is concerned, less is more. Start with 1 teaspoon per 5 okra pods. They really don't need more unless they're starting to stick.
2. If you'd like a little more tang, or if you don't have amchur, squirt some lemon juice over the okra. Since it cooks without a lid, the liquid will evaporate without turning the okra mushy.

Enjoy!