Okra with Tomatoes in a Fragrant Sauce - An Edible Mosaic

  
I have only had okra, once before, and could not remember if I liked it but I am a braver cook, now and I made this recipe from Faith's book, An Edible Mosaic.  This could be made as a vegetarian dish but I liked the idea of meat being included.  That may be because we don't usually eat meat.

This is yet another successful dish from our friend Faith.  I tried to use the recipe from the book but it would not allow me to save this post so I had to remove it.  I know, this does not do justice to a delicious meal but it clearly shows the different ingredients. 

Okra with Tomatoes in a Fragrant Sauce BAMIEH BIL ZAYT

Recipe courtesy of An Edible Mosaic: Middle Eastern Fare with Extraordinary Flair by Faith Gorsky (Tuttle Publishing; Nov. 2012); reprinted with permission.

To make this dish a full meal, cook some stew meat (lamb or beef) and add it to the okra before serving. (I used chopped beef.)

Serves 4 to 6


Preparation Time: 12 minutes Cooking Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 pinches ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground allspice
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 pinch ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 lb (500 g) tomatoes (about 3 medium), diced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup (125 ml) water
1 lb (500 g) baby okra (fresh or frozen; if frozen, there’s no need to thaw), stem ends trimmed

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large lidded skillet over medium heat; add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the  coriander, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and black pepper, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

2. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and water and bring up to a boil. Cover the skillet, turn the heat down to simmer, and cook until thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the okra, turn heat up to high, and bring up to a simmer. Once simmering, cover the skillet, turn the heat down, and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes.

4. Uncover the skillet, turn the heat up to moderately-high, and cook until the sauce is thickened, about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. 

Tomorrow, I plan to make a rice dish and a salad from this book.  I can't wait.

 Linked to Full Plate Thursdays.