Okra with Olive oil
Region: Arab Levant, Syria
Category: Vegetables
Season: Any
Difficulty: Easy
Okra
is an odd vegetable, with a mucilaginous texture that oozes sticky and slimy
once the flesh is cut, that nevertheless is quite popular in West Africa, the Sudan, Ethiopia,
Egypt, the Levant,
and in the U.S. South, where it often is found in gumbos. Okra originated in
either West Africa or Ethiopia
and 
at some point moved into the Mediterranean. One of the first mentions of okra is in the
description by a Spanish Arab in 1216, Abul-Abbas al-Nabati, a native of
Seville, who on a voyage to Egypt describes okra and says it is eaten when
young and tender. It is still eaten
young and tender in the Middle East, unlike in America where it is eaten large and
mature. It is interesting that this
complex recipe, with all kinds of enticing flavors resulting from the tart
interplay of garlic and lemon juice with the pomegranate molasses, is so simply
named in Arabic. It's called bÄmyÄ bi'l-zayt, okra with olive oil,
and is a Syrian recipe from Homs. Lebanese
and Palestinians all make the dish but without the pomegranate molasses. The kind of okra that Lebanese cooks use is
very small, much smaller than you can find in the market here. They should be, ideally, about the size of
the last joint of your pinky finger. Pomegranate molasses can be found in
Middle Eastern markets.
[photo: Michelle van Vliet]
Yield: Makes 6 servings
Preparation Time: 1 1/4 hours
1 cup olive oil
2 pounds fresh small okra, trimmed, washed, and dried well with paper towels
1 large onion, very finely sliced
2 heads garlic (about 40 cloves in all), peeled
2 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
Salt to taste
1 cup loosely-packed and finely chopped fresh cilantro (coriander) leaves (about 1 bunch)
4 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup water
1. In a large flameproof casserole, heat the olive oil over high heat until smoking, about 10 minutes. Cook the okra until golden crispy, 3 to 4 minutes. Do not crowd the casserole; fry in batches if necessary. Remove the okra as they finish cooking with a slotted spoon, drain, and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium.
2. Cook, stirring, the onions and about 30 cloves of garlic in the same oil as you cooked the okra until they are soft and a little browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the okra, tomatoes, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, and a little salt to taste, and lemon juice. Stir to mix and continue cooking, covered, until bubbling hard, 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a mortar pound the remaining 10 garlic cloves with the coriander and salt until a pesto and then stir into the okra. Pour in the water, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until thick, without stirring, about 30 minutes. Turn the heat off and let cool in the casserole. Serve at room temperature.
Posted: 12/01/2012