Okra with tomato, lemon and coriander

By Birgitta

Small okra pods have a much more attractive texture than large ones, which, when cooked, can be gloopy, stringy and totally spoil a dish. I buy frozen Egyptian okra from a local Lebanese grocer - it is tiny, has a perfect firmness and comes with an added bonus: it is ready-trimmed.

Yotam Ottolenghi

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 red peppers, cut in 1cm wide strips
• 1 mild red chilli, deseeded and chopped
• 6 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 30 g fresh coriander leaves, chopped
• 400 g chopped tomatoes (fresh or tinned)
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• Salt
• 400 g okra, fresh or frozen
• 3 tbsp finely chopped skin of preserved lemon
• 30 pitted black olives of the dry and wrinkly variety, each cut into two
• 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp shredded mint leaves

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from guardian.co.uk

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Heat half the oil in a large saucepan, add the coriander seeds and onion, and sauté on medium heat for 10 minutes, until the onion softens but doesn't colour. Add the peppers, chilli, parsley and half the fresh coriander, and cook, stirring, for five minutes. Add the tomatoes, 200ml water, paprika, sugar and salt, and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and cook until the sauce is thick and lost most of its liquid, about five minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the okra. Cut off the stalk end as close to the fruit as possible but without breaking into the main body of it so the seeds are not exposed. Mix the okra with the remaining oil and some salt, spread on an oven tray and roast for 15-20 minutes, until just cooked. Add the okra to the sauce, along with the preserved lemon, olives and half the remaining coriander. Stir gently, taste and adjust the seasoning.

Serve warm with steamed bulgar wheat or couscous, or at room temperature with bread and other mezze. In both cases, add lemon juice just before serving and garnish with more coriander and the mint.