a spoonful of zeytinyağlı bamya or okra in olive oil |
a sweet display of home-grown okra at Ayvacık market |
Now here’s a good word: these little pods are described as being mucilaginous – the word sounds so much like its meaning: full of characteristic slime or ‘goo’. Here in Turkey we like to minimize this as much as possible by careful preparation but not all cuisines are the same: apparently you can thinly slice the okra and cook for a long time and this mucilage will dissolve.
So done the Turkish way, okra is one of the fiddliest vegetables to prepare! Because of this, I don’t buy them often but when I do, the family is ecstatic. The trick is to snip off the end and then with a very sharp knife, cut round the end taking great care not to cut too much otherwise the slime will ooze out. Many people don’t like okra dishes for this reason: they find that slimey consistency off-putting. This recipe is an olive-oil version and therefore eaten cold, but okra can certainly be eaten hot as well.
just like sharpening a pencil |
here are some big ones which I resisted for the above reason |
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Prepare the okra, wash and place in a bowl with the juice of 1 lemon and cover with cold water. Put aside.
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Use a shallow, wide pan ie not a typical saucepan, and arrange the onion slices over the bottom of it. On top, place half the tomato slices.
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Drain the okra and arrange them carefully on top of the tomatoes.
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Finally, place the remaining tomato slices over the okra and add the salt, sugar, olive oil and the juice of the second lemon. Place a dish on top so that they acquire the traditional shape ie slightly flattened.
notice the sugar lump on the left |
with the plate on top |
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Cover with a lid and cook over a gentle flame for about 30 mins. Taste to make sure the okra are soft. Let cool in the pan, remove the plate and if possible, serve from that pan. Make sure your guests see the dish before you disturb the shape!
zeytinyağlı bamya or okra in olive oil |
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NB Additional water is not necessary as the juice of the tomatoes plus the other liquids will be sufficient.
I have had okra only two or three times and they were always sort of slimey to me and not very enjoyable. The one where this was masked the best was in an indian curry which wasn't too bad. I didn't realize there was so much work to preparing them before your post.
Thanks for sharing, Michel. I can't deny that it takes time to prepare okra but once in a while it's worth it!
this post is perfect timing! i have my first okra growing. it has taken all summer. i don't know that i will get enough to make this dish but i sure hope i get enough to make a gumbo or to fry them in cornmeal!
I'll look out for your posts then! I read about gumbos – I associate them with shrimps – is that right?
The only vegetable I don't like. Are the dried ones I see in the market the only way to avoid the slime.
Hi Back to Bodrum! Are you dying of heat where you are?? That's a very fair question about the dried okra and I'm afraid I don't know the answer as I have never used them. Will try to find out and let you know :))
Wonderful – we have okra growing in out garden right now! Thanks for all the great photos – we'll try this.
What would you normally do with them?
This is super! My aunt makes something similar and we call it bamya too.
Where are you exactly, Ellen B? Thanks for coming by my blog and commenting!
This looks so delicious! I've never tasted orka – but now I'm dying to try it!! Lovely recipe 🙂
Mary x
My husband would inhale this dish in a second….me, too be honest I dislike it. Don't ask why….. I don't care for it.
When in Izmir my sister in law one time made it for my daughter and I. Well for some reason she went to yick yack with her komşu who called her with a problem and was gone for a while….well we put it into our napkins and into my purse. She came back grabbed the pot and said you want some more….EEEKKKKS! We had no choice otherwise she gets offended if we don't eat.
I will try your recipe it's different from mine and looks good…….I'm sure my husband will enjoy it. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Oh Erica – gad that's awful!!!! Did your purse ever recover?? Try this recipe and see what you think … you never know!
.just to say – dried Bamya will not work. I was told to rinse them in cold water after initial blanching!!
We also layer them in a star shape & then overturn the dish to maintain the decoration!!
Love to you all
Hey hello Mariella! You managed it!! So nice to see your comment here. Also for yr clarification re the dried okra. xxxxx
Oh I love this dish and okra, as we found out last year, is so good for you, too. Bonus! 🙂 We used to hate the stuff because of the slime but since we found out the careful trimming trick (instead of slicing it into little bits like we used to do), like in your photos, we're converts.
Lulu, I’ve made this bamya recipe a couple of times and my wife, Sandra, and I love it.
We are summering in Ilica, Cesme at an Air B&B she found. It’s only two blocks from my sister-in-law and her husband. My wife grew up here and in Bornova. She was here when it took all day by car on a dirt road to get from Bornova to Ilica. No six lane racetrack in those days.
We’ve come here off and on since ’96. This time we came with our new daughter-in-law and my stepson. I’ll be referring them to the recipes on this website; they have an increased appreciation for what can be done with vegetables when prepared with these recipes. They are both very conscious of their diet and exercise so we’ll see what happens.
Meze, tonight, with Claudia’s bamya dish, some pepper dolma stuffed with rice and diced half-ripe plums from the tree by the pool, the last of Claudia’s barbunya dish, bread, olives, cheese, wine and raki. :^)
Thank you, Claudia, and thank you, Lulu, for keeping these recipes available.
Lovely to hear of your appreciation of Turkey, the cuisine, the fabulous produce and also our blog. We are so pleased that you enjoy it so much.
Lulu