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Curry Jingi (Chinese Okra) A Tasty Vegetarian Dish.

4 Comments on Curry Jingi (Chinese Okra) A Tasty Vegetarian Dish.

As a young fella on the islands I knew this vegetable as the one our mom would sometimes use to scrub blackened pots with and to be quite honest, I was never a fan of it. As we’ve discussed before, that lack of appreciation quickly went away as I grew older. When dried the jingi or Chinese okra is commonly known as a luffa and used all over the world as a body scrubber, but our mom had one use for it.. scrubbing pots.

When still green (not fully mature to it’s fibrous state) the jingi is a lovely vegetable, with a mellow sort of flavor and works well as a curry.

You’ll Need…

2 lbs jingi (Chinese okra)
1 small onion (diced)
3 cloves garlic (crushed)
2 tablespoon veg oil
1 heaping tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch black pepper
2 potatoes (cubed)
1 tablespoon chopped shado beni (or 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro)
1/4 scotch bonnet pepper
1 cup water + 3 tablespoon

Note: Shado Beni (chadon beni) will also be called culantro and can be found at West Indian, Latin and Asian food stores.

 Wash, peel and cube the jingi into 3/4 inch pieces (make sure the jingi is NOT fully mature so you don’t have to discard the inner (fluffy with seeds) parts. I used everything.

Heat the oil in a deep sauce pan on medium heat, then toss in half the diced onion and garlic, turn the heat down to low and allow the flavors to build slowly. After 3 minutes, add the curry powder (heat still on low) and allow it to toast for about 2 minutes. The spices which make up the curry will bloom at this point. Pour in the 3 tablespoons of water as well as the diced scotch bonnet pepper and allow to cook for about 3 minutes. This will now take the rawness out of the curry. It will go grainy and start to clump – that is natural.

Now turn the heat up to burn off any remaining liquid and add the cubed jingi and stir well so everything gets coated in the curry base. Now top with the black pepper, salt, chopped shado beni and add the diced potato. The final step is to add the 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.

Turn the heat down and allow to simmer until everything is tender (lid on). It will take about 25 minutes to fully cook. The goal is to have the potato tender to the point where it will help thicken the overall dish. Taste for salt and adjust to your liking. If you find that it’s still a bit runny, you can turn the heat up and burn off any excess liquid.

This is a lovely vegetarian dish which is great with rice and/or sada roti and a great way to use a very underused vegetable. If you’re not sure where to get the jingi (Chinese okra), check out your local Asian or West Indian market.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

Vegetarian

Vegetarian Curry Okra Recipe.

9 Comments on Vegetarian Curry Okra Recipe.

As a kid I hated the taste and texture of okra (ochro) but I can safely say that it’s now one of my favorite vegetables to use in cooking. Soups and stews is not complete without a few okras in there, but pan frying them is still my choice. Our mom probably gets a good laugh these days when I request fried okra when we visit her and my dad.. back in the day we (my brother and sisters) all refused to partake in anything okra related. Poor woman always had to cook something different for us.

When most people hear the word ‘vegetarian’ attached to a dish they automatically think it’s something bland and just plain ole flavorless. Nothing could be further from the truth with this vegetarian curry okra.

 

You’ll Need

1 lb okra
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch fresh ground black pepper
1 medium onion diced
3 cloves garlic
2 bird pepper aka birds eye (or 1/4 scotch bonnet)
1 pimento pepper (aka seasoning pepper)
2 tablespoon veg oil
1 tablespoon madras curry powder

 

Note: Fried okra is notorious for needing a lot of oil (absorbs it) so I recommend using a non stick pan if you can, to eliminate the use for more oil.

Tip: To make sure the cooked okra is not slimy (as it can be) wash, pat dry then remove the stems and cut into desired thickness. Place the cut okra on a cookie sheet in a single layer and allow to air dry for a couple hours. Place in direct sun for even better results.

Dice the onion, garlic, hot pepper and pimento pepper (optional) . Then heat the vegetable oil on medium heat and toss in the diced onion and garlic. Turn the heat down to low and let that cook for about 3-4 minutes.

Now it’s time to add the curry powder and some fresh ground black pepper. The heat should still be on low as we want to toast the curry powder to release it’s flavors and not burn the curry. Let that go for 3 minutes.. be sure to stir. You should start getting that lovely curry aroma.

Add the diced peppers and stir. Turn up the heat to medium and start adding the cut okra to the pot. The idea is to stir-fry the okra in the curry base and here is where you’ll need to personalize this dish a bit. Depending on how ‘cooked’ you like okra, you will have to adjust your cooking time. Do NOT cover the pan as we don’t want steam/moisture to develop as this is another factor for making okra slimy.

I let it cook for about 15 minutes before it was to my liking. At this point I salted the dish (always try to salt okra near the end of cooking so it does not develop moisture.. a tip I got from Cynthia @ http://www.tasteslikehome.org/)  and gave it a final stir. You’ll notice how the okra maintained most of it’s brilliant green color, with tasty caramelized edges and the curry base with just delightful.

You’ll love sharing this vegetarian curry okra with your family and friends and there’s enough here for 4-5 people as a side dish. I love having this curry okra with sada roti (sada roti recipe), but it’s also works well as an accompaniment to rice or as any typical vegetable side dish.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.