It’s by no means been simpler (or tastier) to prepare dinner vegan, even when you’re not doing it full-time. In Half-Time Plant-Primarily based, affiliate cooking editor Antara Sinha brings you shiny concepts from veggie-forward cookbooks.
Peruse the web for okra knowledge and article after article will declare that will help you do one factor and one factor solely: Prepare dinner it utterly slime-free. However let’s be actual. Should you’ve ever sliced okra, you recognize it is a near-impossible feat. Regardless of how fastidiously you permit okra undisturbed within the pan, or what number of vinegar soaks you set okra by, it’s nonetheless going to get just a little slimy.
Slime is only a truth of life in relation to oft-maligned okra—like pith on an orange, or hairs on a raspberry—and “individuals both prefer it or they don’t prefer it,” says Nik Sharma, writer of Veg-Desk: Recipes, Strategies, and Plant Science for Large-Flavored, Vegetable-Centered Meals. By embracing the feel, and with some good cooking, you will be firmly within the “prefer it” camp. It’s time to work with the slime, and never towards it. Right here’s tips on how to get began.
What’s okra slime?
Okra slime is made up of a kind of sugar—a soluble fiber, if we’re getting particular. What we name slime is definitely referred to as mucilage (sorry) within the plant world, much like the jelly of aloe or nopal. You’re extra more likely to see it after okra pods have been reduce and uncovered to moisture.
“Water attracts out the mucilaginous substance, and items of okra may find yourself sticking to your knife and reducing board,” writes Sharma in Veg-Desk. “The extra water they meet, the stickier they get.” So to make your prep as straightforward as attainable, give entire okra a radical pat dry with a kitchen towel earlier than you begin slicing.
Work with the slime, not towards it
“When added to curries, gravies, and stews,” Sharma continues, “this substance is a boon as a result of it helps thicken the liquid.”
Whether or not it’s the solely thickening agent is dependent upon the dish. For a pot of gumbo, for instance, you’re nonetheless going to wish to make a roux for that stew-y viscosity that gumbo is thought and liked for. However for veggie stews that want only a contact of physique to cling to rice or to scoop up with roti, like on this Curry Greens recipe, okra slices are a stellar thickener. Each contemporary, peak-season okra and the frozen, pre-sliced luggage from the grocery store can do the trick.
One more reason to like the slime: It’s truly key to the crispiest okra. “The mucilage is principally a carbohydrate—it dehydrates and types a pleasant crust on high,” says Sharma. “It provides crunchiness.”
These carbohydrates assist to create that caramelized, crackly okra pores and skin on dishes like this Bhindi Ki Sabzi. Giving it just a little agitation within the pan to carry out a number of the stickiness, then leaving it undisturbed till it crisps up is the important thing to that even browning.
