Of all the tropical veggies, Indians love onions the best. A friend of mine, who was used to eating spicy okra in a curry sauce, was amazed to discover its real taste when he tried this recipe.

Here the okra is shallow fried – a north Indian method – and becomes deliciously crisp.

Picture by Werner Van Peppen

  Ingredients:

Serves 2

150g/6 oz okra
2 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced
1 green chilli, seeded and chopped
¼ tsp salt
Pinch of turmeric
¼ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground coriander
1 tsp peeled and grated root ginger
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, washed and chopped (optional)

 Preparation:

Wash the okra whole, and then dry them thoroughly. Slice off the tops, discard them, and cut the remainder at an angle into bite-size pieces. Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion, garlic and chilli for 1 minute. Then add the okra, salt, turmeric, cumin and coriander.

Continue to sauté for 5-6. It may turn slightly gooey, but as you cook it will dry out again. Then stir in the ginger, cook for 30 seconds and turn off the heat. Sprinkle over the coriander leaves and serve with chapatis and a dollop of Greek-style yogurt.