It's Ok, It's Just Okra!

Okra. We don’t care what anyone else says about it, we love the stuff. Its gentle bite, the taste of green iron, the depth it lends to dishes, its beautiful shape that in cross section resembles the lotus root. Why do other people still not see its versatile, good-naturedness? Okra doesn’t want to be a fighter, he wants to be a lover and that is why he works so well with bolder flavours like tomatoes and chillies and peppers.
Fortunately, the West Indians and the Cajuns and the Middle Easterns know a thing or two about utilising this under-used and nutritious vegetable. In India, it is shredded, coated in highly seasoned gram flour and deep fried, similar to an onion bhaji or pakora.
The Cajuns have long used it as a thickener in Gumbos and Jambalaya or serve it deep fried.
Furthermore, a pickled Okra pod can be used in a Martini, thereby making an Okratini.
However, I wanted to use Okra in a slightly different way, making it the key ingredient of a dish, and not just a thickener or bolsterer to other ingredients.
I had recently seen a dish called Chicken with Okra that I just had to try: chicken thighs cooked up with tomatoes, chillies and lots of chopped Okra. The final dish is served up with boiled rice or Polenta.
It is an incredibly easy and quick supper dish to make, and with a little more tweaking, it could be a really delicious meal, instead of just a good meal. I would have omitted the chicken as I felt it was a case of overkill, and would use some chicken stock instead for a gentler flavour, more chillies wouldn’t have gone amiss and a longer simmering time to allow all the flavours to mingle.
In spite of all this, the potential is there and if you want to create something similar for dinner, or as a side dish, Okra is now readily available in UK supermarkets (albeit in the reduced bin most of the time). Here’s the recipe with my recommendations:

CHICKEN WITH OKRA AND TOMATOES serves 2
Ingredients:
Chicken (optional) 2 x Thighs, working on one thigh per person
Olive Oil
170g Okra, chopped into rings
1 Tin Tomatoes,
2 Red Chillis, finely chopped (you can use more or less depending on your sensitivity)
1 Onion, finely sliced
2 Clove Garlic, finely chopped
2 Cups Chicken or Vegetable Stock
Plenty of Seasoning
METHOD:
If you are cooking the chicken, heat the olive oil gently in a saute pan, and brown the thighs on both sides, seasoning them well.
Add the onions, turning the heat down, and cook gently for 5-10 minutes, until the onions are softened.
Add the garlic and chilli and cook for a couple more minutes.
Pour over the tomatoes and their juice, along with half the stock, breaking them up into the pan.
Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the chopped Okra, taste for seasoning, add the remaining stock, cover and simmer for another 30 minutes or until the Okra is soft.
Remove the lid and turn the heat up to a rapid bubble, reducing and thickening the sauce somewhat.
Taste again for seasoning and serve with some plain boiled white rice.
Enjoy!