Okra Fries

[not2late]

Okra Fries
1/2 pound Fresh okra
1-2 cups peanut oil (or similar oil with high smoke point)

Seasoning mix:
1 teaspoon salt
1 teapsoon ground black pepper
1/8-1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika

Wash the okra. Cut off the stem end. Slice the okra into quarters lengthwise. Set aside.

In a deep saucepan, heat the oil until it is about 375 degrees F. Carefully drop the okra into the hot oil and deep fry until the okra is golden. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with the seasoning mix.

The fries are crispy and very light.

[Iapetus999]

Re: Okra Fries

Kewl I'm gonna print this out.

Can I use a deep fryer?

[Heidi3]

Re: Okra Fries

I love okra who would have thought you could do this!!!! sprinkle of NM chile mixed with garlic and kosher salt..maybe? ...or even better curry and salt!!!! YUM I make curry okra all the time if you fried and and seasoned it with curry ...YUMMMMMM thanks!

[not2late]

Re: Okra Fries

Iap: I don't see why not. I don't own a deep fryer so I use a deep saucepan instead.

Nursey: I borrowed this from a Mark Bittman book. The original recipe slivered the okra a bit more used it more as a salad. It also seasoned the okra with chat masala (which I can't find pre-mixed in my local stores--eventhough the stores carry the ingredients for it.)

I forgot to add...Bittman's explanation for slivering the okra as opposed to cutting it into rounds is that slivering them reduces the sliminess. The sliminess doesn't bother me, but it might interfere with the cooking process due to the excess moisture. There might be something to that because the okra fries I made weren't slimy.

[stlsweeti]

Re: Okra Fries

Oh wow, this sounds soooo good. I have to buy peanut oil and okra tomorrow and dig out the fryer from the dark spooky basement.

[dotsamantha]

Re: Okra Fries

I will try this- I avoid okra because of the slime factor, but i'm always open to giving it another chance.

Heidi- chile pepper f-yeah!

[not2late]

Re: Okra Fries

Last night I didn't "deep fry" them. I used 6 okra for the fries. To cook them, I just filled a sauce pan with about 1/2 - 1 inch of oil and fried them in there. It really worked!

I also made some fried shallot rings while I was at it (since I was frying anyway).

That's super-duper easy:

Peel the shallots, and slice them as thinly as possible. Pat them dry. Then drop them into hot oil. Just be sure to take them out when they are light-golden brown because they seem to get browner even after you take them out. These are soooooo good...100 times better than those "fried onions" in the cans!

[scott123]

Re: Okra Fries

I looooooooooooove fried okra. My favorite Indian restaurant does a bindi aloo (okra and potatoes). I spend ages standing in front of the buffet fishing out the slivers of okra buried amongst the clumps of potatoes. It's $15 for the all you can eat Sunday buffet, and that's pretty much all I eat- about 3 platefuls of fried okra. I wallow in it Sometimes I'll pour a ladle full of the chicken tikka masala sauce over the okra. Just the thought of it makes me giddy

I've tried a couple times to recreate it at home. It's got some heat (cayenne) and some souring agent (probably green mango powder) but I just can't duplicate it.

So, every couple of months I shell out $15 for my fried okra fix.

And of course, there's the gumbo I make a few times a year, but that's an entirely different animal.

[not2late]

Re: Okra Fries

I love okra too: I bought a mini-boat load from the farmer's market friday. Never really like fried okra: the kind that are breaded or battered then fried, but I love this fried okra recipe. When I first tried it, I was surprized by how crispy-crunchy the okra become. That's why I'm going to try slicing the okra into diagonal rounds---so they'll be more like okra chips.

I did mix up a batch of chat masala a few months ago. It wasn't bad. The recipe I used was this one:
http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/spices/chat-masala.html

but I've found others since, however, I haven't tried them yet.

[not2late]

Re: Okra Fries

Up-dating...

I tried slicing the okra on the diagonal. It worked. The chips were crisp and crunchy. The chips were slightly slimier than the fries are, so maybe Bittman was right about the way the okra is cut will affect the slime.

Anyhow, they were good. And really good dipped in chipotle mayonaisse!!!!!!

[ValidRouge]

Re: Okra Fries

Megs,

I deep fry fresh green beans like this and absolutely love them. I'm normally not an okra fan, but I am willing to give things a try over and over again with different recipes....so I'm going to give this a try too!!