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As strange as it may sound, my favourite summer food is okra. Even though I love the traditional recipe of sweet okra in red sauce, I had the best okra in Vietnam where they make them grilled with a spicy ginger and chili sauce. In general, okra is a particularly popular food in Asia and there are infinite recipes you can try if you love okra like I do. This recipe comes from India; aromatic okra in rich cream of tomatoes and cashews. Rich in fibre, a portion of okra includes 50% of the vitamin C needed by an adult per day. It also has plenty of carotenoids (b-carotene, lutein) which are antioxidants, and plenty of calcium and magnesium.
Ingredients
300gr of okra
1 large onion
1 large tomato
1 tsp of chili
½ tsp of turmeric
1 tsp of graham masala
1 tsp of cumin
1 small piece of ginger
3 cloves of garlic
Some coriander
¼ cup of cashews (soaked in water for about 2 hours)
1 spoon of sesame seeds
1 tsp of fennel
Cook the okra in a frying pan with some oil until they start turning brown. Set them aside.
Beat the ginger and garlic in a food processor, until they turn into a paste.
Cut the onion into squares and sauté it with cumin. Add the garlic-ginger paste and some salt and cook until the onion is softened. Add chili, turmeric, graham masala and stir. Add the tomato, and cover with a lid until the tomato melts. Add the okra and a glass of water and let it boil for a while.
At the same time, blend the cashews, sesame seeds and fennel in the blender or the food processor until they get a creamy texture. Add the cashew cream in the saucepan, stir and cook for another 10 minutes.
Serve with some fresh tomato and coriander.