BAMIA ~ EGYPTIAN OKRA STEW

My husband's Egyptian roots have influenced my cooking just as my Polish and Persian background have done. His father's side is from Egypt, and, like all Middle Easterners, food is an essential part of life. One is always looking too thin (my natural thin-ness just doesn't cut it), and needs to eat more. Eating well is a way of life, as all of us that are blessed to have food on our tables eat 3 meals a day, and then some. My husband and I both love Middle Eastern food- whether its Persian, Lebanese, Turkish or Egyptian, at the end of the day, there is no other type of food that contains as many spices and flavor levels as these do. That being said, Middle Eastern food is not the easiest to cook, because it requires a lot of time, a lot of spices (that I can't always find everywhere!) and of course, a lot of love, but that's the easiest part. Coming from Los Angeles, where there is a huge Persian community, it is so easy for my mom and I to find all of the spices and ingredients we need to make the perfect Iranian dish. It became a little more difficult for me in Manhattan, and now in Geneva, I'm sticking to the less complex of recipes until I come across the right store. 

Bamia is a beautiful, fragrant dish that you actually find in several different cuisines. It means "okra" in Arabic, and for those of you who are not as familiar with this little vegetable, it is from North East Africa. Also known as lady finger, it's a very small yet  very nutritious. It is full of dietary fiber, iron, calcium and vitamins A, C, B and K. This dish is typcially made with meat, lamb or beef usually, but I made a vegetarian version. Of course adding these meats will add a lot more flavor, but this dish is so fragrant and delicious without the meat I don't see the point of adding any, unless you really want it! It's a fairly simple dish, as all you  need is a lot of okra, tomatoes, onions, spices, and lemon juice. One thing to note is that when cooked, the inside of the okra, that contains tiny seeds, becomes quite slimy which is totally natural. I tend to cut the okra in half when I am making this stew, but you can leave them whole. 

Husband approved, obviously.

Serves: 5

Ingredients:

1 lb okra, whole or cut in half

1 lb tomatoes, chopped

3 tbsp tomato paste

1 large onion, chopped

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2 tsp ground turmeric

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground paprika

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp sea salt

juice of 2 lemons

Directions:

Wash the okra and cut in half in desired. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and add the onions and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add in the tomatoes, stirring until they are broken down for about 15 minutes, and mix in the tomato paste. Add in all of the spices and salt. Add the okra and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and let cook for a minimum of 30 minutes. When ready to serve, add the lemon juice and mix well. Serve with my brown turmeric rice. (just omit the truffle oil). Bon appetite!