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On Saturday we were sitting by Regent's Canal in Islington with Sachin and we were as usual hungry although we had lunch an hour ago. Then came the food brainstorming session, throwing ideas, talking about our cravings, and we surprisingly were in agreement! We were all craving Bemyeh, arabic word for Okra.
Today, Rasha and I decided that we're going to cook Okra in the evening to have it on Monday. Rasha coming from North of Lebanon, and me Beirut, we had to have a discussion on how the dish is made. Obviously there is a slight difference in the dish between the north and Beirut - although I am not sure if my way is the Beirut way. We finally settled that we will make both!
Here are the ingredients;
500g lamb cubes
Cinnamon sticks
Bay leaves
half a lemon
400g Frozen Okra (it's very hard to find green okra in the supermarket in London)
a bunch of coriander chopped
5 cloves of garlic
3 tomatoes
tomato paste
Salt
Pomegranate molasses (For the Northern Lebanon version)
Boil the lamb cubes with half a lemon, cinnamon sticks and bays leaves for 20min or until the meat is cooked.
Meanwhile, chop the coriander very fine, crush the garlic and fry them together in a pot with sunflower oil. Peel and chop the tomatoes and add them to the mix and mix well together. Add the frozen okra and mix them well together. When the meat is cooked, pour the meat and the meat stock into the mix. Make sure you remove the lemon, the cinnamon sticks and the bay leaves. Add the tomato paste to the mixture until the colour of the mix becomes red. Add a pinch of salt to taste. Boil for 20min until the okra is cooked, slightly on the soft side. Voila!
For the Northern Lebanon recipe, do the same as above, but add pomegranate molasses to the mix and let it boil for 20min, until the okra is cooked. Delicious! Especially if you like 'lemony' taste.
Serve with rice on the side, add some lemon juice to taste, and cucumber or turnip pickles.
