Okra With Verjuice

I wrote about verjuice made from unripe grapes a few days ago and told that one of the most common dishes with verjuice in Turkey is okra. I can’t believe there are still people who hate this innocent vegetable, which is one of the best foods served by nature. I love it more when combined with lemon, but if we are in unripe grapes, we don’t even look for lemons. Verjuice makes a wonderful twist on our regular okra. If someone is making verjuice here, it’s  for sure that he will cook okra. Other varieties like using it in drinks come later.

It’s not traditional to serve this dish with unripe grapes on it, but I love to have them whole when eating okra. Besides, I think they make the dish more colorful with their bright greenness.

Check out tips for cooking okra here.

Okra With Verjuice

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Total Time: 55 minutes
• Yield: 4

Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 4 tomatoes, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, roughly sliced
• 300g okra, cleaned
• 1 cup verjuice
• 2 tbsp boiled chickpeas
• ½ tsp black pepper
• salt to taste
• ½ cup hot water
• A handful unripe grapes, for garnish

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil and saute onion until golden. Add green and red peppers, stir.
2. Toss in tomatoes and garlic and cook for 10 minutes over medium heat.
3. Put okra on them and do not stir.
4. Pour verjuice on okras right after putting them in the pot. Verjuice will prevent it from getting slimmy. Cover the pot and cook for about 10 minutes.
5. Pour ½ cup hot water in the pot and add chickpeas, black pepper and salt. Let it cook until tender for about 20 minutes.
6. Serve it hot with a garnish of a few unripe green grapes.