Last week I gave you the recipe for callaloo, a popular Caribbean dish with okras (ochroes) as one of the main ingredients. This week, still on the topic of okras, here is another popular dish that you can try for your family and/or friends when you want to vary plain boiled rice.
Since I am a semi-vegetarian, (I eat fish and some other seafoods), I like to include some salted fish and this gives me a complete and tasty meal. If you are not a vegetarian, you can include pig tail cut in small pieces.
- Ingredients
- 12 okras with heads and tails removed
- 2 cups uncooked rice
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup water
- 1 pig tail (optional)
- 1/2 lb saltfish (optional)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 small onion
- 1 chive, 1 leaf celery, thyme
- 1 hot pepper
- 1 tbsp. cooking oil
- salt and black pepper
- 1 bouillon cube
Instructions:
- Scald pigtail or boil saltfish to remove excess salt and set aside.
- Cut up okras in 1″ pieces.
- Add oil to pan and allow to heat.
- Saute okras, seasonings, and salt fish or pig tail.
- Cover and allow to absorb flavors for about 5 mins.
- Rinse rice and add to ingredients.
- Add coconut milk and water.
- Add bouillon cube, place hot pepper on top and bring to a boil.
- Add salt and pepper to taste and leave to simmer on low heat.
- When rice is tender, remove hot pepper, being careful not to break it.
- If rice is not fully cooked, you may add a little water and leave on low heat until all the liquid has dried out and rice is nice and fluffy.
Nutritional value:
Serves 4
1/2 cup equals 1 serving – 102 calories
2% fat, 89% carbs, 91% protein. As you can see this is a low-calorie dish, but values may vary depending on the amount of saltfish or pigtail you use and your serving size. You may serve this as the main dish with steamed fish or stewed chicken.
