Every child is special. They are unique even if they come from the same gene pool which is a good thing because that's what makes us "I" and "you". However there is a downside to this and the beauty of it ends at the dinner table.
I would have to run a restaurant if I were to please every person's request at home. I don't usually entertain these varied requests but I do try my best.
Today's recipe, fried okra isn't a vegetable that children are particularly fond of. "It's slimy and sticky and everything not nice". That's how my child describes it. She, who is usually eager to help me in the kitchen, hates slicing okras because it is slimy and makes everything it touches, gooey.
When time permits, I like to dry fry these slimy okras until they are not slimy and sticky before I cook them my usual style; stir fried with chopped onions and garlic, turmeric and egg but today we're going to try out a new recipe. One that requires no cutting.
My daughter enjoyed preparing this very much because she got to use a rolling pin and smashed these little green pods to her heart's content. I should have intervened because some were smashed beyond recognition but it was fun watching her whacking them. Quite therapeutic I must say if you have some pent up energy to release.
You can only do this with fresh okras. Old pods will be too chewy. They are supposed to come out crispy, like tempura vegetables served in Japanese restaurants. Pick medium sized okras that will easily crack when you bend it.
It is a simple assembly process and if you own an Air-fryer, your child can easily fry these for your. You'll need two bowls. One with wet ingredients and the other dry ingredients. Simply dip smashed pods into wet ingredients and then cover it with the dry ingredients before throwing them into your hot oil for deep frying or in my case I arranged them in my Air-fryer basket and spray a mist of oil before putting the basket back into my preheated Air-fryer. Drain these fried okras on kitchen towel and serve immediately.
My girl named it Vege Chips because they looked liked homemade potato fries.
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| Dry ingredients |
Ingredients:
About 300gm fresh okras, cleaned and gently smashed. You can cut off the tip after smashing it to allow it to open up.
dry ingredients:
A sleeve of saltine crackers (biskut tawar), crushed to powder
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon (TBS) paprika, cayenne/black pepper
1 teaspoon (tsp) turmeric & salt
wet ingredients:
1 cup buttermilk (to make your own buttermilk add a TBS lemon/white vinegar to just about a cup of milk, mix two and let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes)
1 egg goes into buttermilk
Method:
Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and wet in another. Dip each okra pod into wet mixture and then cover it with dry ingredients. If you plan to deep fry these, gently transfer them into hot oil in a wok until they turned golden brown and drain on kitchen towel.
You could also bake these but the results are not as good as deep frying. The other alternative is to air-fry in an Air-fryer at 200'C for 10 to 15 minutes or until they are golden and crispy.
Well cooked okra is so delicious! These look amazing!
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