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Okra and Green-Pea Curry
© Melanie Acevedo

Okra and Green-Pea Curry

Contributed by Quick from Scratch Vegetable Main Dishes
  • ACTIVE:
  • TOTAL TIME:
  • SERVINGS: 4
  • FAST
  • MAKE-AHEAD
  • VEGETARIAN

Americans are not overly fond of okra; outside of the South it's rarely eaten and rarely missed. In India, though, okra is much beloved and is prepared in many ways: fried, stuffed, and as here, braised briefly with tomatoes and onions. We promise th...

  1. 3 tablespoons cooking oil
  2. 2 onions, sliced
  3. 2 cloves garlic, minced
  4. 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
  5. 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  6. 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
  7. 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  8. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  9. 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
  10. 1 cup canned diced tomatoes with their juice (from one 15-ounce can)
  11. 2 10-ounce packages frozen cut okra, defrosted
  12. 1 10-ounce package frozen peas
  13. 1/2 cup water
  14. 2 3/4 teaspoons salt
  15. 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  16. 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  1. In a Dutch oven, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the fennel seeds, coriander, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne and cook, stirring, for 1 minute longer. Increase the heat to moderate. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until no liquid remains in the pan, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add the okra, peas, water, and salt and simmer just until the vegetables are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and cilantro.
Notes Since perfectly fresh, sweet peas are so hard to find, frozen peas are almost always an acceptable substitute. In fact, frozen peas are generally of such high quality, we rate them as our favorite frozen vegetable.

Suggested Pairing

It's been said that Gewürztraminer is the best match for curry, and we won't disagree. Try one from Alsace for its power and depth of flavor.