An Ayurvedic Okra Dal

Here is one more Okra recipe - by now I've made 4 different Okra dishes in the last few days, all because I bought a half a bushed of Okra for $3.99, and I ate some of what I made, but I froze a lot. That all goes into the idea of cooking cycles, now I have a ton of these Okra dishes, and it will make my cooking easier for months. You could just have some brown rice with a portion of this Okra Dal, some other vegetable, like spinach or zucchini or broccoli, or whatever, and a salad, and you have a meal fit for a prince.

Okra Dal (Ayurveda)

Get rid of the oil - all Ayurvedic recipes use oil, so that is the first thing to get rid of, and I tend to make up for the taste with some more onions and garlic.

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Ingredients

2-3 onions, sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced.
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon of caraway (optional)
2 cinnamon sticks, broken up, or you can use some flat cinnamon and crush it with a mortar and pestle.
12-16  ounces red lentils
1 teaspoon ground coriander and/or
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro chopped fine
1⁄2 teaspoon chili powder (or more, to taste)
1⁄4 teaspoon ground turmeric
4 1⁄2 cups water
1 large tomato, halved
24 okra (ca. 1 lb), topped and tailed, and cut in 1/2" sections
liquid aminos to taste

 

Preparation

• Caramelize the onions in a large saucepan and cook with the cumin seeds and cinnamon over a medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until the onion is beginning to brown.
• Add the lentils, coriander, chili powder and turmeric. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the water and then add the tomato and okra.
• Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 25 minutes, until the okra and lentils are tender, stirring occasionally.