popularly know in my country as okra but other's calls it lady's finger in the western part of the world. Okra is a very popular meal prepared and loved by many Nigerians and till date I still can't place my hand as to which culture or region okra soup belongs too but one thing is for sure that each and everyone has their own special way of preparing the soup.
To me, it is relatively one of the cheapest meal that is prepared and that too in a short while. In every occasion my family holds, such occasion isn't complete without preparing okra soup and to get an extra thickness/drawing nature the presence of ogbono is present in the soup. Am from the middle belt part of Nigeria and due to the extra ordinary drawness of our native soup which makes most people not to like it we always substitute it to okra so strangers can be well fed when they come for our occasions.
As earlier stated, okra is one of the cheapest and delicious soup to prepare and permit me to take you on a brief journey of how I prepared mine. I like the easy method so I didn't do too much while preparing mine .Also everyone has his or her own method of how they prepare the soup so it is possible mine would be quiet different from the rest including some cultures and traditions.
These are the ingredients I used
*Okra/ lady's finger
*Fish
*Palm oil
*Ogbono
*Vegetable leave
*Seasoning cubes
*Salt
*Pepper
*Onion
*Crayfish
PROCEDURES
First, I had to wash and chop my vegetable leaves followed by the okra which I cut into tiny slices. For most people they cut and then pound it using the local mortar and pestel but for me since am using ogbonno I prefer not to blend but leave it diced and trust me I love it that way.
Secondly, I placed my pot on the fire and poured in my palm oil to fry my fish you can use any stock of your choice but i used fish instead. I poured in the sliced onion and when fish was fried I poured in water. Followed by the rest ingredients. The ogbonno was the third to the last, the diced okra followed and lastly the leaves cause you don't want it to be over cooked. This soup can be enjoyed with any swallow of your choice.
I also did a google research about okra to know it health benefits and I found out that it's low in calories but packed full with nutrients such as vitamin c and k. the vitamin c helps support the immune function while k helps body clot blood. okra is also a soluble food of fiber that lowers the risk of heart disease.
So I hope knowing more about okra would make you also fall in love with the soup.
Writing was inspired by the #Indianunited community, do well to check out this amazing prompt by clicking on the contest announcement
Thank you for your time, peace 🕊️