Turkish Chicken & Okra Stew: Tavuklu Bamya

Okra are the seed pods of a plant and they are known as ladyfingers to some. The okra plant tolerates hot weather well, so it is a common crop in places like India, parts of the Middle East, Africa, and southern parts of the United States. Okra is known for its sticky, slick texture when cooked, a result of a viscous substance in the seed pods. The best thing is just to forget about it and fix the okra and enjoy it, but some finicky people try to reduce the slickness of the okra by various means: soaking it in vinegar, soaking it in salt water, soaking it in vinegar AND salt water, frying it, cooking it at high heat, not cutting the tops off completely, and likely many more. This substance from the okra pods generally helps to thicken soups and stews, so don't fret and get your nerves tied into knots over such things. It won't kill you. Look at me, I eat okra, and 6 weeks in intensive care and I'm fine now, so there! hahaha Really though folks, don't let this silly stuff consume your life.     

 

This Turkish stew is great served with bulgur pilaf.*

 

Ingredients (4 servings):

 

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

1 pound okra, trimmed

1 lemon, juiced (or more to your taste preference)

3 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided use)

1 1/2 cups chopped onion (bite size pieces, not small)

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt (remember, the broth will likely have salt, so take that into account)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground red pepper** (Aleppo pepper, if you have it)

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 medium roma tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup tomato juice

1/2 cup chicken broth

(optional) 1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup chopped parsley

 

In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Saute the onion and chicken pieces to get both a little browned. Rinse the okra well and trim the stem end. In a pot or pan with a lid, add the cleaned okra, the browned chicken/onion mixture, lemon juice, ground coriander, ground red pepper, minced garlic, salt, ground black pepper, tomatoes, tomato juice, chicken broth. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to low and cook 30 minutes. Stir in sugar (if using), remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley, stir and cook another 5 minutes. Serve with rice or bulgur pilaf.  

 

* The make bulgur pilaf, here is the link to the recipe:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2021/06/turkish-bulgur-pilaf.html

 

** "Aleppo pepper" is a very modest heat red pepper commonly used in Turkish cooking, but you can certainly use cayenne or other ground red pepper mixed with an equal amount of sweet paprika, as cayenne pepper is often hotter than Aleppo pepper.

WORD HISTORY: 

Conceal-This prefixed word is closely related to "ceiling," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English via French, and somewhat more distantly related to "color," another Latin-derived word borrowed from French, and closely related to "cell," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English directly from that language, and it has distant relatives through Indo European like "helm" (the "head covering" meaning), "hull" (seed covering) and "hall," all from the Germanic roots of English. The prefix of "conceal" goes  back to Latin "co/con/com," all prefix forms meaning "with, together, along (with)," and going back to Indo European "kom," which meant, "near, with, by, beside." The main body of "conceal" goes back to Indo European "kel/khel," which meant, "to cover." This gave Latin "celare," which meant "to cover, to cover up, to hide," and this was coupled with "con," seemingly used to intensify in this word, as "concelare," meaning, "to hide (something)." This passed to Latin-based Old French as "conceler," meaning "to hide (something), to keep something secret and from view." English borrowed the word circa 1300, initially as "concelen,"^ also meaning "to keep something from view," but also, "to keep from telling a secret."  

^ As I've noted in some other word histories here over time, in the past, English infinitives did not require "to" as they have in more modern times, as in "to conceal;" rather, most English infinitives were like those most often still used by their German cousin, ending in "en," but no "to" required.