I am so happy that finally I managed to cook derere(okra) by myself. I have always had someone else cook it for me.Both my parents did not grow up eating derere because the part of the country they come from they eat a different kind of derere. For a long time they would not eat derere because of its “mucousy” nature. I ate derere for the first time at my mother’s friend house and I loved it but my mother could not cook it. My mother only started eating derere(okra) when I was in college.
If you have never eaten derere, you will either love it or hate it. Some people cannot even stand to look at it. I love it because it is one of the few things that you don’t add a drop of oil in and makes a very affordable and easy vegetarian meal to prepare.
Slice derere(okra) and prepare pumpkin leaves as shown here. Chop tomatoes and onions.
Boil a 1/4 cup of water and add salt and baking soda.
Add all the vegetables to the pot reduce heat to medium.
Bring to boil and start beating the vegetables slowly with a wooden spoon. The beating makes sure that the vegetables do not over flow. Do this for approximately tens minutes. The pictures below show how the derere changes color as it cooks.
Serve with sadza or rice.
Derere (Okra) Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- salt to taste
- 1/2 lb derere/okra
- 5 pumpkin leaves
- 1 chopped tomato
- 1 chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
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Slice derere(okra) and prepare pumpkin leaves. Chop tomatoes and onions.
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Boil a ¼ cup of water and add salt and baking soda.
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Add all the vegetables to the sauce pan and reduce heat to medium.
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Bring to boil and start beating the vegetables slowly with a wooden spoon. The beating makes sure that the vegetables do not over flow. Do this for approximately ten minutes. The derere(okra) will start to change colour as it cooks.
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Serve hot with a plate of sadza or rice.
Here is a video of the recipe:
