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Dish of the week: Holubtsi

14 Okra Recipes From 12 Cuisines.

Prized in West Africa, the American South, the Middle East and India for exactly the quality that puts newcomers off: it releases a viscous liquid that thickens whatever it cooks in. That is the whole point in gumbo and in Egyptian bamia. If you want it crisp instead, cook the pods fast over high heat, keep them dry, and add acid such as lemon or tomato. Choose small firm pods; large ones turn woody and fibrous.

14 recipes on this route

The recipes.

Split orange acaraje fritter filled with pale vatapa paste, okra caruru and whole dried shrimp

Brazil13 hr 50 min

Acarajé

Bahian Black-Eyed Pea Fritters

A pot of Iraqi bamia with whole okra pods and chunks of lamb in a glossy red tomato broth

Iraq2 hr

Bamia

Iraqi Okra and Lamb Stew

Bowl of creamy pale begova corba with shredded chicken, okra pieces and diced carrot, lemon wedge on the side

Bosnia and Herzegovina1 hr 45 min

Begova Čorba

Bosnian Bey's Chicken and Okra Soup

Wide clay dish of baked Bulgarian gyuvech with browned aubergine, okra, peppers and tomato slices over pork

Bulgaria2 hr 25 min

Gyuvech

Bulgarian Baked Vegetable and Pork Casserole

Dark brown Louisiana gumbo with shrimp, andouille slices and okra ladled around a mound of white rice in a wide bowl

United States2 hr 30 min

Louisiana Gumbo

Creole Roux and Seafood Stew

Glossy dark red Sudanese okra stew with chunks of lamb, trailing in a thread from a raised spoon

Sudan1 hr 45 min

Mullah Waika

Sudanese Dried Okra Stew

A thin cloudy broth in a bowl with pieces of okra, crushed aubergine and flakes of smoked fish

Ivory Coast50 min

Sauce Claire

Light Aubergine and Okra Broth

Deep orange palm nut stew in a pot with beef chunks, crab halves and okra, oil pooling on the surface

Ivory Coast1 hr 55 min

Sauce Graine

Ivorian Palm Nut Stew

Bowl of pale ivory Sudanese soup with strands of dried beef and a spoon resting on the rim

Sudan2 hr 50 min

Sharmout Abiad

Sudanese Dried Meat and Yogurt Soup

Split snapper head simmering in a red tamarind curry with whole okra, eggplant batons and curry leaves

Singapore1 hr 5 min

Singapore Fish Head Curry

Snapper Head in Tamarind Curry

Steaming bowl of sinigang na baboy with pork belly, daikon, okra and water spinach in clear sour tamarind broth

Philippines1 hr 45 min

Sinigang na Baboy

Sour Tamarind Pork Soup

Deep orange okra and palm oil stew with fish pieces and shrimp, ladled over a mound of white rice in a bowl

Senegal1 hr 20 min

Soupou Kandia

Senegalese Okra and Palm Oil Stew

Every recipe on this route.

All 14 of them, alphabetically, with the country each one comes from.

also known asladies fingers, bamia, gumbo

common in