Bondwe with Okra

Directions

• Sort through and wash your Okra, picking out the healthiest ones.
• Slice up the veggies, width-wise, though I will give a disclaimer here. If you’re cooking the Okra only, you can cut the Okra into bigger/thicker pieces, while if the dish will be a medley or you prefer a ‘mushier’ consistency, thinner strips like these will be just fine. 😊
• Next, prep your Soda. Depending on how much Okra you’re going to use, I’d say 2 teaspoons would do.
• Mix the Soda with 2/3 cup of water and the 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and bring the solution to a boil on the stove.
• Add your Okra to the boiling mixture, and after a few minutes it should start to ‘bubble and foam’ lol. Not to worry. This is expected. 😊 Use a wooden spoon to tame everything down.
• While that’s cooking, prepare your tomatoes.
• Add to the pot after about 5 minutes of cooking.
• Again, use the wooden spoon to whip through the Okra a few times to make sure it not only stays in the pot, but also to make sure the tomatoes are cooked through. 😊
• At this stage, we then prepare the Bondwe (Amaranth leaves) for adding to the Okra.
• To the pot of cooked Okra, add the Bondwe leaves. Some people remove the stems, but I don’t mind them too much as they add some texture to the dish 😊. You can also cut the leaves up finely with a knife, or add them in whole, as is my preference.
• Combine well with a cooking stick and make sure the leaves are incorporated with the cooked Okra. Cover the pot and cook for at least 5 minutes.
• The veggies will look something like this 😊
• 5 minutes later, the dish is cooked and ready to serve. 😊
• P.S – Had mine with Nshima, fried Tilapia and Gravy. #Bliss 😋