Okra with Chickpeas and Pork is an awesome recipe that can be made all year round. The dish can be made with fresh or frozen okra and canned chickpeas.
This is a perfect recipe for those cold nights when you come home tired and hungry for something that would warm up your belly and make you happy. Okra and chickpeas with pork.
I know, okra and chickpeas together might sound a little bit odd, as not a lot of people are familiar with them or know how to use them, but I am telling you that when I tried the recipe, I was amazed at how divine they complement each other.
I totally fell in love with okra when I was twelve and my fam decided to hit the Black Sea for a two-week beach vacay.
We weren't rolling in dough, so instead of a fancy hotel, we went camping. My mom, bless her heart, packed enough supplies for an army, stuffing half the house into the car. Seriously, we probably had the kitchen sink in there too!
When we finally reached the beach, we set up camp next to this retired couple in their cute little RV. And let me tell you, these guys were way more prepared than us. They had all these jars of canned meat and veggies, some of which had okra in tomato sauce.
The lady in the RV was a cooking queen. She chopped up some onions, tossed 'em in a pan with meat chunks, and cooked them until they were sizzling. Then she added a jar of okra and tomato juice, giving it all a good mix.
To finish it off, she sprinkled some fresh parsley on top. Boom! Lunch was served. Since she was generous and loved to share, I got to enjoy her amazing meals throughout the whole vacation.
Man, that okra in tomato juice was something else! It stuck with me for years. Can you believe a teenager like me was obsessed with okra? Pretty weird, right?
So, today I brought this dish to celebrate my undying love for okra. It's a veggie that's always had a special place in my heart.
Jump to recipe
A few words about chickpeas
I always keep cans of chickpeas in my pantry (organic). Chickpeas are a great shortcut to put a recipe together fast when you don't really have the time to cook them from scratch.
I use chickpeas to make homemade hummus, I add them to different salads or to different heartwarming recipes like the one I am sharing with you today.
Chickpeas have a lot of protein and as well lots of fiber, like the majority of beans.
They are also very high in iron and calcium, which makes them a healthy choice for many people.
A few facts about okra
Okra is a great vegetable, but unfortunately, lots of people are afraid to cook with it or just don't like the slimy texture when the seed pods are cooked.
The slime, though, is a usable form of soluble fiber, and it thickens the sauce a great deal.
Okra is used wildly in many Eastern European countries, Mediterranean ones and West Asia.
Some people cook the okra intact or stir fry it as it helps to reduce the sliminess.
Cooking with acidic ingredients such as a few drops of lemon juice, tomatoes, or vinegar may help as well.
Farmers Market is a great place to buy okra, but in winter, I use frozen bags from the grocery store.
How to make okra with chickpeas and pork
When I cook meat, I always like to start browning it first in the pan with a little bit of oil.
After the meat is browned, you can go ahead and add the onions, okra, bell pepper, and garlic. Stir and cook until the vegetables are translucent, 3-5 minutes.
While the vegetables are cooking, add the ground ginger, ground pepper, ground cumin, and salt and keep steering.
Add the vegetable broth, or if you wanted less salty, just water. Reduce heat to medium and partially cover the pan.
Let it cook for another 10-15 minutes until okra is soft. Add the chickpeas.
Finally, add the chopped tomatoes or the diced can of tomatoes and cook for another minute.
Taste for salt. Sprinkle chopped parsley over the dish and serve warm.
The dish is hearty, delicious, and your house will smell amazing. It is perfect for chilly days, for dinner with a glass of white wine and some delicious crusty bread.
Are you going to try it? Leave a note under the comments, and let me know what you think.
📖 Recipe
Okra with Chickpeas and Pork
Ingredients
- 1 pound pork cut in small bite size pieces
- 1 bunch fresh parsley
- 2-3 green onions finely diced or 1 medium sweet onion chopped
- 1 pound okra stem ends trimmed, cut in ½ inch pieces(fresh or frozen)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 red bell pepper finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 cup drained chopped tomatoes or canned diced tomatoes
- ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 15 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ¾ teaspoon salt or adjust according to your needs
- ½ cup vegetable broth or just water
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pan on medium high heat and add the pork pieces to brown.
- Add onion, okra, bell pepper, garlic. Cook, steering from time to time until vegetables become soft for 3-5 minutes.
- Add the ground ginger, ground pepper, ground cumin, salt and keep steering.
- Add the vegetable broth or if you wanted less salty, just water.
- Reduce heat to medium and partially cover.
- Let it cook for another 10-15 minutes until okra is soft.
- Add the chickpeas.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for another minute.
- Taste for salt.
- Sprinkle the parsley over the dish and serve warm.
Kellie W Meckes says
I wasn't happy with the recipe. I cooked it exactly as the recipe directed and the chick peas were hard, the meat was tough and the tomatoes were also not cooked.
The Bossy Kitchen says
Hi Kellie, Sorry to hear that you did not like it. I am not sure why the chickpeas were hard, my recipe requires a can of chickpeas, which are already cooked and added almost at the end of the cooking process.
Also, I do not know why the meat was tough, the cooking time is about 45 minutes for the entire dish to be ready, which is enough time for the pork meat to cook. If you browned the meat in the pan at the beginning of the cooking process, you already cooked the meat half way, the rest of the time is just to make it softer and cook the rest of the ingredients.
You do not say what kind of tomatoes you used, I specify in the recipe that you can use fresh chopped tomatoes or canned. If you used canned, they are already cooked, so you do not really need to boil them for another half hour, 1-2 minutes is enough.Even for the fresh ones, the rule applies the same.
The idea is that you have to always taste the food and make sure everything is cooked. My stove is not in your house and my ingredients might be different from yours.
Recipes are tools to give you an idea about what you need to do, the rest is up to you based on your ingredients, kitchen, skills etc. I truly recommend you listening to Jacques Pepin, the famous French Chef, about how following a recipe exactly could lead to a disaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfWgZeDHgtY