Okra, My Ladies Fingers

Okra is a member of the hibiscus family.

Botanical name: Abelmoschus esculentus

Common Names: okra, ladies finger, bendi, bhindi, gumbo

Family: Malvaceae (mallow Family)

I am growing okra from seeds in seed packets that I purchased at the supermarket here. The seeds germinated quite fast, in 1 to 2 days time. Almost all of them did and there were very little wastage.

Look! There are two babies here. One of them is already shedding off its outer coat now.

One by one, they awaken to the warmth of the morning sun. I think the cutest seedling is the one with 2 tiny shoots opened wide.

These little plants grow fast. Before long flower buds started to appear.


When the buds are very small, I find it difficult to differentiate the buds from the pods. When the buds mature to reveal cream yellow petals, it is easy to tell them apart.

Now, a flower has opened fully. The petals are cream yellow and dark purple at the base. The stigma is also dark purple.

This is the side view of my latest vegetable model. Beautiful, isn't it?

I like the shape of their leaves.

Now, finally I am rewarded with some okras. When cut, the cross-section of okra fruits has a symmetrical pentagon design, hence it can be used to make pretty prints for cards and handicraft works.

This is my first harvest. Yes, only 2 okras!

Here are some ways that I can cook okras:

a) blanched, boiled, steamed

b) meat and fish curry

c) assam fish/fish head

d) vegetarian curry

e) stir fried with sambal belacan (chilly shrimp paste)

f) stuffed with fish paste - we call it 'yong tow foo'

Do you have other ways of cooking okras?

I have still not perfected the method of removing the slime when cooking okras. How do you reduce okra slime effectively?

This is my entry for Blooming Friday Week 4. The theme today is seeds and infructescences. My grateful thanks to Katarina at Roses and Stuff for hosting Blooming Friday. To see what others have posted or to participate, click here.

This is my first entry for Fertilizer Friday. My grateful thanks to Tootsie at Tootsie Time for hosting Fertilizer Friday. To see what others have posted or to participate, visit here.

This is also my entry for Today's Flowers #63. My grateful thanks to the TF folks: Santilli, Denise, Pupo and Valkyrien for hosting Today's Flowers. To participate or view other floral displays around the world, click here.