Hello!
It’s all about popular yummy okro soup today. Protein-rich, okro is loaded with lots of other nutritional benefits. The soup itself is a favourite in most Nigerian homes. This probably is because it’s not just tasty but also easy to cook, and pocket friendly (whatever your choice of ingredients are, it turns out well).
If you are a keen weight watcher like me who wants to do away with palmoil as much as possible, here’s a delightful twist to enjoying your okro soup without fear of the calories in palm oil.
Ingredients:
3 cups Fresh Okro – diced, chopped or grated.
Chicken/ Goat meat (Fish will also do nicely)
2 Medium sized smoked or dried fish
A handful of any green vegetables of choice (ugwu/ spinach/ bitter leaves/ scent leaves (efirin) – washed and chopped
1 Tbsp of locust beans (iru/dawadawa) – optional
Ground crayfish
Ponmo (your preferred quantity)
Dried Prawns – Optional
Fresh shrimps – Optional
Ground Dried Pepper
Chicken / Meat Stock
Seasoning cubes and salt to taste
Preparation time: 25 – 30 mins
Cooking: 12 -15 mins
Method:

Season and bring meat of choice to boil. Once well cooked, take out the meat into a bowl and set aside.
Now add your ground dried pepper (pepper can be used to suit your preference, I prefer mine hot & spicy), washed locust beans, ponmo and smoke fish, and shrimps/prawns into the pot of meat stock. Cover to cook for about 5 -7 minutes.
Now stir in your grated or diced okro, let it bubble on low heat for another 3 minutes before adding your washed and finely chopped green vegetables. If you are using bitter leaves, taste to ensure no bitterness before adding into soup. To get rid of the bitterness, you can boil already squeezed bitter leaves for about 3 minutes then rinse with cold water before adding into your pot of soup. Add a little water to soup if too thick.
Okro is best enjoyed crunchy so try not to let it over-cook. With your vegetables in, your meat can now go back into the pot and then, your ground crayfish.
Taste for salt, add a cube or two of seasoning (if needed) and stir well. Leave to steam for about 2 more minutes and voila, your oil-less okro is ready to be enjoyed.

Serve with any choice of swallow.
Enjoy!