Cardamom and Tea

how to cook okra simply

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Okra is often called “slimy,” but its final texture has a lot to do with the way you cook it. So whether you want to maximize or minimize the amount of slime, the recipe in this post will give you total control over the slime-factor. If you’re already on board, jump to the recipe to learn how to cook okra simply with or without a ton of slime.

how to cook okra and control the slime

If you google around, you’ll find tons of tips and tricks for reducing the slime. I love a listicle as much as the next person, but the fact is there’s just one thing I’ve tried that’s really worked, and that’s slicing lengthwise, and then choosing whether to roast cut-side-up or cut-side-down.

Slice lengthwise, decide how much slime you want, and flip them in the corresponding direction. It’s as easy as that!

why it works

Roasting something cut-side-down makes it steam as it cooks, and roasting something cut-side-up allows moisture to evaporate as it cooks. Okra that’s cut-side-down steams and becomes even gooier, while okra that’s cut-side-up caramelizes and dehydrates a bit. Less moisture leads to less slime.

Now you know just about all you need to perfectly roast okra, but to justify including an actual recipe, I’ve thrown in a few more veggies and spices, as well as specific instructions for anyone new to roasting. Feel free to make the recipe as it’s written (serve it to friends to try to win them over to this beautiful vegetable), switch up the other veggies for some of your favorites, or just leave out everything but the roasted okra, which is all that really matters anyway.

more delicious okra

Curried eggplant and okra from the Kitchenista Angela Davis
Vegetables in sao masalo, and maple-glazed roast wild okra from Ankiet Gulabani of Belly Over Mind
My grandmother’s bamiyeh / okra stew

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how to cook okra simply

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  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces okra, sliced in half lengthwise
  • A few tiny hot peppers or 1 sliced jalapeño or serrano
  • 1/2 onion, sliced
  • 10 whole garlic cloves
  • 8 to 12 grape tomatoes, halved
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 475° F.
  2. Coat the halved okra, hot peppers, onion slices, garlic cloves, and tomatoes in the olive oil, salt, coriander, and cumin.
  3. Place on a sheet pan in one layer. If you want gooey, slimy okra, turn them all cut-side-down. If you want to minimize the sliminess, turn them all cut-side-up.
  4. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until everything is slightly charred and tender.

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Pistachio Banana Bread

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Lately, I’ve been obsessively trying to perfect my recipe for lokma (AKA Turkish delights). I might post it someday soon, but that’s all beside the point, because this post is not about the high-maintenance, fast-paced, high-stress world of candy making. This is a post about the lowest maintenance sweet of all time: banana bread! Or more specifically, pistachio banana bread.

Jump to the recipe if you’re ready to bake, or read on to learn about the secret ingredient I love to add to banana bread. And don’t miss my recipe for olive oil banana bread if you’re looking for a dairy-free alternative.

My secret ingredient for the best banana bread

It’s a bit of an obscure ingredient if you don’t do a lot of Middle Eastern baking, but my secret to the best banana bread is a little splash of orange blossom water.

Don’t worry though—you don’t have to use orange blossom water if you don’t have it on hand.

If you don’t use orange blossom water, this recipe makes an excellent loaf of pistachio banana bread. But if you do include a bit of orange blossom water, you’re in for an absolute treat. Here’s why:

What is orange blossom water?

If you haven’t tried orange blossom water, it tastes just like it sounds: it’s reminiscent of oranges, but with a definitively floral bouquet. It’s like if some really fancy cosmetic line made a subtly orange-scented perfume (rather than one that screams “generic orange-scented dishwasher detergent!!”).

In other words, orange blossom water makes plain old orange juice, orange slices, and orange peel extract seem astringent, bland, and brassy.

And why is it so good in banana bread?

There is something kind of ripe-banana-adjacent about the scent of orange blossom water. I’m not sure exactly what that’s all about, but it works incredibly well in banana desserts. It heightens the flavor of bananas by marrying them with a floral citrus-scented infusion.

I don’t stop at banana bread—I add orange blossom water to banana cream pie, banana pudding, and banoffee everything.

By the way, don’t miss my other banana bread recipes if you’re looking for something a little different:

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Pistachio Banana Bread

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  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
  • Yield: 1 medium loaf

Ingredients

  • 1 cup [240 g] mashed banana from 3 very overripe bananas *
  • 3 Tbsp [45 g] melted unsalted butter**
  • 1/4 cup [55 g] olive oil**
  • 2 room temperature eggs
  • Flavorings (optional) ***
  • 1 cup [200 g] sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 cups [230 g] sifted flour (about 1 3/4 cups unsifted)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup [60 g] chopped raw pistachios
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp [15g] coarsely ground pistachios (for the top) ****

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F [177° C].
  2. Butter a 8 x 4 inch [20 x 10 cm] loaf pan. *****
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the mashed bananas together with the melted butter and olive oil until very well combined. Add the eggs, orange blossom water (if using), sugar, and salt, and whisk together until the whole thing is completely incorporated.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and baking powder, and then pour in the chopped pistachios.
  5. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Do not over-mix (stop mixing as soon as there are no large lumps).
  6. Spoon the mixture into the loaf pan.
  7. Sprinkle the top with the ground pistachios.
  8. Bake for about 1 hour. Start checking for doneness after about 50 minutes, by inserting a toothpick or wooden skewer into the center of the loaf. If it comes out with batter, it needs more time, but if it comes out with just some crumbs, it’s ready to take out.
  9. Remove from the pan and cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

Notes

* I used to suggest optionally using up to 1 1/4 cup [300 g] banana, but the recipe works much better with just 1 cup. I’m just including this note for anyone who used to make it with the larger amount when it was an option. (Note from 26 August 2025)

** Feel free to use a total of 1 cup [105 g] olive oil in place of the butter + oil.

*** For example, 2 teaspoons orange blossom water. Feel free to add more orange blossom water, if you’d like. 1 tablespoon will be a bit more heightened, and if you like when things to taste like perfume, you can even add 2 tablespoons. But that is the absolute maximum.

**** The pistachios that are mixed into the loaf should simply be chopped, but the ones sprinkled on top should be ground (in other words, very finely chopped). I like to simply use the crumbs left behind from chopping the pistachios for this. But the only reason is because it looks prettier this way, so don’t sweat it.

***** Feel free to instead use a 9×5″ loaf pan if you’re very worried about spillage. But if you follow the recipe carefully, the batter should be viscous enough that it won’t overflow, but will instead puff up into a beautiful, tall loaf as it bakes. If you use a 9×5 loaf, check it for doneness about 5 to 10 minutes earlier. If your pan isn’t nonstick (or is very scratched-up nonstick), make a parchment sling for easy removal (butter the pan, place the sling, and add more butter to the parchment). Simply trace a butter knife around the bare sides and lift it out with the parchment flaps.

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