This crispy soft Creole Okra Salad – Salad Lalo Kreol– is made with blanched okra or ladies fingers, tossed in an onion and lime dressing. It is a refreshing salad that is full of healthy goodness.
Okra is widely used in the Seychelles and is mainly made into salad. They are also used in curries or fried in spices. I love okra salad. I was exposed to it at such a young age and I have developed the taste for it. Okra is a vegetable that you either love or hate. Typically, those who dislike it blame the way okra becomes slimy and silky when it is cooked, but others enjoy it for this same reason. If you happen to hate it, no recipe in the world will change your mind. However, if you happen to be a fan of okra, this simple and easy Seychellois style okra salad-salad lalo– is absolutely delish!
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What is Okra?
Okra is the seed pod of the Abelmoschus esculentus plant. The okra plant bears numerous dark green colored pods measuring about 5-15 cm in length. The pods, filled with tiny white seeds, are usually gathered while they are green, tender, and at the immature stage. Okra is sometimes called lady’s fingers due to its long, slender, tubelike shape.
What Does It Taste Like?
Okra has a mild, almost grassy flavor that is uniquely okra. While it is sometimes compared to the taste of eggplant or green beans, its texture gets more attention. Okra is crunchy when quickly blanched but becomes almost mouthwateringly tender when slow-cooked. It contains mucilage, a substance that acts as a natural thickener when heated and gives it its slimy texture.
Origin of Okra
Native to Ethiopia, okra was brought to North America by enslaved people and settlers when they arrived centuries ago. The Online Encyclopedia of Flora in Reunion states that lalo was “introduced from the Antilles to Réunion in 1826 and 1880 by MM. Plagne and Crémazy”. You might wonder why it was necessary to introduce it twice, more than 50 years apart! I am assuming that it would have been introduced to Seychelles, probably through Mauritius, around the late 1890’s.
Lalo- a name full of confusion
Lalo is the creole name for okra and the word is also used in Mauritius, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Réunion. Despite the fact the names of most of the fruits and vegetables in Seychelles are derived from French, lalo is not. The French term for lalo or okra is ‘ketmi’. So where does the name come from?
According to the Etymological Dictionary of Creoles of the Indian Ocean the word lalo comes from the Portuguese ‘calalu.’
What is Calalu or Callaloo
Callaloo is a popular Caribbean dish originating in West Africa served in different variants across the Caribbean. The main ingredient is a leaf vegetable, traditionally either amaranth or taro. Both are known by many names, including callaloo, coco, tannia, bhaaji, or dasheen bush. Because the leaf vegetable used in some regions may be locally called “callaloo” or “callaloo bush”, some confusion can arise among the vegetables and with the dish itself.
Outside of the Caribbean, water spinach is occasionally used. Trinidadians and Dominicans primarily use taro/dasheen bush for callaloo, although Dominicans also use water spinach. Jamaicans and Guyanese on the other hand use the name callaloo to refer to amaranth and use it in a plethora of dishes and also a drink. The ‘callaloo’ made in Jamaica is different from the ‘callaloo’ made in Trinidad and Tobago in terms of main ingredient and other ingredients included. Callaloo is the National Dish of Trinidad and Tobago.
Other possible confusing connections
Lalo has a different meaning depending in which part of the world you are.
If you are in Africa
If you are in Africa it means the powdered leaves of the baobab tree, used by the Africans to mix and thicken their soup. Typically, leaves are ground up and sprinkled into the pot in which sauces are being prepared. Hausa-speaking peoples consider it the main ingredient of a soup called miyar kuka (kuka being their name for dry baobab leaves). But all across West Africa these popular baobab-leaf soups are most often labeled with the Wolof name, lalo. Wolof is a language of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania, and the native language of the Wolof people.
If you are in the West Indies
If you are in the West Indies, particularly in Haiti, Lalo refers to Jute leaves as well a stew made with jute leaves. Haitians cook Jute leaves (Lalo) with and without meat. They are said to add a distinct flavour to food and also act as thickeners in soups, stews and sauces. When harvested young, jute leaves are generally flavourful and tender; on the other hand, older leaves tend to be fibrous and woody.
Jute leaves, like Okra, has a spinachy and grassy taste and contains mucilage, giving it a gluey and slimy texture when cooked. Could it be because of its gluey texture that the name lalo was given to okra?
To confuse us even further, in the US and in some parts of the Caribbean, Jute is also at times called Okra!
How to Buy Okra
Fresh okra should feel firm but not hard. Look for crispy, immature pods that are bright green with unblemished skin, and avoid those with discolored skins with spots and cuts. A little browning on the stem should not be a concern, though the greener it is, the fresher the okra. Large okra tends to be tough and stringy.
Storage
Okra can be stored in your refrigerator’s vegetable compartment in paper bags for up to four days. You can also wrap it loosely in plastic. When you’re ready to prepare it for cooking, remove it from the fridge and bring it up to room temperature first.
Handling
If you have sensitive skin, wear gloves and long sleeves when cutting the okra because most varieties are covered with tiny spines that can irritate your skin, unless you have a spineless variety.
Medicinal Value
Eat your okra while they are fresh to obtain full benefits of vitamins and antioxidants. Okra is a rich source of nutrients, including fibre, vitamins A, C and B6, folic acid, calcium, iron and magnesium. Mucilage from okra contains significant levels of protein, carbohydrate, neutral sugars, minerals, and other complex polysaccharides that tend to get gluey or sticky when cooked.
Preparing the Creole Okra Salad – Salad Lalo Kreol
Prepare Dressing
You first prepare your onion dressing by slicing the onion thinly and placing it in a bowl. You then add a squeeze of lime, a teaspoon of salt and about half a teaspoon of cracked pepper. Mix in the oil and massage the dressing with your hand until the onion softens. Keep. It is interesting to note that the viscosity or sliminess of the okra peaks at neutral to alkaline pH. Exposing it to an acidic ingredients, such as lime juice or vinegar or even tomatoes, tones the viscosity down.
Once you have obtained your immature and firm okra pods, give them a good wash. Carefully trim extra long stem but do not cut the crown off. Leave your okra whole. Do not to cut into the seed chamber as the seeds may spill out
Blanch Okra
Place water in a medium size pot, enough to cover the okra and allow them to float. Add one teaspoon of salt and bring to boil. Once water starts to boil add okra and cook for 5 minutes, with a maximum of 6 minutes, or until desired tenderness is reached. If you overcook your okra, the nutrients may be destroyed, as well as the crunchiness. You want your okra to have a crispy-soft texture.
Finish the Creole Okra Salad-Salad Lalo Kreol
Remove the okra from boiling liquid and place on a flat surface to allow to cool. You may decide to dip the okra in cold water to cool it down and stop the cooking. However, you will be adding the okra to too much moisture that could turn your salad mushy. If you decide to place your okra in cold water, do not keep them in water for too long, and once cooled transfer on a cloth to soak away the moisture. Once cooled, transfer them in a bowl and mix in the dressing and lightly toss the okra. Try and minimise bruising the okra. It should be served whole.
Here is the Recipe for Creole Okra Salad- Salad Lalo Kreol
This crispy-soft Creole Okra Salad – Salad Lalo Kreol– is made with blanched okra or ladies fingers, tossed in an onion and lime dressing. It is a refreshing salad that is full of healthy goodness.
- 1 kg okra or ladies fingers, firm, tender and immature
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp salt for boiling water
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Juice of 1 lime
- Salt and cracked pepper
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Peel onion and slice very thinly
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Transfer the sliced onion into a stainless bowl, add a squeeze of lime, a teaspoon of salt and about half a teaspoon of cracked pepper.
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Mix in the oil and massage the dressing with your fingers until the onion softens. Keep
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Once you have obtained your immature and firm okra pods, give them a good wash.
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Carefully trim extra long stem but do not cut the crown off. Leave your okra whole. Do not to cut into the seed chamber as the seeds may spill out
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Place enough water in a medium size pot, and add one teaspoon of salt. Have enough water to cover the okra and allow them to float freely, and bring to boil.
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Once water is boiling add okra and cook for 5 minutes, with a maximum of 6 minutes, or until desired tenderness is reached. If you overcook your okra, the nutrients may be destroyed, as well as the crunchiness. You want your okra to have a crispy-soft texture.
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Remove the okra from boiling liquid and place on a flat surface to allow to cool. Once cooled, transfer in a bowl and mix in the dressing and lightly toss the okra. Try and minimise the bruising of the okra. It should be served whole.
It is interesting to note that the viscosity or sliminess of the okra peaks at neutral to alkaline pH. Exposing it to an acidic ingredients, such as lime juice or vinegar or even tomatoes, tones the viscosity down.
You may decide to dip the okra in cold water to cool it down and stop the cooking. However, you will be adding the okra to too much moisture that could turn your salad mushy. If you decide to place your okra in cold water, do not keep them in water for too long and once cooled, transfer them on a cloth to soak away the moisture.
Did you make this recipe?
I hope you will enjoy cooking this dish. Please let me know how it turned out for you. If you have a different version of the recipe or have related questions, please leave your comments below.
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