Today I will share with you how to make Nigerian oil free okra soup. This is a low calorie, diet-friendly soup that is great for weight-loss and weight management.
This plain okra soup recipe is for you if you love okra soup but like it plain and tasty because you don’t want to cook it with palm oil. It is fresh, simple and perfect with fufu, amala, eba or any preferred swallow of choice.
It also pairs well with a lot of soups such as egusi soup, fish soup, light soup and stew.
Without wasting time, I will proceed to list the ingredients needed below.
Ingredients
- 500g okra
- 6 tbsp crayfish powder
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp Seasoning
- 1-2 tbsp Iru – locust beans
Before I proceed with the step by step guide of how to cook this soup, I would like you to know that this soup is a popular favourite for Nigerian mothers when they start introducing swallow foods to their babies.
Some of the reasons for this choice by mothers are; okra soup is slimy and helps babies swallow their food easily.
Also, it is a good way to incorporate vegetables in babies’ diet.
Another reason for this choice is, this particular soup is not spicy or oily thereby making it easy to digest.
How to make oil-less okra soup.
- Remove the top and the pointy part of the okra with a knife.
- Fill a bowl with water.
- Clean the okra very well and transfer into a bowl.
- Separate them into 2 parts using 60:40
- For more texture separate into 3 parts using 40:40:20
- Transfer the first 40% or 60% into a blender.
- Add water and blend till smooth then set aside.
- Grate the 40%.
- Slice the remaining 20% by hand, with a knife. for babies, it is advised that all the okra be blended with water till it is smooth.
- Fill your pot with required water for cooking.
- Place on the stove and allow to boil.
- Scoop some hot water into a small bowl
- Put salt and seasoning in to bowl of hot water and mix well till it dissolves completely, then set aside to be used later.
- Clean iru by rinsing it in a small bowl of water, then add to the hot water in the pot.
- Allow to boil for 5 minutes
- Pour the smoothly blended okra into the pot and mix well to combine the iru and the water
- Add grated okra
- Mix well and allow to cook for 10 minutes.
- Confirm that the okra is still slimy by mixing it, then add crayfish powder.
- Also add the salt and seasoning mixture made earlier for taste.
- Stir well to combine well and cook for 3 minutes on low heat.
- Lastly add the sliced okra for extra crunch and cook for 2 minutes.
- Allow to cool down, delicious okra is ready to be enjoyed alone or with in combination with other soups and swallow of choice.
Cooking tips
- Boil the water first before adding the okra, this will quickly activate the viscosity of the okra to make it slimy
- To retain the slimy nature of the soup, do not cover the pot after after adding the okra. Instead cook it with the pot open so the steam can escape.
Featured below is a free video showing a step-by-step guide on how to make plain okra soup.
Making oil-less okra soup is a simple way to enjoy traditional Nigerian soup and by skipping the palm oil, you reduce the fat while still enjoying a flavour-rich okra soup and its benefits.
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