I’ve lived in the south all my life, so naturally I’ve grown up around fried okra… and I’ve loved it the whole time. My grandmother obviously makes the best, we have it once a year, and hers is perfect, Southern and original.. but I’ve tried to do something a little different. Unfortunately my brother isn’t a fan, but he will come around one day! He has to right??
Anyway, my great aunt brought me a whole bag of okra from her garden last week. I pickled half of it (recipe to be added soon), then fried up the other half. In this recipe, I decided to pair two typically southern ingredients — okra and pecans.
I sliced up the okra and set out three trays: one with the okra, one with an egg and flour mix, and the third with ground pecans. Make sure to salt to taste at the beginning and after you take them out of the fryer. It’s necessary if your pecans weren’t pre-salted.
The pecans gave a crunchy texture, and the okra was fried in the middle perfectly. I needed a good dip — don’t all fried things?? I made a ranch based sauce with 1/4 c. sour cream, 1/4 c. Greek yogurt, 2-3 teaspoons horseradish, and about 1/2-1 Tablespoon Homemade Ranch Seasoning mix from Gimme Some Oven (click for her recipe). I keep that her dry ranch mix in my pantry for whenever I need a quick dip. It mixed with sour cream, mayo, and/or Greek yogurt. I added some half-and-half (up to a tablespoon) to thin it out. Whisk it all together, and it turned out to be a perfectly tasty, creamy dip for the okra. I spooned the dipping sauce into two bowls, and added Sriracha to one dip to give a little spice! I heart spice.
- Pulse all pecans in a food processor until ground. Pour into a shallow dish. Whisk together eggs and flour (or buttermilk) in another shallow dish.
- Pour oil 2 inches high in a medium or large pot or shallow pan. Preheat oil to 350^. Season okra with salt and pepper. Dip in egg mixture, then the ground pecans.
- Fry 5-6 minutes at 350^ until golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack with paper towels underneath to cool.
- Serve with a ranch sauce.