Pickled (Fermented) Okra

I stopped using vinegar in pickles and pickled veggies a long time ago. Actually, I started using vinegar when I first got married, up until that time I fermented foods like my Mother and Grandmother had done.

But I like the taste of pickled foods so I used vinegar in all my cucumbers, okra, etc. for a long time, then I went back to the traditional way of preserving vegetables and started fermenting them again. I like them so much more when they’re fermented. And these okra pods are crunchy not soft or slimy!

Don’t let the word “fermented” throw you. The vegetables aren’t rotten and they aren’t stinky. They are lightly fermented, a little effervescent and totally yummy. Here’s my fermenting okra:

Here’s the recipe:

First make your brine using 1 cup of pure water and 2 teaspoons of sea salt, set aside. You might want to make about 1/2 cup extra in case 1 cup doesn’t cover everything, so for that use 1/2 cup water and 1 teaspoon of sea salt.

Wash however many small pods of fresh okra you can fit in a pint jar, and put them in a clean jar.

To the jar add:

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon dry dill seed or a part of a seed head

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 of a small onion, sliced thinly

Pour the brine over the ingredients in the jar. Cover loosely with a lid and let this sit out on a countertop for 3 – 10 days, Open it daily and after 3 days you can check the taste. When it tastes tangy enough, cover it and refrigerate it. It will last a couple of months in the fridge.

This year we were able to make this using the okra, onions and garlic we grew!