The deep red colour of the Red Velvet Okras gets lost during cooking, the fruits turn as green as ordinary okra pods when heated.

The capsules of okras or lady finger’s produce a lot of slime during cooking, which is desired in Indian, Creole and Oriental dishes as a binding agent in sauces, soups and stews. Dried fruit pieces are also cooked for this purpose. As they become woody when ripe, only the unripe fruits are used as vegetables. They are cut at the ends or cut into pieces and fried or boiled. Okra capsules can also be eaten raw and have a slightly bitter taste. If okras are too slimy for you, blanch them in vinegar or lemon water for a few minutes after cutting the tops.

The ripe seeds can be roasted and nibbled or used as a substitute for coffee. They are also used to produce a high-quality, pleasantly tasting edible oil. The leaves can also be used as leafy vegetables, raw or cooked.

Okra plants grow as shrubs. The large, pale yellow flowers open in the morning and wither in the afternoon. The fruits can be harvested a week later.

• Edible Fruits Seeds
• Type of Fruit Capsule
• Culinary Group (unripe fruits) Fruit vegetables Thickeners
• Culinary Group (seeds) Coffee substitutes Oil plants
• Taste watery slimy
• Trivial Names Okra, Okraschote, Gemüse-Eibisch, Essbarer Eibisch, Gombobohne, Ägyptische Bohne, Griechenhorn, Grünschnabel, Hibiskusfrucht, Pappelrose, Rosenapfel, Ibisco, Ladyfinger, Ladysfinger, Lady's Finger, Ochro, Calou, Calalou, Quiabo, Bhindi, Chimbombó, Bamya, Bamyah, Gambo, Gombo, Okolo, Lalo, Corne grecque, Mloukhia, Nkui, Dongó Dongó,Gnawia, Ganaouia, Bamya
• Size 17 cm
• Taxonomy Malvaceae (Mallows) Abelmoschus esculentus 'Red Velvet'
• Origin East Africa (Ethiopian Highlands) (Map)
• Locality Gaby Försterling, Naturgarten Hessen 2018