Dry Rub Fried Okra

Inspired by Colby Garrelts - Kansas City, MO

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One of my favorite Southern sides growing up was fried okra. They’re a strange vegetable upon first examination - a bit fuzzy, slimy, and sticky to handle. However, once cooked all the oddities disappear and you’re left with a wonderful crunchiness (or tenderness when put in a stew). I don’t see much okra up North but every now and then I get a craving and there’s only one way to cure it.

This recipe was adapted from Colby & Megan Garrelts in Kansas City, Missouri and their cookbook Made in America. The Garrelts have a couple restaurants up there - Bluestem and Rye. I visited Rye on a visit out to Kansas City and loved the modern touches they bring to the good old fashioned cooking one expects from the Heartland.

INGREDIENTS

FRIED OKRA:

  • 1 lb fresh okra

  • ½ cup buttermilk

  • 1 large egg

  • 1 cup flour

  • ½ cup of cornmeal

  • 2 TBS BBQ dry rub

  • Salt and pepper to taste

  • Canola oil for frying

  • Hot sauce (for serving)

BBQ DRY RUB (makes almost 1 cup):

  • ¼ cup paprika

  • 2 TBS salt

  • 1 TBS mustard powder

  • 2 TBS chili powder

  • 2 TBS cumin

  • 1 TBS black pepper

  • 2 TBS garlic powder

  • 1 TBS cayenne pepper

GO FOR IT

FRIED OKRA:

  1. Wash okra, pat dry, and cut into ½ inch slices, then season with salt and pepper

  2. In a bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg

  3. In another bowl, mix together flour, cornmeal, and dry rub

  4. Dip okra slices into buttermilk mix and coat well, then move to flour/cornmeal/dry rub mix and coat generously

  5. In a dutch over or frying pan, fill with enough oil to cover okra and heat to 350°

  6. Working in batches so you don’t overcrowd your pan, carefully drop coated okra into hot oil and fry until golden brown (2-3 minutes)

  7. Using a slotted spoon, move okra to a paper towel lined plate

  8. Serve while still hot and crunchy and with hot sauce drizzled on top if desired

NOTES:

There are thousands of fried okra recipes out there but when I was reading through the Garrelts’ cookbook I saw that theirs added in BBQ dry rub and knew I had to try. What a genius idea I can’t believe I never thought of before! It was perfect. I might even add an additional tablespoon in there next time for even more flavor. Give this a try.

The Garrelts provide a dry rub recipe and it looks pretty nice but here I’m providing you with the blend my own family has been using for as long as I can remember. I think it’s pretty great and hope you do too. You obviously don’t need an entire cup of dry rub for this amount of fried okra but I bet you can find some other uses for it once you use what you need for this recipe. It’s best to make this in bulk in my opinion. I usually double that amount and keep a jar of it in my pantry for quick use whenever I need it. Feel free to use your own favorite dry rub mix if you want but either way it’s a great addition in fried okra.