Recipes: a global roundup of things to do with okra

I bought these okra on my visit to the Santa Monica farmers last week, intent on using them in a gumbo, and that's what I did with them. But in the meantime, I was inspired to look into other ways to use this crop, which thrives -- along with its cousins in the plant kingdom, cotton and hibiscus -- in hot climes around the world, where it has been incorporated into the local diet. Here's a representative sample of nine okra recipes from locales ranging from Louisiana to Iran.