Southern Style Fried Okra

20 pods okra, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces

6 Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 large sweet onion, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 (8.5 ounce) package corn bread/muffin mix (such as Jiffy®)

1 cup vegetable oil for frying

Place vegetables in a colander, rinse with cold water, and transfer to a large mixing bowl. In this next step, use your best judgement. Add enough corn meal to coat all of the vegetables in the bowl. Toss lightly till vegetables are coated with corn meal, adding more corn meal if necessary.

In a large frying pan, pour in oil to cover bottom of the pan; place pan over medium to medium-high heat. Heat oil until hot but not smoking. To test if oil is ready, wet your fingers with some water and flick water into oil. If the oil sizzles immediately, it is ready to cook.

Spoon out vegetables into frying pan in a single layer. When vegetables turn golden brown on bottom, flip them over, and continue cooking until browned on the other side. Transfer to a bowl lined with paper towels to drain oil. Repeat process till all vegetables are cooked.