I love okra every way, including raw with a dip....pickled like kosher dills, boiled in green beans so it's good & slimy :D , battered and fried and in gumbo....YEP, I'm southern born, but we had a young guy from East Germany stay with us for a month one summer and he loved okra, too. My grandkids cut their teeth on pickled okra.
For fried okra, I slice and marinate for a few minutes in buttermilk ( which I also love to drink), then shake in cornmeal and deep fry.