I am sharing this Ghanaian recipe here to showcase an example of a delicious meal that can be made with such a simple ingredient, Black Eyed Peas. Red red! A Ghanaian comfort dish like no other. It is very simple to make, very tasty, and filling. This version does contain dry crawfish but of course it can be made vegetarian and this ingredient omitted.
Disclaimer: Before criticising West African use of palm oil, I suggest you read an article by Yewande Komolafe for a more holistic view of the situation. Check this recipe out if you want to try your hand at a Ghanaian dish.
Plantain and Bean Stew (with dry fish)
Plantain and Bean Stew! A simple and tasty Ghanaian recipe. Sharing partly because of Ghana’s World Cup win this morning! An easy recipe once you source all the ingredients, most of which are very easily found at African and Caribbean grocery stores. (Yes, there is palm oil in this recipe, like there is in several other West African dishes)
Ingredients
Bean Stew
- 2 cups of dried black eyed peas
- 1/3-1/2 cup cup red palm oil
- 2 medium-large tomatoes diced
- 1 medium onion or 1/2 large onion sliced
- 1-2 Scotch bonnet diced
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 inch ginger minced
- 1 shrimp bouillon
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cayenne
- ¼ cup dry ground crayfish
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- salt to taste
Fried Plantain
- 3-4 ripe plantains
- 2 to 3 cups oil canola or vegetable oil, for frying
- Salt optional
To serve
- Gari cassava Flour (optional)
Instructions
Bean Stew
- Soak your beans (black eyed peas) overnight in water, make sure they are fully submerged, they will expand overnight.
- The next day, remove your beans from the water they soaked in and boil for 40 minutes or until tender. Add water as necessary so they do not dry out completly. Set aside. Do not drain water.
- In a medium pot, heat the palm oil over medium heat. When hot, add onions and sauté the onions for about 5 minutes.
- Add your diced tomatoes, and diced scotch bonnet, minced garlic and minced ginger.
- Saute for another about 10 more minutes.
- Add your seasoning, paprika, cayenne, shrimp bouillon and salt to taste.
- Simmer stirring constantly for about 10 minutes until tomatoes break down.
- Add cooked, black eyed peas and keep some of the liquid from the beans and and set aside to adjust consistency of the stew later if necessary. Mix in the beans until they are fully coated in tomato mixture. Simmer on low for 15 minutes stirring periodically or until the stew thickens. Add water or the remaining liquid from your beans if necessary to adjust consistency.
- Taste and adjust salt if needed.
- Serve with fried plantains or simple white rice.
Fried Plantain
- Peel plantains and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Diagonally cut is preferred.
- Add oil to a heavy bottom pan and you can deep dry or shallow fry plantains.
- Fry for 1 1/2 minutes on one side, flip and cook for 1 minute on the other side. You are looking for a deep golden brown colour but watch so it does not burnt. May have to lower heat to medium and fry for a total of 3-4 minutes. Test out a single plantain first before adding all your cut plantain into the hot oil.
- Place on a paper towel to remove excess oil and serve with your beans.
