← Nouns Cooking · West & East African

Ingredients

• 700 g Beef (stewing), cut into chunks
• 1 Onion, half chopped, half roughly cut
• 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 2 Scotch bonnet chilli
• 800 g tin of palm nut concentrate (banga base)
• 2 tbsp Ground crayfish
• 1 tbsp Banga soup spice mix (optional)
• 1 tsp Cayenne pepper
• 400 g catfish or other firm fish steaks
• 100 g Smoked fish, boned and flaked (optional)
• 200 g raw prawns (optional)

Method

1. Simmer the beef with the chopped half onion, the salt and 750 ml water, covered, for 40 min until tender.
2. Blend the scotch bonnets with the rest of the onion and a splash of water.
3. Stir the palm nut concentrate and the blended peppers into the beef pot. Bring to the boil and cook for 15 min, stirring now and then, until it thickens and red oil gathers on the surface.
4. Add the crayfish, banga spice (if using), cayenne and smoked fish. Lay the fish steaks gently in the soup and simmer for 10 min, without stirring hard, until the fish is cooked.
5. Add the prawns for the last 3 min, until pink. Season and serve with starch, eba or plain white rice.

Tips

• Banga spice and dried beletientien leaves give the authentic Delta flavour; look for them in African grocers.
• Contains fish and shellfish.
• Wear gloves to cut or blend scotch bonnets, keep your hands away from your eyes and wash the board, knife and blender well afterwards.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Chef Lola's Kitchen Low Carb Africa 9jafoodie