← Nouns Cooking · West & East African

Ingredients

• 600 g beef, goat or smoked turkey, cut into chunks
• 1 Onion, half chopped, half roughly cut
• 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 2 red peppers, deseeded and chopped
• 1 Scotch bonnet chilli
• 200 g Ground egusi (melon seeds)
• 125 ml red palm oil
• 2 tbsp Iru (fermented locust beans) (optional)
• 3 tbsp Ground crayfish
• 100 g Smoked fish, boned and flaked (optional)
• 300 g spinach or bitterleaf, chopped

Method

1. Simmer the meat with the chopped half onion, the salt and 750 ml water, covered, for 40 min until tender. Keep the stock.
2. Blend the red peppers, scotch bonnet and the rest of the onion until smooth.
3. Mix the ground egusi with 125 ml water to make a thick paste.
4. Heat the palm oil in a wide pot over medium heat for 2 min (do not let it smoke) and fry the iru, if using, for 1 minute. Drop in the egusi paste in spoonfuls and fry for 8–10 min, turning gently, until it sets into nutty-smelling curds.
5. Pour in the pepper blend and fry for 10 min, stirring now and then.
6. Add about 500 ml of the stock, the meat, crayfish and smoked fish. Simmer for 10 min until the oil rises to the top.
7. Stir in the greens and cook for 3–5 min until wilted. Adjust the salt and thickness with a little more stock, and serve with pounded yam, eba or fufu.

Tips

• Leave the curds alone for the first few minutes so they hold together; stir too soon and the soup turns grainy.
• Crayfish is a shellfish allergen.
• 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:

Sisi Jemimah Travel & Munchies All Nigerian Recipes