← Nouns Cooking · West & East African

Ingredients

• 500 g dried honey beans or black-eyed beans, picked over and rinsed
• 2 Onion, 1 sliced, 1 roughly chopped
• 3 Tomato, chopped
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
• 2 Scotch bonnet chilli
• 80 ml red palm oil
• 1 tsp vegetable stock powder (or 1 cube)
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste
• 2 tbsp Ground crayfish (optional)

Method

1. Cover the beans with water by 5 cm, boil for 10 min, then drain. This first boil makes them easier to digest.
2. Return the beans to the pot with 1.5 litres of fresh water and the sliced onion. Simmer, partly covered, for 45–60 min until very soft, topping up with hot water if they dry out.
3. While the beans cook, blend the tomatoes, red pepper, scotch bonnets and chopped onion until smooth.
4. When a bean crushes easily between your fingers, stir in the blended sauce, palm oil, stock powder, salt and crayfish, if using.
5. Simmer for 15 min, stirring often so it does not catch, and mash some of the beans against the side of the pot to make it creamy.
6. It should be thick enough for a spoon to stand up. Serve hot with fried plantain (dodo) or soft bread.

Tips

• Crayfish adds savoury depth but makes it non-vegan and is a shellfish allergen.
• Check stock cubes for wheat if you need it gluten-free.
• 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 Eat Well Abi Yummy Medley