Hello!
Today I
am here with my first FOOD post. And since I am married to Nigerian, I wanted
to learn some Nigerian meals so my hubby will feel at least a little bit like
at his home country. And what I have learnt about Nigerian cuisine - there is
always a pepper stew on the stove in Nigeria to eat it with
rice, pounded yam, amala, eba or other typical Nigerian side dish.
But
before I get to the meal itself I would like to talk a bit about Nigerians and
food in general. I am no expert and this is only my personal insight that I got
from my husband, my friends and let's be honest - internet. It was the internet
who taught me how to cook Nigerian or I should say the countless amount of
Nigerian women who are kind enough to share their cooking wisdom with us (I personally
follow the channels of these 2 wonderful ladies - All Nigerian Recipes and AfroFoodTv. What I love about Nigerian
food (or African food in general) is the fact that dining is a very important
part of life for them and if you ask Nigerian what they like the most about
their culture most of them answer "9ja food". Nigerians love to cook
and they also love to eat. They are enjoying every part of it and they take the
time for the dining (you will never see a Nigerian to eat in a haste). Another
great thing about Nigerian food is that everything is natural. You cook from a
scratch and you mostly use fresh ingredients. Even though Nigerian meals are
very hearty I think they are healthier than most European dishes. No matter
what I cook from the Czech traditional cuisine, it's always "only"
the second best to Nigerian food (even though "řízek" with potato
salad is a strong contender - lol). So far I tried from Nigerian recipes only
Pepper stew, Jollof rice and Beans porridge with plantain or sweet corn but I
can say only about the pepper stew that I perfected it - in my own way - so I
can share the recipe. I am posting a recipe for a beef stew but you can
alternate the meat for chicken, fish, lamb or goat (which is very popular in
Nigeria) - Nigerians also like to mix the different kinds of meat together in
one stew so you see there are no limits for your imagination and experiments.
Nigerian
Pepper Stew (European
version)
Ingredients:
- 800g
beef (the kind most suitable for stew)
- 3 cans
of pealed tomatoes (you can use even fresh tomatoes but make sure they are
very ripe - in this case use like 7 of them)
- 2
onions (middle size)
- 2 red
bell peppers (I sometimes use only 1 grilled one - it has a stronger
taste)
- 2-3 red
habanero pepper (for beginners only 1)
- 6 stock
cubes of Maggi
- crayfish
- thyme
- salt
- vegetable
oil (not olive oil)
First cut the beef
into small cubes (if it is not cut already from the butcher or the shop), cut 1
onion into small pieces. Put them both inside a big pot and add water a little
bit above the level of the meat. Start cooking. During the cooking add salt to
taste and 3 stock cubes. Cook until the meat is soft the way you like it - I
like mine very very soft so I cook it usually about an hour and half on a low
heat. Make sure you check it from time to time if there is enough water. After
it is boiled remove the meat and keep the beef stock with the onion aside (we
will still use it!).
Now we will move
to the main part of the stew - tomato/pepper mixture. Take a blender and blend
the tomatoes, bell peppers, habanero peppers and the second onion together
until it's very smooth. Use the pot you cooked the beef inside before (make
sure you clean it well so it won't burn) put 1 cm high level of oil and make
sure the oil is heated up. Than pure the mixture inside (be careful and don't
burn yourself - it can sputter at first). Mix everything with the oil and put
on a medium heat. Add the rest 3 cubes of Maggi and leave it to reduce. When
the mixture is reduced and starts to get thicker, you can add the beef stock
for the better taste. It will be more liquidy again so reduce again. Check from
time to time so it won't get burned. Cook until the oil start to separate from
the mixture (you will see it sitting on the top of the mixture). At this point
you can add more salt if needed (remember there is already salt in the beef stock!),
crayfish and thyme to taste. Also add the beef inside (for better taste fry it
or roast it in the oven). Cook for more additional 10 minutes - MAKE SURE you
stir it frequently now - it gets burned very easily at this faze. And we are
done!
I like the stew
the most with pounded yam (which my husband makes - I am not strong enough to
pound it well - lacking the African power - lol) or with rice and dodo (fried
plantain) like in the picture. But you can eat it with anything, really - with
spaghetti you can create an afro-italian dish! ;-) I hope you will find this
recipe helpful and worth trying. Bon appetite!
xoxo
Your
Funmilayo
