Ghanaian Red Red Bean Stew

To complement the Ghanaian Very Hot Shito Sauce we bought our son at Christmas, I made a Red Red Bean Stew last night.  Red Red is a Ghanaian dish, make with black eyed beans, tomatoes, red peppers, scotch bonnet chilli, and red palm oil - hence it's name.  Given the strength of the Shito Sauce I decided substitute scotch bonnet chilli for sweet red pepper.

Although a plant based dish in itself, Red Red is often served with tinned mackerel or pilchards. I added chicken, as my teens are less keen on vegan/vegetarian dishes that we are.

Serves 4

2 tbsp vegetable oil

4 chicken thighs (optional)

1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped

1 cm root ginger, roughly chopped

400g carton of passata

2 tins cooked black-eyed beans and their liquid

2 vegetable stock cubes

1 tsp Caribbean curry powder (or 1 tsp Indian curry powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric, & 1/2 tsp ground allspice)

1/4 tsp chilli powder

Brown the chicken thighs, if using, in the olive oil in a pan big enough to make the stew, and remove from the hot oil.

Liquidise the onion, garlic, bell pepper, and root ginger with some of the bean water to make a loose paste.

Fry the liquidised onion and pepper mixture in the hot oil for a few minutes.

Stir the curry powder and chilli into the onion paste, then stir in the tomatoes, beans, and crumbled stock cubes.

Add the chicken back to the stew if using.  There should be enough liquid to cover all the ingredients in the pan with about 1cm of water.  Add more tap water if there isn't.  If too much liquid, you can reduce this whilst the stew cooks.  Cover (leave the lid off it too much liquid), and simmer for 20 minutes.  

Red Red could be cooked in a slow cooker. After frying the onion paste and dry spices,  pour into a slow cooker together with the rest of the ingredients and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Serve with rice, or plantain.

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Torshi Left, Egyptian Turnip & Beetroot Pickle

I was treated to Torshi Left made by an Egyptian friend's mother on my arrival in Cairo in 1991 en route to Sharm el Sheik on the Red Sea to learn to dive.  I was thrilled to find a recipe for it in Claudia Roden's Mediterranean Cookery, which I had bought after a previous visit to Egypt.

This is an quick anglicised version I have come up with 

1large white turnip or mooli
2 medium or 1 large beetroot

50ml white wine vinegar

50ml water

1 tsp salt

Peel the turnips/mooli and beetroot, and grate coarsely. Mix together with the remaining ingredients. The original recipe says cut the vegetables into large chunks and soak in vinegar brine for a week for at least a week. I can never wait that long and so came up with this quick grated method that I can tuck into straight away, although the longer it marinades the better the flavour.

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Azifa, Ethiopian Lentil Salad

 
Not exactly salad weather, but we had some cooked Puy Lentils to use up.

Serves 4, as an accompaniment

1 tin cooked Puy lentils, drained

1 mild green chili pepper, finely diced
2 tomatoes, sliced or diced
1 red onion, sliced or diced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 medium limes, juiced
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients together. Season to taste. Ideally, prepare a few hours ahead and leave at room temperature for the flavours to develop.

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Vegan Dama (Sudanese Potato Curry)

During lockdown a friend began posting photos of the dishes she had cooked, over Zoom, with chefs from Migrateful 

Migrateful run online cookery classes led by migrant chefs who are struggling to integrate and access employment, due to legal and linguistic barriers.  Migrateful's mission is to empower and celebrate these chefs on their journey to employment and independence.

The dish above is a veganised Dama (Sudanese Chicken Curry).  

If you're interested in this recipe, watch this space. Migrateful will be publishing a cookery book next year with not only delicious recipes but also the inspirational stories of Migrateful chefs from around the globe.

In the meantime, why not sign up for one of their Zoom cookery classes ?

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Ethiopian Spiced Greens (Ye'abesha Gomen)

The second of the Ethiopian dishes I was served up on a wonderful Ethiopian platter from the @ethiopiques stall at The South Bank Centre.  This dish may not look that exciting, but boy was it tasty.

300g shredded chard, spinach, or kale
1 tbsp sunflower oil
l tsp ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp garlic, finely chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes
Juice of 1 lemon

Gently fry the onion in the oil in a sauté pan over a medium heat.  When it starts to brown, stir in the garlic and ginger, and all the spices.  About one minute later, once you can smell the hot spices and garlic, and the greens and lemon juice.

Cover and cook gently for 7-10 minutes until the greens are tender.  Add a little hot water if you want a less dry consistency, and season.

Serve as a vegetable accompaniment to Shiro (Chickpea Stew)

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I am in the process of identifying the other dishes on this platter.

So far I have identified;
Yesemir Wot - Ethiopian Lentil Stew
Ethiopian Split Pea stew - Kik Alicha
Misir Alicha - Green lentils with Turmeric Sauce
Shiro - Ethiopian Chickpea Stew
Firfir
Ye'abesha Gomen (Ethiopian Collard Greens)
Ethiopian Cabbage
Injera
Ethiopian Tomato Salad

Ethiopian Vegan Shiro Chickpea Stew

This is my first attempt to recreate some wonderful Ethiopian vegan dishes from @ethiopiques stall just outside The South Bank Centre in London.  First, Shiro, a powdered chickpea (or sometimes broad bean, or lentil) stew.

Whilst powdered chickpea in the form of gram flour is readily available in the UK, I decided to just puree tins of chickpeas to save myself a lot of whisking and the worry of lumps.

Serves a healthy 4

2 tins of chickpeas in water, pureed in their liquid
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 large onions, peeled and finely diced
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1tbsp finely chopped ginger
2 tbsp tomato puree, or a finely chopped tomato

1 tbsp bebere spice, or 1 tsp smoked paprika, ½ tsp ground cardamom, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes
1 tsp turmeric

Gently soften the onion in the sunflower oil. Once the onion starts to turn a golden brown, stir in the tomato paste and fry off for a minute or two. Stir in the garlic and ginger, then add the rest of the ingredients plus a tin of hot water.  Simmer for 20 minutes to ensure the onion, garlic, and ginger and thoroughly cooked. Season to taste.

There are many variations of Shiro, ome watery, some thick like porridge.  I originally served this up with  a similarly flavoured side dish of Ye'abesha Gomen (Ethiopian Greens), but would simply wilt greens like spinach or kale into the Shiro in future for a bit of additional texture and colour. 

I also puréed some pickled jalapeños with a tablespoon of olive oil to make a chilli sauce to drizzle  over.

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