Recipe Corner

Welcome to the Lane…………………………..

Hello lovely guys today is one of those days……you know days you want to do something fun……I like food…yes I do….but who doesn’t?....so I thought why don’t I open an African recipe  page…..?.....yeah a recipe page…..! So I can teach all you guys how to prepare some good healthy African dishes……. in these days when even Africans have forgotten how good, tasty and healthy African dishes are and have taken to eating pure junk…..in the name of westernization or is it globalization…..!  Trying to live like the Caucasian: eat like the Whiteman, talk like the Whiteman, sleep like him and even do unprintable things…. all like the Whiteman……don’t get me wrong all you white guys….. I have nothing against you….my problem here is with my own black folks who think anything African is primitive and should be done away with.....But I think there are still a lot of indigenous African practices which are great and helpful and should be kept….one of them is the kinds of food our grand folks ate…..great so let’s get down to business….This page, like the one on African proverbs will be constantly updated…so join me in building this encyclopedia of African recipes……Below are some great African dishes and their recipes……your comments and recipes are welcome…..

Disclaimer: This really is a collection from various sources...we do not claim ownership of any of the recipes mentioned.

East African Recipes

Maandazi

Every culture seems to have thier own version of fried dough! This East African version has a sweet taste and pleasant chewy texture. You might eat maandazi for breakfast in a Kenyan cafe.

2 cups white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ teaspoon cardamom

¼ teaspoon salt

1 egg

¾ cup water

4 cups vegetable oil, for frying

1. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, cardamom and salt in a large bowl.

2. Whisk egg and water together in a small bowl. Make a well in center of dry ingredients and add egg mixture. Mix together gradually with a fork until mixture forms a soft dough. You can add 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour (one at a time) if it is too sticky. Cover dough with a wet towel or plastic wrap and leave 30 minutes or longer.

3. Heat oil in a deep, heavy pot (cast iron is preferable) until is reaches 360° F. While oil is heating, roll dough out on a floured surface into a rectangle ½ inch thick. Cut into 2-inch rounds with a glass or small biscuit cutter. You can also use a knife to cut rectangles. Form ball again with remaining dough and repeat process until all of dough is cut. You should have about 20 rounds.

4. Fry maandazi in batches of 5, for about 5 minutes per batch, turning to brown both sides. Hint: Turn the mandaazi before it gets too puffy, or the air bubbles will prevent you from turning it at all. I usually turn them several times during frying process. Remove from oil when both sides are golden brown. Serve warm, dipped in powdered sugar if desired.

Yield: about 20 maandazi

Nigerian: Ewa Agoyin(boiled beans)

Ewa Agoyin simply means plain boiled beans eaten with a pepper sauce.

This is the perfect way for those who do not like beans to enjoy it. I can tell you that yours truly does not like beans yet, I can never get enough of Ewa Agoyin. I don't know what it is about it that makes it taste so good. Maybe it is the caramelized onions. All I know is that I enjoy eating it.

Ingredients

Beans (Brown/Black eyed): 2 cigar cups | approx. 500g

Red Palm Oil: about 5 cooking spoons

Plum Tomatoes: 5 big ones

Crayfish (a handful)

Onions – 1 big bulb

Pepper & Salt to taste

Seasoning – 2 Maggi/Knorr cubes

Before you cook Ewa Agoyin

Soak the beans in cold water for 5 hours. Boil the beans for 5 minutes and discard the water. Rinse the beans in cold water and set aside. This soaking and pre-cooking process will help reduce the gas inducing elements.

Chop the onions, grind the crayfish and pound the pepper.

Blend the tomatoes and boil the tomato puree till all the water has dried from it.

Pre-cook the diced onions without any added water. The aim is to get it to caramelize a bit so that it will take less time to fully caramelize during frying.

Cooking Directions

Cook the beans till done. For Ewa Agoyin, the beans needs to be very soft.

Note: If you have a pressure cooker, beans is one of the staple foods you will want to use it for. It considerably reduces the cooking time.

When the beans is done, add salt, leave to dry up all the water and set aside.

To cook the Agoyin, pour the palm oil into a separate dry pot. Allow to heat up till the oil starts smoking and the red colour changes to clear. It is better to do this at medium heat so that the oil does not get too hot too quickly. Remember to turn off your smoke alarm before doing this. :)

To keep the smoke to a minimum and still have the traditional taste of Ewa Agoyin, I use vegetable oil and when it is very hot, I add a small amount of palm oil. Watch the video below to see how I do that.

Now add the precooked onions and stir continuously till the onions is fully caramelized. It should be very dark in colour.

Add the parboiled tomato puree and stir continuously till you cannot tell the difference between the tomatoes and onions.

Add the pepper, crayfish, stock cubes and salt to taste. You can also add a little water at this point if your want.

Stir very well and bring to the boil. The Ewa Agoyin is ready!

Serve by dishing the beans into a plate and scooping some Agoyin stew on it. Ewa Agoyin can be eaten on its own, with soft and stretchy bread (known as Ewa ati Bread) or with fried plantain